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Linda Wrobel

Château is a brand new roll and write game coming to Kickstarter on February 7, 2023. You can follow the campaign here on Kickstarter.

Château is a quick to learn family game where you take on the role as an architect constructing the blueprint of a stunning château in Europe. Players select a Château and try to be the first to completely fill in all the squares on their boards by utilizing polyomino shapes.

One thing that is important to know, Château is a print and play game. This means that a physical copy is not provided, only the digital file and you are responsible for printing. This is quite important since not everyone has easy access to a color printer.

Recommended Components:

  • Two six sided dice
  • One pencil per player
  • printed Château Board per player

A career as an elementary teacher has prepared me well for a print and play game. I could not resist “teacher-ing” up my copy the game. While the intent is for players to print and mark their Château with pen or pencil, I raided my classroom and used dry erase pockets paired with dry erase markers. This allowed me to reuse the printed boards.

My next step is going to be to laminate the sheets with my personal laminator with heavier thickness laminate to make the boards more durable and again eliminates the need for reprinting.

Roll of 2 or 3

Optional Components/Tools

  • Dry Erase Pockets (find them here on Amazon)
  • white board/ dry erase markers
  • Laminator and laminate sheets
  • Cardstock

Gameplay Overview

  • 1-99 players (you are only limited by the copies printed)
  •  Ages 7+
  • 15 min playtime

Before the first roll of the dice, each player marks five adjacent squares on the player board to their left. Players roll two dice and simultaneously mark their boards to resolve. Each number on the die represents a certain outcome, which the board depicts. The two dice give you two outcomes per roll. Overall the number rolled for 2-5 is the number of adjacent squares you mark. There are some exceptions based on special abilities which vary by Château. (This is explained further below)

Options with roll of 5
  • 1 – Catapult, This is the one roll that results in interacting with another player’s boards. When a one is rolled, it is resolved first, and the players all mark on square on the board of the player to their left. A space containing a hammer may not be marked.
  • 2- A two square polyomino
  • 3 – A three square polyomino
  • 4 or 5 – for most boards you have four and five polyomino shapes respectively and must choose one to use and mark it off, and may not use it again.
  • 6- Item, Items are scattered throughout each Château. When a six is rolled each player selects one items and marks all of the squares off containing that item.

Hammers

The Château all have hammers, and marking a space with a hammer allows you to mark an additional space. When players mark a hammer they may mark any other square, including another hammer. Thus gaining the ability to mark another additional square. Other players may not mark hammers in the initial five polyomino shape marked nor when a Catapult is played.

Individual Bonuses

Each Château has a unique bonus listed in the upper right hand corner of the board. Players announce their bonuses at the beginning of the game, before the first dice roll.

Château in the Base Game

Base Game and Expansions

In the preview file I received it contains the base game and two expansions. There are five château in the base game The United Kingdom expansion includes three châteaus. The Scandinavian Expansion includes three expansions.

Family Game Assessment

Château grabbed our family and friends right away. We played with mixed ages and still learned the game in just a few minutes, and by the third roll of the dice, the game flowed quickly and easily. Out of pure chance, we had quite a few ones roll. There was laughter and just a little frustration when we once again passed our boards to the right. Inevitably, our plans were thwarted as the opponent marks a square of their choice. The tension certainly built up as we looked around and some people had more complete boards, and we could see them closing in on the win, with the rest of us just a few squares behind. The game was such a hit after the first play that we immediately wiped of the boards, picked new Château and played again.

Game in progress with Chateau in a Dry Erase Pocket

Having actual architecture featured creates a link to geography and history which adds a layer beyond the game. The artwork is beautiful and accentuates each location. With the expansions, the available Châteaus cover a wider geographic range, offering more history to explore outside .

The number of Château is fixed, however, by printing additional copies, the player count in nearly infinite, since players will make unique choices with the placement of polyominoes. The format of all players using the same two dice to make their choices on squares they mark, allows a significant flexibility in player count.

Final Thoughts

Château is a great game for families. The cost is quite reasonable and affordable, and even if you use more premium materials, such as card stock, and lamination. The cost per board for a family size set is low. The rules are so simple, the game takes just minutes to set up and learn, making it accessible and fun for a huge range of players both in age and experience. This is one to watch for the Kickstarter launch and back on day one!

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Every week the EFG staff will be defining a gaming term that is either confusing or ill-defined. Please leave a comment with any terms you find confusing and we will try to include them in future editions!


