Last week, we started our regular Friday gaming night session out by playing a few games of We Didn’t Playtest This at All
I think my favorite thing about the game is how cut-throat the game itself is to the players. Sure there is some player to player smack down that goes on, but mostly the game itself is rather ruthless. The only way to win is to be the last player not to lose, and the cards make losing a very easy thing to do.
One of our games even included a player being saved by a dragon showing up in game, just in time. How often can a person be happy to see a dragon, or have it save your butt rather than eating it?
If you ever get a chance to play We Didn’t Playtest This at All
Tag Archive for game night
Brief Review of We Didn’t Playtest This at All
Crappy Birthday – The Game
Crappy Birthday
Here is a new game we played last week at our weekly gaming session, Crappy Birthday
Each player has a hand of 5 cards, each of which is a different gift. A person is selected to have the first “birthday” and everyone else at the table pulls the worst gift they can from their hand and places it face down in front of the “birthday” person. Then the birthday person flips over the cards and determines which of the presents given they think is the worst. So, when giving gifts you really need to consider the person you are giving them to and what their tastes are like. Who knows they may actually think a family room wallpapered in old newspaper (yes that really is from the game) is a neat historical thing. Once a crappy gift has been selected the gift-giver gets the card back to place in front of them on the table as a token of having won that round. Then the “birthday” person rotates to the next in the table and the gift giving starts all over again. [See how it has that Apples to Apples
We did find the game to be fun and a fairly quick play with very simple rules. The only challenge we had was that there are a number of gifts that our gaming group does not consider crappy at all, such as a tank in your front yard for decoration. This meant you could end up with a hand of cards that you simply couldn’t win with due to their being too cool to be crappy.
I would like to see them come up with some expansion card sets, I am sure they could do at least one or two to really round out the cards. But even without that it is a fun little game and being low cost it is worth it. Additionally, this would work as a good cross-over game, you just have to remember who you are playing with.
Crossover Board Games
We have found that while we really love our truly gamer geared board games, we are always on the lookout for those games that have great general appeal. In our house this are referred to as cross-over games and they can bring both gamers and non-gamers to the table for some good fun.
One of the easiest types of games to introduce to non-gamers are card games. Here I would recommend introducing the crowd you are playing with to Fluxx 4.0
Another easy to play game, that has already hit mainstream in many areas is Apples to Apples Party Box – The Game of Hilarious Comparisons
If you are looking for a board game to pass away some time at the latest family gathering, I would suggest Gift TRAP Game
Thunderstone – The Boardgame
So last weekend I played a new game with the kids called Thunderstone
In the game each person starts out with basic supplies for an adventuring party represented in cards. Using the cards you have collected you can either head to the village to purchase supplies or recruit and level up; or you can delve into the dungeon and battle creatures for experience points. The game play is pretty simple once you get it figured out, though I will admit that the setup is a bit on the complicated side to determine from the book. Just be sure to read through the instruction book and it will all come together pretty easily.
Cheeky Monkey
>Another game we added to our ever growing collection this Christmas was the Cheeky Monkey Game
. This is a kids game that my in-laws picked up for my 6 year old daughter. The game is one I discovered at this last Gamestorm and was excited for us to add to our kid game selection, as it is one that adults can enjoy as well.
The game is a tile based game and requires no reading making it ideal to play with younger kids whose reading skills are not ready for heavy game play. Game play goes quick and is based on collecting the various animal tiles that are included with the game. The tiles are placed in a bag (also provided) and each player takes turns drawing animal tiles one at a time as many times as they want to round out collections that they have, but if they draw the cheeky monkey then they have to put their tiles back. A great lesson for the kids and a hard strategy for them to master right away. Very similar to Pass the Pigs in general concept.
For families with younger children I recommend this game. The copy we have was purchased from Rainy Day Games for $30, which is a bit steep but the quality is better then the standard big box store games that you buy, this one will be in our collection for years to come. And Rainy Day Games also has online ordering capabilities in case you live somewhere without a local gaming store.
The aMAZEing Labyrinth Board Game
For my my daughter’s 6th birthday she received the board game The aMAZEing Labyrinth from her step-dad. Though I am ashamed to admit it took us months to finally get around to playing it we finally did. The game is rated ages 7+ but we usually find our kids catch onto board games a bit ahead of the label put on them, not really sure how or who determines that age anyways.
The game is fairly basic once you get over the initial learning curve. There is an ever changing grid of tiles that your piece must navigate through to obtain a number of treasures as determined by picture cards. The aMAZEing Labyrinth requires no ability to read to play, aside from the rule book itself, making for a good family friendly game. There are also no spinners or dice, which I find makes a game more enjoyable with elementary school aged children who tend to fiddle with those sort of devices too much.
