Tag:

New York Toy Fair

Harry Potter: House Cup Competition

by Stephen Duetzmann February 26, 2020

The OP has announced another family friendly board game set in the Harry Potter Universe – Harry Potter: House Cup Competition.

It will be the first worker placement game set in the Wizarding World. Players will “act as iconic members of Hufflepuff, Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, or Slytherin to earn the most points and win the coveted House Cup.” This is a theme that I never saw coming, but really is perfect for a worker placement game.

Each player will have three students to use as their “workers.” They will have their students attend classes like Potions and Defense Against the Dark Arts and complete in thematic challenges that can earn points for their house!

People have grown VERY attached to the different houses in the Harry Potter universe in the years since the series started. I think giving people a game where they can choose to represent “their” house is a great tactic. I have a feeling that Gryffindor will be HOTLY contested in my house. I’m curious how the designers implemented the houses. I think it would be interesting to see the theme of each house represented by a unique player power.

Harry Potter: House Cup Competition Box Art

Harry Potter: House Cup Competition is going to be available this summer for a retail price of $49.99.

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!

Like us on Twitter!

Subscribe to our Newsletter!

Subscribe to our Podcast!

February 26, 2020 0 comment

Board Games

Episode 164: New York Toy Fair 2019!

by Stephen Duetzmann February 19, 2019

written by Stephen Duetzmann

This week Stephen and Linda record a ridealong podcast where they talk about the highlights from their trip to New York Toy Fair 2019!

They talked about Linda’s impressions of the show, Peaceable Kingdom, Gamewright, Brain Games, North Star Games, Asmodee, and iEllo.

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!

Like us on Twitter!

Subscribe to our Newsletter!

Subscribe to our Podcast!

February 19, 2019 0 comment

Board Games

New York Toy Fair 2018 Report: The Mansky Caper!

by Stephen Duetzmann February 27, 2018

written by Stephen Duetzmann

I had the opportunity to meet with the staff at Calliope Games while I attended New York Toy Fair last week. I was excited to talk to them about their upcoming press your luck game The Mansky Caper. The game, designed by Ken Franklin and funded by Kickstarter, will be reaching stores later this year and I am super excited to play it with my family.

This game lived inside Ken’s mind for what sounds like decades. It was originally conceived as a thought experiment. Think about this:

Imagine that you are standing in a room. Inside that room are 300,000 boxes. All of those boses have an $5 bill. ONE of those boxes, however, contains nuclear device that would end all life on Earth. How many of those boxes would you open?

Interesting right? There is no right answer either. It’s going to vary for each person thinking about it. I don’t know what answer I would give, but I do know that I want to play an game that will help me find out!

The Mansky Caper is themed around an prohibition era heist. Players take on the roles of members of a family of thieves as they attempt to rob from Mr. Mansky. Gameplay consists of moving from room to room and breaking into an series of safes.

The key is that each safe has a set amount of loot in it, as well as trouble cards that will hinder your thievery, or set off the alarm and force you to leave. You will always know what was in the safe from the beginning as each room clearly labels the tokens that will be going into the safe as game setup takes place. This means that you have to pay attention to what your opponents have done and make your decisions appropriately.

Another super cool feature in the game is the way it handles variable player powers. Each player takes on the role of an member of an criminal family. They each have unique powers that can be incredibly powerful in the right situation. Unfortunately, they can never use their power for themselves. Instead, they can call in favors from their friends using favor tokens. This means that when players choose a character they’re actually choosing the power that they DON’T want to have access to. That’s an interesting concept.

The Mansky Caper will be releasing later on this year barring any logistical hurdles with the components. Keep your eyes on EFG for more information as we get closer to launch including a review.

February 27, 2018 0 comment

Board Games

New York Toy Fair 2018 Report: North Star Games!

by Stephen Duetzmann February 23, 2018

written by Stephen Duetzmann

One of the first things I did when I got to New York Toy Fair was run to the North Star Games booth. They sent out a press release earlier in the week announcing Happy Planet, a new line of party games that are similar to Happy Salmon!

North Star Games has an very specific focus with these new games. They want to, simply, make people happier. They told me the story of how they made their decision while I was at their booth. One of the things they noticed as they watched people play Happy Salmon last year was that no one who played the game came out unhappy when they were finished. It wasn’t the deepest game. It wasn’t the heaviest game. It didn’t have all sorts of miniatures or other trappings from popular board games, but it was designed just well enough to make everyone smile.

This was really exciting to watch, so they set out to do it again. The results of their efforts are two new games that made me smile just watching them.

Funky Chicken

Funky chicken, which can be identified by its chicken shaped carrying case, is more or less an expansion to Happy Salmon. It includes four new moves:

Swing – Wherein players will link arms like they are Swing dancing and spin around.
Funky Chicken – Wherein players do… the funky chicken. Additionally, they have to say “Get Funky” while doing it!
Bump – Wherein players bump hips.
Spin- Wherein players spin around in place.

For real folks… just READING that made most of you smile. Imagine how much fun playing it will be?

The Monster Match Game

The Monster Match Game isn’t related to Happy Salmon directly at all. This is a matching game where an series of cards are laid out on the table. Players roll a pair of dice. One of the dice represents an number between zero and five. The other will show either eyes, arms, or legs. Players then race to pick an card featuring an monster that has the appropriate number of arms/legs/eyes indicated on the dice. Play continues until the deck is done. The game is adorable, fast, and accessible for almost all ages.

There is a deeper strategy as well. Each card has a stack of doughnuts on them and the winner is determined by who has the most doughnuts on their total cards at the end of the game.

I didn’t get to play a complete round of either of these games, but just talking about them and watching other people play put a smile on my face. I can’t help but think that you and your family would feel the same way. These games will be available at retail soon and will be available for a relatively low price. Keep your eye on EFG for more information about these games.

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!

Like us on Twitter!

Subscribe to our Newsletter!

Subscribe to our Podcast!

February 23, 2018 0 comment

Board Games Podcasts!

Episode 72: New York Toy Fair!

by Stephen Duetzmann February 21, 2017

written by Stephen Duetzmann

Hello and Welcome to Engage!: A Family Gaming Podcast! This is episode 72. This week we are talking about board games with news from New York Toy Fair! Its a fireside chat with myself and my lovely wife Jenna.

My name is Stephen Duetzmann: Editor and Chief of EFG Gaming. You can reach out to us via our community page at www.EFGgaming.com/community. You can also reach out us via Twitter: @EFGgaming, and our new email address: EFGpodcast@engagedfamilygaming.com. I am also a co-host of the Gaming with Mom’s Podcast and a contributing writer to Pixelkin.

Around the Horn:

Stephen:

Build or Boom

Letter Tycoon Expansion

Jenna:

Pokémon Moon

Topic: New York Toy Fair

Pokémon Megablox

Disney/Pixar/Marvel Codenames

Gamewright is bringing all sorts of stuff this year!

Oh Captain by Asmodee

Finally, please subscribe to our YouTube channel. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter, and support us on Patreon. As always: Thanks for listening to Engage!: A Family Gaming Podcast.

And Remember: Get Your Family Game On!

Below are all of our website and social links. If the links appear broken, then go to the social media site and search for Engaged Family Gaming. You’ll find us! Thank you!

Twitter

buying sustanon 250 online

February 21, 2017 0 comment