The gaming definition this week is applicable to board games and tabletop role-playing games, the term applies widely beyond gaming:

Analysis Paralysis

The term Analysis Paralysis is common in board games. However, it is applicable in all gaming, and within decision-making in work and life in general. With Analysis Paralysis many choices are available, often too many choices. The decision maker out of anxiety or a fear of making the wrong decision my take excessive time making their decision, or in extreme cases make no decision at all.

In-game settings, the player spends an excessive amount of time considering their options and plotting the implications. This excessive time can often negatively impact other players by extending the game time and forcing long waits between turns. Often players overthink their options. It can be very frustrating for other players in the game when the gameplay time is extended for this reason. These long wait times take away from the game experience of other players. There are multiple ways to address and mitigate some of the decision making which will be discussed below.

History:

The idea of being paralyzed by decision-making is an old one. We can see a reference to it, though not used by name, in Aesop’s fable The Fox and the Cat. The fable tells of a Fox and Cat that each has tricks to escape the hounds. The cat only had one trick and the Fox had “a whole sackful”. Once threatened by the hounds, that cat did its one trick for an escape without hesitation. The Fox meanwhile started and restarted with different tricks and was unable to escape. You can read the full story here. The idea of the fable is that one may have so many options their failure to act on any of them can be detrimental.

The phrase Analysis Paralysis is credited with being paired together in an 1803 pronouncing dictionary. These words became paired for their rhyming, and also for the memorable phrase they created. The concept has long existed but this phrasing captured it in a more concise manner.

Ways Minimize Analysis Paralysis

With Analysis Paralysis being an old problem, there is a classic game that has come up with a solution. In Chess, players can use a Chess Clock. This is a special clock with two clocks so players can track their available time to make their moves.

Strategies to Minimize Analysis Paralysis in Gaming:

  • Timers/chess clock: By limiting time it reduces the negative impact on other players. A timer provides incentives to prevent overanalyzing the choices, as well as a hard stop to analyzing choices.
  • Choose games with limited choices per turn. By starting with fewer choices it reduces the need for a long analysis of choices.
  • Slowly include games that add more choices. Rather than jumping right to a game with many choices, try to increase the game complexity and choices available incrementally to build the habit of a short decision-making time.
  • Perfect decisions are not the key, so building a culture where perfection is not the goal. The culture at a gaming session is critical to the comfort of players overall, but it can play a major factor in decision-making. If a player feels safe to take a risk and not worry about negative comments they may not be so fixated on making the “right” move.
  • Focus on your main objective, if there are multiple. In more complex games there are usually multiple parts of the game and aspects to focus on. When there are many decisions to make, it can be helpful to go back to the main objective to limit the scope of your choices.

Strategies To Minimize Analysis Paralysis Outside of Gaming

  • Focus on your main objective, if there are multiple: Just like in gaming, when there are multiple objectives, what is the main or most important one. Use that to guide your focus and narrow the relevant choices.
  • Set a time frame/ timer: Create a hard time limit if one does not already exist. Time limits help to focus the analysis by having a firm ending time.
  • Prioritize the Options: Try to eliminate some of the less optimal options. One great strategy is making a list so you can see the options and then cross off less important or optimal options.
  • Take a break: If you are able to, take a break from analyzing your choices. By stepping away from the active analysis you can come back with fresh eyes to the options to aid in decision-making.
  • Ask for Advise: If there is an expert or someone more experienced you can seek their insights and thoughts. They may have a valuable perspective to focus on the most important options you have in your decision-making.

Final Thoughts

Analysis Paralysis is often a term used in gaming, but is certainly not limited to gaming. Many of the strategies above can be applied to all aspects of decision-making. If you find yourself frozen, and struggling to make a decision see if one or more strategy helps you.


What do you think? Sound off in the comments and let us know your thoughts!

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The old adage “Laughter is the best medicine” is so true. Life can be stressful and uncertain. Sometimes, the only answer is a good laugh. Below is a list of relatively inexpensive games to make you laugh.

Chonky Donkey

Buy Chonky Donkey here on Amazon

Chonky Donkey has taken the party game and transformed the judge into the reader. In Chonky Donkey, just as in many other party games with cards and a judge, players submit a card to a prompt. However, this is where there is a twist, the judge is only a reader. As they read the cards summitted my their fellow players. the reader can not smile or laugh. If the reader smiles or laughs, the player who’s card they were reading gets the prompt card and the point. Should the reader keep a straight face the whole time, the reader keeps the prompt card and they get the point.

