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family game

Family Board Game Review: Abandon All Artichokes

by Linda Wrobel August 4, 2022

There is nothing like a day spent in the garden. In Abandon All Artichokes you are trying to get an assortment from the garden and have no artichokes. Abandon All Artichokes has won multiple awards including: Geek Dad Game of the Year, Parent Choice Silver Honor, and American Tabletop.

Overview

Publisher: Gamewright
Ages: 10+
2-4 Players
Game Style: Deck Building (deconstruction)
Components: 100 Cards
Playtime: 20 minutes

Abandon All Artichokes is a fast paced deck building/ deconstruction game where players are trying to take their personal decks and draw a hand without artichoke cards at the end of their turn. A deck building game has players curating the cards that are in their deck to optimize what they draw. Players accomplish this by both discarding and adding different cards to your personal deck.

Gameplay

To begin the game players have ten artichoke cards as their personal deck. The remaining non-artichoke cards are shuffled and create The Garden Stack. From this a field of five cards create the Garden Row. Then players draw five cards (out of their ten) into their hand. At the beginning of the game they are only artichoke cards.

On your turn players complete five phases.

Replenish: Refill the field of five cards in the Garden Row by drawing and placing cards from the Garden Stack
Harvest: Select one card from the Garden Row and add it to your hard. It may be played at any time during your turn
Play: Play any number of cards from your hand, however you must be able to fulfill all the requirements on the card.
Discard: Discard all cards in your hand face up to your personal discard pile.
Draw: From your personal deck, draw five new cards.

When you draw the five cards at the conclusion of your turn, if there are no Artichoke cards, you loudly declare ”Abandon All Artichokes” and you win.

Family Game Assessment

Once again, Gamewright has made a great family game. The mechanics of deck building in this game, and the deconstruction nature of the gameplay are both a great gateway to other deck building games. The deconstruction element is a more unique game mechanic and Abandon All Artichokes presents it in a way that is easy to learn. This game is a “one round teacher”, meaning that by just playing through one round, players then completely understand the game play. While the age recommendation is 10 and up, this is a game that can scale down to age 8 especially if they are an experienced gamer. With the quick 20 minute playtime, it is an easy game to find time to play as a family.

Conclusion

The EFG team got our first of look at Abandon All Artichokes at New York Toy Fair 2020. We knew it would be a hit once we played a round. This is a great addition to any family gaming 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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August 4, 2022 0 comment

Board Games Reviews

Family Board Game Review: Block Ness

by Linda Wrobel April 12, 2022

written by Linda Wrobel

A Nessie pokes their head above the water.. then another appears…and another…and another. See if your monster can dominate the loch in this family strategy game Block Ness. In this game you’re using three dimensional pieces to try to add on to your monster and create the longest monster.

Buy Block Ness on Amazon!

Game Overview

Age 8+
2 to 4 Players
Playtime: 15 minutes

Game components

Game board (pegboard style)
4 sets of 12 loch monster pieces

Game play

Players begin with only the head and tail of their monster in the water. On their turn players add one piece onto their monster, either at the head end or the tail end. Once you place the new monster segment, move the head or tail piece to indicate the end of the creature. Players must make sure that their new pieces their pieces are adjacent to one of the head or tails of their monster. The pieces must be placed horizontally or vertically. Players will need to cross over other pieces of competing monsters, but they must be a taller height than the piece they are going over.

A player is out when the they no longer can place a piece to the head or tail of their monster. This occurs when there are no more available pegs, or your monster is blocked by other monster pieces.

The size of the play space also scales based on the number of players. The shade of blue indicated the play space, so fewer players have a smaller space they are competing to take over.

One tip we found very helpful was to sort all the pieces by size. Sorting the pieces shortest to tallest it allows players monitor what pieces remain. This helps strategizing how to use those to best build their monster.

Family Game Assessments

Block Ness is a wonderful family game. The rules are easy to learn, but with a plethora of strategy incorporated into the game. We have played with a mix of adults and kids and everyone was able to pick it up quickly. It was so natural for the kids one of them actually won the game.

While there is player elimination, it occurs very late in the game. Typically there is only another turn or two before the game is over. Gameplay is fast and a whole game usually is 15 to 20 minutes.

This is a fun light game that is great for any collection.

Final Thoughts

If you want a light family strategy game, Block Ness fits that need. It is easy to play with a range of ages and skill levels within the same game.

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

Video Games for kids on Xbox One
Video Games for kids on PS4
Video Games for kids on Nintendo Switch
Board Games for kids

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Subscribe to our Newsletter!

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April 12, 2022 0 comment

Board Games Reviews

Family Board Game Review: Slap Down! The Unfriend Maker

by Linda Wrobel December 1, 2020

written by Linda Wrobel

Slap Down! is a light card collecting game where you are rolling dice to determine to pair to collect, but watch out, all the players are going for the same cards! This game can be played with two to eight players, the only limitation with a larger group is having a surface that allows all the players to reach the cards.

Components

50 cards: 25 pairs of cards with 5 different colors and 5 different shapes in unique combinations
2 Dice: One with the 5 shapes and a “wild” side, One with the 5 colors and a “wild” side.

Gameplay

Set up

To begin, shuffle and randomly spread out the 50 cards face up on the playing area in a grid pattern so they do not overlap. This area is the Slapping Field.

A Turn

The first player is the roller and they begin a turn by trolling the two dice to determine the color and shape. All players then scan the Slapping Field and try to find the matching pair that matches the dice. To claim the cards a player must be the first one to slap, or touch, both cards simultaneously. The player earning the card and places it in front of themself to create their collection. However, the cards collected must remain face up and visible, because they are still in play.

The Theft

As the game progresses a color and shape combination may come up which is no longer in the Slapping Field. When this occurs you can steal from an opponent. To steal, you need to slap the pair in front of your opponent which matches the dice. A player can protect their cards by slapping them first. A Theft cannot occur if there is an option in the Slapping Field.

The Penalty

Near the end of the game as things become more frantic it can be harder to protect your collection. Players may only protect the cards that match the die rolls. If they inadvertently slapped the wrong cards and another player catches them, they have to forfeit those cards to the player that caught them.

Ending the Game

The game ends once all pairs have been captured out of the Slapping Field. Should the game in a tie, 5 pairs placed back in the Slapping Field for a SlapOff. The first player to capture a pair wins the game.

One alternative to the win condition is to have the first player to capture five pairs wins the game.

Family Game Assessment

Slap Down can be a great family game for the right family. The rules are very straightforward, easy to understand , and the game can be learned in just a matter of minutes. That said, the game is very competitive and care must be taken to avoid injury. In the games that we played, even with extra care being taken there were a few scratched fingers as we both dove for the same cards. With the right group dynamic, this game involves lots of laughter and frantic silliness to make their pairs

Conclusion

If you are looking for a easy to learn fast and light family game Slap Down is a perfect fit for anyone looking for a frantic and fast game.

FCC disclosure: a copy of Slap Down! was provided for review.

December 1, 2020 0 comment