The Family Gamers Podcast

Episode 218 Room to Grow: Tile Laying Games On today’s podcast, we’ll be talking about tile laying games. But first, we open today with a politics fact for 218 – that’s the number of votes needed for a simple majority in the U.S. House of Representatives. Thanks again to our sponsor, First Move Financial. For expert help applying some of the same principles that help you take down your friends in Agricola, head over to firstmovefinancial.com/familygamers today to schedule a call. What We’ve Been Playing Haunt the House (Kids Table) Thanks so much to Josh and Helaina Cappel! Gobblet Gobblers (Blue Orange Games) – the kids wouldn’t let us give this one away. Campaign Trail (Cosmic Wombat Games / Grey Fox) – with 6 players! This was our very first written review all the way back in 2015. The gameplay makes for great storytelling. Check out their Kickstarter for the second edition and Green Party expansion. Pan Am (Funko Games) – we love this game. Town Builder: Coevorden (First Fish) – Andrew played solo? What is happening? Timeline: American History – continuing with gameschooling. More education than game. Prisma Arena (Hub Games) – our review is out today. There is so much to love about this game! Don’t forget you can enter the Food Fighters giveaway! SNAP Review: Cupcake Academy Can you work together and stack cupcake tins before time runs out? Match all the cards and become the Star Bakers. See more pictures and read the transcript on the SNAP review page. Room to Grow: Tile Laying A continuation of our Room to Grow series. If you’re interested in tile laying games but you’re not really sure how to bring kids in and then grow them into more complex games, we’ve got suggestions for you. Hisss Beginning Level Tile Laying: Hisss This simple color-matching game from Gamewright is a perfect introduction for very young children. Start with simple turn taking and pattern matching. Once they’ve mastered that, you can put in a bit of game strategy. The most important part is the recognition of tiles and laying them to create a continuous flow. But if you’re starting with older kids or adults, this might not be the best choice. Still Easy But More Grown-Up: Kingdomino This is one your kids won’t grow out of. It’s very flexible and can be played with kids who aren’t reading yet and understand very little math.

On this week’s episode of the show we are so happy to invite Helaina and Josh Cappel of Kids Table Board Gaming and Burnt Island Games. 217 Fact: As far as we can find, the earliest recorded game of “association football” (ie. soccer) took place in Derby, England, in the year 217 CE. Wild! Thanks as always to our sponsor, First Move Financial. Head over to FirstMoveFinancial.com/familygamers to see how First Move Financial can kick start your financial engine today. Helaina and Josh use their two imprints to publish games. Helaina is also a school teacher; Josh does art and game development for their two imprints and Grand Gamers Guild. What We’ve Been Playing Studies in Sorcery – from Weird Giraffe Games. We’ve been playing a prototype, but the full version is on Kickstarter right now. It’s only $19, you should definitely check it out. Order of Invention (Breaking Games) – Funny to play this with kids, who often are betting at random. Josh worries that it is a game that gets less fun as you “learn” the cards. We disagree, since there are so many disconnected facts. DO NOT BUY “educational games”. Find good games that are tangential to the things you want to learn. Slide Quest (Blue Orange) – fun for all ages. “I miss doing things NOT with my children.”Anitra We are glad that our kids can play outside (playgrounds, etc.) but there probably won’t be much to do as the weather gets colder. (Long ago, we did a podcast about games you can play outside and another about games that get you moving.) Codenames: Harry Potter (The OP) – We were surprised! This is a completely cooperative game. Each side of the table takes turns giving clues according to their own side of the clue card. We should know by now that the OP doesn’t just slap a theme on a game, but puts time connecting the theme into the gameplay. Connect 4 – Anitra does not let kids win. Elliot was a little exasperated, but not upset. Caylus (remake from Space Cowboys)- Helaina is really excited for this one, and hoping to play it soon. Samurai (by Reiner Knizia) Magic: The Gathering has hooked Asher, and is helping work through disappointments. (Has carried through to Unmatched too!) SNAP Review: Baby Dragon Bedtime Anitra and Asher review this simple card game. Baby Dragon Bedtime combines deck-building with real-time play and memory aspects. Can your baby dragon make a big enough hoard to make a comfy bed? Read the transcript and see more pictures at the SNAP review page. Giveaway We’re giving away a copy of Food Fighters!