Exploding Kittens

Buy Exploding Kittens here on Amazon

Exploding Kittens is one of the silliest games in my collection, and is a family favorite. You can play as many cards as you like and you end your turn by drawing a card. If the card is an exploding kitten and you cannot defuse it you are out of the game. The last person standing wins. That’s it. The game really is that simple. The design is such that you never need to reshuffle the discard pile into the deck. There will always be a winner by the time the cards run out.  Check out the review here.

Not Parent Approved

Buy Not Parent Approved here on Amazon

If you are looking for something to get everyone laughing then check out Not Parent Approved. It is played in the same style as Apples to Apples or Cards Against Humanity, with one player as the judge and the rest of the players trying to provide the best answer to the prompt card. The game has a large range of cards, and for younger players, parents may want to screen the cards for content.

Happy Salmon

Buy Happy Salmon here on Amazon

Happy Salmon is really, really stupid. But, in the best ways. This is a great game for motivating your family to get up, laugh, and shout their way through a game. You can even buy two copies (there are two different color versions) so you can get up to 8 players. That is WILD.

Invasion of the Cow Snatchers

Buy Invasion of the Cow Snatchers here on Amazon

Invasion of the Cow Snatchers is also a single player game with a hilarious theme from Think Fun. In this game players are collecting cows represented by colored disks, and the red bull must be collected last. There are fences of different heights that add challenges to each puzzle.

Shaky Manor

Buy Shaky Manor here on Amazon

Shaky Manor is a game unlike any I have ever played before, where each player is given a tray containing eight square rooms each connected by doorways. Players place an meeple, a ghost, and three treasure chest cubes into the tray. They then shake the tray to try and get the meeple and the cubes into a designated room without the ghost. The first player to do it five times is the winner. The game is noisy, silly, and loads of fun!

Hoagie

Buy Hoagie here on Amazon

Hoagie is a sandwich building game where each player is trying to build the perfect sandwich without any part getting spoiled by three oogies. It has a level of gross that kids and adults will find entertaining.  Hoagie is a light game that can be played with multiple ages all together making it a great game for the whole family. See the review here.

Unstable Unicorns

Unstable Unicorns is a card combat game that features whacky unicorns as you build an army. The art is adorable and gameplay loop as you pass between turns feels very similar to Magic: The Gathering (and I mean that in a good way). We enjoy it every time we play.

Go Nuts for Donuts

Buy Go Nuts For Donuts here on Amazon

Go Nuts for Donuts is a card drafting and set collection game where players are trying to collect the best donuts to eat.  Really, what better topic for a game can you have beside collecting donuts! Player bid on the different donuts available in the donut row. Players bid in secret, and at the end of the bidding players may only collect those donuts where they are the sole bidder. Each kind of the 21 kinds donut ( and two beverages) has either points it gains you, an action you can take immediately upon retrieving the card, or both. The artwork and text on the cards are fun and adorable and sure to make you smile.

What Do You Meme: Family Edition

Buy What Do You Meme?: Family Edition

What Do You Meme is a hilarious game that invites players to create funny memes using a stack of funny pictures straight from the deepest corners of the internet and a huge deck of caption cards. The problem is that the original version of the game is a bit… grown-up for our tastes. The good news for all of us is that there is a bespoke Family edition of the game that replaces the sex and drugs with fart jokes (which just makes it all around better in my opinion). Just look at the box. It’ll all make sense. This is the definitive edition of the game!


What do you think? Sound off in the comments and let us know your thoughts!

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Every week the EFG staff will be defining a gaming term that is either confusing or ill-defined. Please leave a comment with any terms you
find confusing and we will try to include them in future editions!


The gaming definition this week is a term that is applicable to board games:

Legacy Games

Legacy games are board games played over multiple sessions, typically with the same group of players. Each play of the game can create permanent changes to the game affecting future plays. These changes occur in a variety of ways, such as opening envelopes to reveal stickers to add to the board, additional cards, and/or additional rules/powers.

Legacy games often include a story told over the course of the sessions. Most Legacy games can only be played through one time. Some games give players the opportunity to buy a refill pack to make the game replayable a second time.

There are also some games that once you finish the campaign, the game is playable using the rules the Legacy portion finished on for future regular games. One example of this is Machi Koro Legacy. It has ten different games over the course of the campaign with the eleventh and subsequent games repeatable as a “regular” game. However, most games are not playable again once the last session is complete.