After playing twice I highly recommend when laying out tiles and swapping tile locations during play that you take care to make as many pathways as possible. All of the tile pieces work together to make the tunnels of the labyrinth that gives the game its name. By making a point of creating long tunnels you will greatly shorten the game time and greatly increase the success of the younger kids who can’t think too many steps ahead.
Since this game is more widely available then some other “gamer” board games, we found it at Toys ‘r Us this can be a great gift for Christmas for a younger child in your life. If you are looking for another review of The aMAZEing Labyrinth check it out at BoardGameGeek.com
Part – The mishaps continue
So when we left off our ragged group of adventurers had not yet figured out that they were destined through PC aura to be together. The best laid plans of mice and DM’s go astride often I have found.
The draconian, being afflicted by the ratling disease ability, had left an easy to follow trail on his way to the abandoned, abandoned, toy factory (suggested by my PC’s who I think may watch Scooby Doo too much). The remaining group of rag tags followed his there with thoughts of a sizable, forged bounty in their minds. Upon arrival at the factory they gained entrance through a partially opened door. While moving in to the large warehouse with its crate lined walls they were ambushed by a dozen or so life-sized puppets that had come to life. Through the use of fire magic and control spells the walking dolls were quickly dispatched of. During the battle our Ratling Necromancer determined the whereabouts of the owner that the puppets were protecting.
While the Nomad took down the remaining mannequins, the Ratling and Goblin dug up the owner and used their Commune magic to speak with him and determine if he might still have valuables in the land of the living they could relieve from his corpse. They discovered that he had a house on the outskirts of town where his most valued possessions had been safely guarded during his life. The party determined to head there to find the treasure, right after they tracked down the Draconian to get their bounty.
Thankfully for them, but not our Draconian friend, the Wolfling had used this time to track him after he made his escape during the heat of battle. Tracking him down to a small shack the party finally manages to take him down, rendering his unconscious and drags him to the nearest lock up to collect on their doctored wanted poster. The Draconian get locked in the brink for the night, not so bad for him as they healed some of his wounds incurred in the previous two scuffles, and the party collects on the ransom. However their attempt at forgery is easy to see through when compared to a standard copy kept at the jail, so much for the big reward they had hoped for.
Now it is off to the factory owners house to collect his treasure, he sure won’t be needing it anymore…
Review – Apples to Apples by Mattel
Game: Apples to Apples
Manufacturer: Mattel
Where can I get it: Target, Fred Meyers, Amazon, Etc,
What is it: This is a card based family game. It comes in two varieties the party pack and the junior version. Apples to Apples is one of the few “big box” games that we play these days. While it has made its way into the mass merchant shops it is still played heavily at Gamestorm
(the gaming convention we attend). The pace is quick enough to keep it interesting and personal enough to make it fun.
How is it played: Each player has a set of cards in their hand representing different items or things. The judge picks a card from the top of a stack of special descriptive cards and then all the other players are to put a card from their hand down that best fits the descriptive card. For example, using cards from the junior set (only difference is easier words) here is my hand.
Birthday Cake, Sledding, Snow White, Aladdin, and Dinosaurs. The judge has placed Stinky in the center of the table.
Nothing I have is classically stinky, but if I was playing with my son and he were the judge I might put down Snow White, as he is still in the “girls have cooties” stage of life. The determination of which card is considered Stinky (in this case) is made by the judge, so it pays to look at it from another person’s shoes. Which makes for a good laugh around friends and a good, subtle lesson for kids in perspective.
The kids version is for 7+ and 4-10 players, taking less then 30 minutes to play. From my gamer family to yours I suggest picking this one up!
New Family Board Games
Tired of playing Monopoly and Life for the millionth time with your kids, ready for something new and interesting to play on game night. There are a wide array of games that can meet your needs and now that there is the internet to make ordering easier these games are available to almost anyone. I have been slowly growing my collection of these card and board games for the last decade or so. Here I plan to review these games as a way for you to determine which might work best for your family. With any luck you should be able to find a number of new games to try out.
Lets start with a simple, yet complex card game called Fluxx. The game starts with the simple rule of draw one, play one, simple enough. As the game goes on people play goals for winning, which constantly changes as well as they can play different rules that can change a variety of aspects of the game. While it sounds complicated you will find it is easy to play and with all the expansions, like Family Fluxx
, it is a great family game. This is one that I enjoy playing with my son, age 8, and my daughter, age 6. It is a bit over my daughters head she enjoys playing it none the less. You can pick it up at most any game store, in the Greater Portland Area we like going to Rainy Day Games as they have a great selection.