History

Game designer Rob Daviau is credited with creating the Legacy Style game. The first game published with this mechanic was Risk Legacy in 2011. He also designed Machi Koro Legacy, and codesigned the Pandemic Legacy series with Matt Leacock.

Examples

  • Pandemic Legacy (Seasons 1,2, 0)
  • Zombie Kidz
  • Gloomhaven: Jaws of the Lion

So, what do you think? Do you like the idea of a game that can only be played through once, or would you rather have the option to replay it multiple times? Let us know in the comments below and we’ll keep this discussion going.

You can also look at our other video game definitions from previous weeks here!

What do you think? Sound off in the comments and let us know your thoughts!

Make sure to keep your eyes on Engaged Family Gaming for all of the latest news and reviews you need to Get

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The board game industry just keeps putting out amazing games. We have gone through some of the new games that have caught our attention, and fit a wide range of ages, styles, and experience. Not to mention some themes that will grab your attention.


Games for the Whole Family

These games are easy to learn, and perhaps hard to master games that can be enjoyed by a wide range of players. These games are great for multi age game play and a range of gaming experience.

Doomlings

After major board game conventions there are always a few games that everyone is talking about, and that was the case for Doomlings. Once gamers go their hands on this game they could not stop talking about it. This was originally funded on Kickstarter and was picked up by Breaking Games to be distributed through major retailers.

Doomlings is a card game where you are trying to survive from the birth of lift to the end of the world. Each turn you are adding trait cards, but with each round an Age Card is drawn which affects all the players. Mixed in with these Ages cards are Catastrophe cards, which negatively affect everyone. When three Catastrophe cards have been drawn, that signals the end of the world and players add up their points to see who is the winner.

Chonky Donkey

Hilarity ensues with the latest party game from Gamewright, Chonky Donkey. In many party games, there is a judge of the cards submitted to a prompt in games such as Apples to Apples. Chonky Donkey takes it in a different direction. Instead of the judge selecting the card they like best, instead the reader must not laugh or smile. Especially when you know maintaining a straight face is required, it becomes increasingly challenging. If the reader laughs or smiles when reading an “answer” they player who submitted the card wins the card and point. However if the reader can maintain a straight face the entire time, they get the card and point.

Akropolis

Transport yourself to the Mediterranean and take on the role of a Greek architect to build the best city against your rivals. In Akropolis, players are drafting and laying tiles to build their cities. Stone can be earned from the quarries and used to select the best features for you city. Tiles can also be placed on top of existing tiles and those earn you more points at the end. There is a handy player guide so you easily can tell what features on the tiles have the potential to earn you the most points.

While the game box and enclosed rules are for two to four player, the publisher, Gigamic has also posted a solo mode varient on their website and you can print the rules here.

Planted

Caring for house plants can present its own challenges in remembering what each plant needs. In Planted by Buffalo games you are collecting house plants and trying to take care of them to earn the most points. There are multiple game mechanics going on throughout the game, but the cards make it easy to understand what needs to be done for each plant, and helps players streamline their strategy, and keep the game from becoming overly complex. The game is played over four rounds, and players can collect up to six plants. This Target exclusive game has top notch components for the MSRP of the game at $29.99 (and Target regularly has sales on their board games).

Teeter Tower

Teeter Tower combines two favorite genres of family games, dexterity and cooperative games. This innovative game, combines rolling dice, cooperation and collaboration to place all the tiles before the pool of dice is used up or dice fall off the tower. You also can set the difficulty from Novice, Normal, Hard, to Insane to customize for your group. With simple rules Teeter Tower can be learned in minutes.

Everyone wins or looses (and then tries again) in this new spin on dexterity, strategy and cooperation. Challenge your family to build a tower upon the base block and successfully add the capstone block to with.

Next Station London

Take on the roll of planning subway lines in flip and write game Next Station London. In this game players are using a common deck of cards to dictate what their choices are for the next station they can select on their individual map paper. This plays over four rounds, and the neat twist is that each round players complete their line in a different colored pencil. Players are trying to score as many points as possible by adding lines to as many of the 13 districts as possible, go to tourist locations, and crossing the River Thames. No matter your choices you may limit future moves, so plan your routes carefully.

Summer Camp

For those of you who have enjoyed in the unique experience of summer camp this game will bring you back. For those of you like me who never went, you can get a taste of the unique dynamic. Each ga me players determine with three camp activities they will play in that game. By changing the actives each game it also changes which actions are available. On each turn, you play five cards from your personal deck. These cards will allow you to perform actions and acquire new cards. As you gain more cards, it adds to what you can do by gaining more power and abilities, and as you reach milestones, earn merit badges. Once a player earns all three merit badges, that triggers the end of the game, and the player with the most points wins.

Games For the Expert Gamer

Some of us have that gamer in our lives, or are that gamer, that loves complex games that take over an hour to play. These are new games that will be a good fit for making it a game day just to play one or two games.

Paint the Roses

You take on the roll as the royal gardeners for the Queen of Hearts in the fantastic world of Alice in Wonderland. You must work together to finish the royal grounds according to her ever changing whims before the Queen catches up to you. Each player has a secret Whim card which you may not share with the other players. However, there are some clues you are able to give to work towards your common goal, and some discussion is permitted with limits.

To move the gardeners players must guess the Whim cards, and if the card is guessed correctly the gardener token moves forward. If the players guess wrong when the Queen moves double her movement. There is also an expert mode that can be utilized. Since it is Alice in Wonderland, there is also the White Rabbit which moves when the gardeners pass the White Rabbit token.

For those who love the Alice in Wonderland theme, and are looking for a more complex game, this is a great option.

Ark Nova

Work to build the most successful zoo. To grow your zoo, you will build enclosures, work for conservation projects, and even release animals into the wild. With five actions to choose each turn, and the power of that card determined by the location on the tableau.

The Action Cards include: Build, Animals, Cards, Association, Sponsors. Build cards let you add to your zoo through building enclosures, kiosks, and pavilions. Animal cards allow you to accommodate animals. With the Cards you can gain new zoo cards (basically the others listed), Associations give you the chance to let your workers perform different tasks. Finally, Sponsors allows the player to play a sponsor into your zoo or to raise money for your zoo.

This is a complex game, and time is needed to learn to play. For the experienced gamers looking for a game with more complexity and time commitment.

Games that Fuel Your Nostalgia

These games include a theme or characters from something we remember. Hard to believe we fell in love with these in some cases 20 or 30 years ago (or more)!

A Goofy Movie Game

The 90’s seem even closer when you open up the box for The Goofy Movie Game. The map has all of the charm and bright colors that were the hallmark of the 90’s Disney, plus there is a Powerline concert poster picture on the back side of the map. As you move across the map, you are going to collect pictures for your scrapbook, and there are right from the events and locations from the movie! If you land on a spot to roll the die, you may send Goofy on a detour or get Powerline closer to the concert venue.

The Rocketeer: Fate of the Future

For those of us who remember watching the 1991 movie The Rocketeer, this board game will bring back some of your favorites from the movie. In the board game, The Rocketeer: Fate of the the Future, you are playing either as the Good Guys (Cliff Secord AKA The Rocketeer), Peeve Peabody, and Jenny Blake), or the Bad Guys (Eddie Valentine, Neville Sinclair, and Lothar). Just like in the movie, the Good Guys have the plans for the rocket that Cliff wears, and the bad guys are desperately trying to get those plans. Game play happens over rounds, but once the Luxembourg Zeppelin reaches Los Angeles, the final round is triggered and player with the most points wins.

While this game follows the premise of the movie, it has a lot of cards, and steps within a turn. The complexity of the Rocketeer: Fate of the Future, , makes it a game better suited for an experienced gamer, rather than an novice.

Our Favorite Themes

We all have favorite themes whether they are books, movies, shows, or other games. There is something about playing a game within your favorite world or with a beloved character. There have been a several games released in the past year that tap into a favorite topic.

Exit Lord of the Rings: Shadows Over Middle-Earth

For all those Lord of the Ring fans, now you can complete secret assignment for Gandalf, and buy Frodo and the Fellowship time. Escape rooms are a great way to spend an evening with friends, and the Exit games are an escape room in a box. These have puzzles and clues to complete a series of tasks and meet the objective. Depending on how long you take and how many clues you need determines your ” score”. Exit games are ranked by difficulty level, and this one is level 2 out of 5, making it great for those inexperienced with Exit games.

Star Wars Villainous

Ravensburger has brought the Villainous property to a whole new theme…Star Wars! For gamers who love Villainous and the Star Wars villainous, this is a must buy. While the villainous games are not best suited for the novice gamer, they are a blast to play with your favorite villain! In Star Wars Villainous you can play as: Darth Vader, Kylo Ren, General Grievous, Asajj Ventress, or Moff Gideon. Each villain has their own objective they are working toward to win. So players need to both work on their villain’s objective and try to disrupt the progress of the other villains.

Wordle Party Game

The hit digital game Wordle has become an analogue party game using dry erase boards, where players take turns writing five letter secret words. Just as in the digital game. The other players need to guess the word in the fewest guesses. There are also four ways to play Wordle: Classic Play, Fast Mode, Timed Mode, Compete Mode. Classic Mode is the same format as the digital game. In Fast Mode, players race to be the first to solve the word. Timed Mode players are trying to beat the clock or earn the most points. Finally, there is a team mode, where players can play in groups.

For fans of the digital game, now you can play it in person with your friends and family.

Games for Younger Gamers

There are so many options for games for young children beyond the “classic” games everyone knows. What is great is the newer games tend to be more fun for the grown-ups playing with the kids. These are some of the newest games for kids age 7 and younger.

Burger ASAP!

Can you build the burgers to order first? In this wild party card flipping game, players each get 7 double sided ingredient cards and try to be the first to build the burger or burger from the challenge card. All cards must be used in each challenge, and you are likely to need to overlap cards. The challenge cards come in three levels of difficulty indicated by the number of stars at the bottom. There is also a puzzle aspect because there is only one solution to each challenge card.

With a Cherry on Top

For some of the youngest gamers who can resist ice cream sundaes. In this adorable games players roll the dice and count out that number of scoops and place them on the open spaces on the banana split. This beginning strategy game has players consider where to best place the ice cream scoops. When they place the final scoop on a banana split, the player gets to put a cherry on top and get the card.

Octopie

Set your sights under the sea as you work to build the first octopus with eight tentacles with the same color wins. Being a Gamewright game, even in games for young gamers, they make sure to add a few elements to keep the game interesting for all players. What a player can do each turn depends on the die roll. If a pie is revealed during your turn you get a pie token. These tokens give you an additional action or the ability to block another player’s action.

Board Game Accessories

Being a gamer lends itself to collecting. Sometimes it is challenging to find an amazing fit or you want to get something that is not a new game. Perhaps you need a small item for a small holiday container. There are great accessories that can enhance the gaming experience for a huge range of gamers.

Game Storage On the Shelf

Storage of board games can get challenging. Depending on your storage situation you may need to store them on their sides instead of laying flat. One item I have invested in are bands to hold the box closed and minimize the change of pieces falling out. This also helps with traveling with games where the lid is a smidge loose.

Click here for Silicone Rubber Bands on Amazon

Click here for Elastic Box Bands on Amazon

Traveling with Games

There are bags for carrying games, and then there are bags! You can get a more basic tote bag to bring your latest favorite to game night, or go all out on a special game hauling backpack or tote.

Click here for a USA Board Game Bag

Basic tote from Amazon

Game Box Storage

Ticket To Ride storage bins

Bins for game components

Jazz Up Your Game

100 Wooden Meeples

Keeping it Neat On the Table

Foldable bowls

Dice Trays

Simplifying for the Little Games

Gamewright Card holder


For More Gift Ideas

EFG Essentials: Great Board Games for Kids


What do you think? Sound off in the comments and let us know your thoughts!

Make sure to keep your eyes on Engaged Family Gaming for all of the latest news and reviews you need to Get Your Family Game On!

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There are times when game recommendations come from unexpected sources. I was quite surprised to hear about a game going to Kickstarter through a fan page for the small company Svaha

Frya is a card stacking game abstract strategy game with 68 cards which funded on Kickstarter in 2021.

Game Overview

  • 1-4 players
  • Ages 4 and up
  • Playtime 5-25 minutes

Gameplay

In Fyra, each player selects a “team” color. The goal of the game is to be the player with the least of your color showing when you run out of cards. Each card has four corners. The corners may be the same or different colors in the four colors: purple, yellow, blue, red.

To begin the game, two cards are placed in the middle next to each other face up. Each player receives three cards. On their turn each player puts down only one card. The must match what is under it exactly. If a portion of their card (one, two or three corners) match what is under it they draw a card at the end of their turn. Part of the card may hang off the end, and the pile grows outward with each turn.

If a player is able to match all four corners of their card they do not need to draw a card. If there are no matches at all the player puts their card adjasent to the cards and must draw two cards. When a player runs out of cards they are out of the game.

To scorce, the player who has run out of cards counts the number of corners with their team color showing at that point of the game. Play continues until only one player remains with cards.

Family Game Assessment and Final Thoughts

Fyra is a game with a wide appeal and wide accessibility, playable by children ages 4 and up. That said, it has enough strategy for grown-ups. With no text to read and only colors to match Fyra is approachable by every level of gamer. An additional feature is the distinctive designs on each color to accommodate players with color blindness or play in poor lighting. The rules are very easy to learn. The game teaches in just a matter of minutes at a rough minutes. Even with the easy rules, the strategy is challenging. This is a game that is easy to learn and hard to master.

Where to Find Fyra


What do you think? Sound off in the comments and let us know your thoughts!

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Roller Coaster Challenge is a STEM single player game that is great for kids ages six and up. It includes cards with 40 challenge. This article will walk you through the process to complete a challenge. We received a request for clarification on how to play from a reader when we featured the the game in our article Games for Beginning Readers. Confessions time, I have terrible spatial relations, so I had the help of my son to complete the challenge below.

If you do not already have a copy, buy Roller Coaster Challenge on Amazon!

Step 1: Select A Challenge Card.

There are four difficulty levels Easy, Medium, Hard, Very Hard. The cards are all numbered, and each card is slightly more challenging as the numbers increase. Each card has the starting locations of some of the pieces, and the other pieces that are needed to complete the challenge are at the bottom of the card.

Pieces needed for Card 10

Step 2: Place the Starting Pieces Per the Card

Use the icons on the card to set up the initial board. Some of the icon can be confusing at first. As you get more familiar with the pieces it become faster to pull and set up the beginning pieces.

Step 3: Complete the Challenge Using the Remaining Pieces

Using the pieces listed at the bottom of the card complete the roller coaster so the ball can go from the top to the bottom. This can take much trial and error. If you really get stuck the answer is on the back of the card.

Step 4: Test Your Roller Coaster!

See if your coaster makes it to the bottom!

Final Thoughts

Now that you know how to complete one challenge, you can go thought the deck to more and more challenging setups. These steps are also applicable to other games by Thinkfun. There are an array of challenges and themes in Gravity Maze, Laser Maze, and Circuit Maze.


What do you think? Sound off in the comments and let us know your thoughts!

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Every week the EFG staff will be defining a gaming term that is either confusing or ill-defined. Please leave a comment with any terms you are confused by and we will try to include them in future editions!


The gaming definition this week is a term that is applicable to a type of card game mechanic:

Trick Taking

The Trick Taking mechanic is one that many people have been exposed to through traditional games such Hearts or Bridge. Our family loves the card game Set Back, which was my first exposure to this mechanic. It is now found in many more games and that list is ever growing.

Trick Taking games play in “Tricks“, which are the rounds of play. While there may be variations game to game, typically, each Trick ends when all players play the final cards in their hand. Players then determine The winner of the Trick (round). In many Trick Taking games, the player to start a trick (round) also sets the suit or defined type of card needed to be played in order to win that trick. The type of card that leads is what sets the winning card type for that trick. To win the trick, the player who placed the highest value in the defined perimeters of the game that led (started the trick) wins that trick (round). However there is also a Trump, which is the card or suit which will automatically win the trick if played.

The other main rule in Trick Taking is that players must play a card of the same type/suit as the card that led the round if you can even if it is to your detriment, with the exception of Trump cards/suits.

Examples of Trick Taking Games:

  • The Crew
  • Fox in the Forest
  • Indulgence
  • Marshmallow Test

Examples of Trick Taking Games using a Standard Deck of Cards

  • Bridge
  • Hearts
  • Set Back

That’s all for this week. Be sure to check back next week for another definition. In the meantime, I want to hear from you! What is your favorite trick-taking game? Let me know in the comments below and don’t forget to share this post with your friends.

You can also look at our other board game definitions from previous weeks here!

What do you think? Sound off in the comments and let us know your thoughts!

Make sure to keep your eyes on Engaged Family Gaming for all of the latest news and reviews you need to Get

Your Family Game On!

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Lords of the land are always looking to expand the land in their domain. In Kingdomino you are trying to expand the land you hold, but must choose to land carefully as your neighboring Lords are trying to do the same.

Buy Kingdomino on Amazon

Game Overview

Kingdomino
  • Publisher: Blue Orange Games
  • Ages:8+
  • 2-4 Players
  • Playtime: 15 minutes
  • Game Mechanic: Tile Laying

Game Components

  • 4 starting tiles
  • 4 castles (3D)
  • 48 dominos (a number on one side and land on the other side)
  • 8 wooden kings (4 colors)

Gameplay

Set Up

Each round dominos player lay out, three in a 3 player game and four in a 2 or 4 player game, and placed face down with just their number showing and ordered in ascending order. Next, players flip them to show the land. The meeples are shuffled in a players hand and randomly pulled for the first turn order. Player choose in the order their meeple appears their tile for the first round. Once all players select their tile for the round, player place another row a tiles following the same guidelines. The meeple on the tile closest to the box places their land first and selects their next tile for the next round.

On their turn a player completes two steps. First they place their tile according to connection rules (explained below). Then move their meeple to the next row of tiles to make their selection for the next round. There are 12 rounds in a 3 or 4 player game and 6 rounds in a two player (since players take two turns per round)

Connection Rules

  • Players must build a 5×5 grid, and each domino is considered two squares.
  • The domino may connect to their starting tile (which is consisted a “wild ” and any landscape can connect) or another domino that has one or both landscapes matching. These can connect horizontally or vertically.
  • If a domino can not be placed to either the starting tile or a tile with one landscape matching it is discarded and cannot score points.

Scoring

The areas of the same type of land only score if there is a crown (or crowns) on one or more of the tiles. To calculate the score players take the number of land tiles of that type and multiplying my the number of crowns in the same land area. The player with the highest score wins.

Family Game Assessment and Final Thoughts

Kingdomino is a award winning game for a reason, simply it is an amazing game. It won the 2017 Spiel des Jahres (Game of the year) among an impressive list of nominations and awards across multiple countries. This is a game that is easy to learn and hard to master. The rules are simple and easy to teach a child or novice in just one turn.

While Kingdomino lists the target age of players as 8 and up, there is no reading involved in gameplay. We found that it scales down to about age 6, especially if the child have experience playing a range of games. The 15 minute play time helps for younger children too.

This is also a versatile game to travel with. The tiles are nice and heavy making it a good game to take to a picnic or camping. The box is on the smaller size, and while not pocket or purse size, it is easy to pack for a trip or game day. The short play time and simple rules also help to make this game is a great addition to any game collection.

What do you think? Sound off in the comments and let us know your thoughts!

Make sure to keep your eyes on Engaged Family Gaming for all of the latest news and reviews you need to Get Your Family Game On!

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Every week the EFG staff will be defining a gaming term that is either confusing or ill-defined. Please leave a comment with any terms you are confused by and we will try to include them in future editions!


The gaming definition this week is a term that is applicable to board games:

Meeple

Meeple refers to tokens used to represent people, animals, or creatures in board games. Most commonly they are wooden, and the typical shape is like a person. However, they are also found in a huge range of animals or other shapes as well as a range of materials.

The Meeple has become a ubiquitous symbol of board games. Gamers can find many items to decorate their game spaces with Meeple art or objects. Meeples come in a huge range of games and serve a range of purposes within games. Some examples of their application in games can include: marking the players location on the board, as a score tracker, to mark and effect on the board, or claiming a tile.

Wooden Meeples from Fire in the Library

History

The word Meeple come from the blending of “my people” in reference to the game Carcassonne. The term Meeple emerged in 2000, and credited to Alison Hansel for creating the word. In 2015 Meeple was added to the Oxford English Dictionary.

Dragoon Meeples
Metal Dragon Meeples from Dragoon

A Few Examples of Meeples in Games:

  • Fire in the Library: “typical” meeples
  • Dragoon: Metal or plastic dragons
  • Carcassonne: Where it all began
  • King Domino
  • Fire Tower: Rising Flames Fire Hawks (Featured in cover photo above)

So there you have it! Our guide to meeples. Whether you’re a seasoned gamer or just starting out, we hope this article has helped introduce you to the wonderful world of meeples and shown you how much fun they can add to your gameplay experience. Sound off in the comments and let us know your thoughts on our favorite gaming token! Do you prefer wooden ones, like most gamers? Or do you like something a little more flashy and eye-catching? We want to hear from you!

You can also look at our other video game definitions from previous weeks here!

What do you think? Sound off in the comments and let us know your thoughts!

Make sure to keep your eyes on Engaged Family Gaming for all of the latest news and reviews you need to Get

Your Family Game On!

The EFG Essentials

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