Episode 216Halloween Traditions Old & New This week is spooky games and Halloween traditions, especially since Halloween is changing for a lot of people this year. First, a 216 fact – A baseball has a total of 108 double stitches, equivalent to 216 individual stitches. What We’ve Been Playing Food Fighters (Kids Table Boardgaming) Cloaked Cats (HABA) – not great at 2 players, but we’re looking forward to playing with the whole family. Fort (Leder Games) – super cute deck/engine builder. We love the combination of a mechanically solid game with a cute and silly theme. Prisma Arena (Hub Games) – A fantastic arena fighting game coming in November and available for pre-order now. Skulk Hollow (Pencil First Games) – our review. In this play, we were very well matched in strategy, so the game dragged on. Studies in Sorcery (formerly “Degrees in Darkness” – by Weird Giraffe Games) – a dark and lightly spooky game (you’re digging up graves to get materials for your spells). Resource harvesting with some card drafting, some press-your-luck, and engine building. On Kickstarter through October 29 – just $19! Adventure Mart (Hub Games) – deck-building and engine building. Run a convenience store catering towards adventurers! Meeple Land (Blue Orange Games) – build an amusement park. Part tile-laying puzzle, part worker/resource management. Cinco Linko (Big Potato Games) – we’re still getting mileage out of this simple 5-in-a-row game. Best at 3-4 players (our review). SNAP Review: Who’s the G.O.A.T.? Nick and Izzy tell us all about this fun party game that’s perfect for families. It’s one part prediction, one part competition, and all parts fun! Pick who you think will be the best at a variety of off-the-wall challenges, then vote by tossing your squishy goat. See more pictures and a complete transcript on our SNAP review page. Topic: Halloween We’ve discussed spooky games before – episode 166, episode 116, and episode 68. We’ve been slowly adding to our list, but it’s nearly the same year after year. We’re bringing it up again because it’s that time of year – and because Halloween will likely look different this year for lots of families, due to COVID. (Our town has “banned” trick or treating.) So let’s talk about things we can do as a family to enjoy the season, even if parties and trick-or-treating have to be canceled (or scaled back). We’re not sure if it’s worth it to dress up this year (past costumes include: paladins of Voltron, Mario/Luigi/Peach/Toadstool, and the Incredibles). What else really matters? Candy!

Welcome to Rachael and Justin Blaske! They are the brains behind Five24 Labs, recently rebranded as Poketto. They are some of the folks responsible for bringing the Mint series of games to fruition. 215 leads us into facts about how car tires are measured!? Thanks of course to First Move Financial for sponsoring this episode. We asked Rachael and Justin onto this episode to talk about pitching games to a publisher (and by extension, designing games). Tip 1: Have a rulebook ready. Tip 2: Have a sellsheet (player count, theme, playtime, what makes this game unique, etc.) Tip 3: Don’t say the “one more thing” you’re excited about; let the other person draw you out. What We’ve Been Playing Food Fighter (Kids Table Board Games) – adorable, with fodder for endless food-themed dad jokes! The Blaskes are proponents of gameschooling, so they are adding in games that fit thematically with whatever the kids are learning. Ancient Africa: Imhotep US geography: Ticket to Ride Weather/climate/water cycle: Petrichor Mythology: Similo Myths Paleolithic/Neolithic Era: Tribes: Dawn of Humanity and Evolution Ancient Mesopotamia: Prince of Persia: Forgotten Sands (video game) and Age of Empires (video game) Pan Am – highly recommended! Timeline: American History The Crew (review coming soon!) Cupcake Academy (review coming soon) SNAP Review: The Kringle Caper Asher and Claire help us review this wonderful stocking stuffer. The Kringle Caper is an escape room / mystery puzzle game in 18 cards. See more images and a transcript at our SNAP review page. You can pre-order the game from The Grand Gamers Guild. Publishing and Game Design with Rachael & Justin How can you help a kid codify a game into something that’s shareable with other people? You need to balance not crushing a kid’s hopes with making something people can tolerate. Most games kids make take something familiar and change one thing. Talk them through what they’re trying to do, and give them choices of different paths: how else can we achieve that goal? Try to keep theme and originality. How do you maintain your (parental) sanity while helping your kids in game design? Rules must be written down. Good attitude is necessary – especially when receiving feedback. Parents, realize that it is natural for kids to constantly change the rules to their games. You need to communicate to the kids that adults don’t play this way. Design restrictions are incredibly good for creativity.Rachael The Blaskes highly recommend the Fail Faster playtesting journal (http://failfaster.

Episode 214 – Andrew’s Favorite Games This week, we’re celebrating Andrew’s birthday by focusing on a few games he’d really like to play. Thanks to First Move Financial for sponsoring today’s podcast! What We’ve Been Playing Pan Am (Funko Games) – we are amazed at how different this feels at each player count! Castles of Caladale (Renegade) – love how this game does not penalize less-than-great decisions. Mountains (HABA) – from the same kid who last week requested Go Away Monster! Parents with young kids, don’t lose hope if they request very simple games; it won’t last forever. Timeline: American History (Asmodee) – We digress to talk about how events from the 1990s don’t feel like they belong in a “history” game. In A Flash Firefighters (HABA) – This feels odd when played with only adults: drinking game? Our review. The Crew (KOSMOS) – Communication needs to be so careful in this cooperative game. Fight for Olympus (Mayfair / Asmodee) Bring Your Own Book (Gamewright) – Now that (most of) our kids are old enough, we can play this as a family! But it’s out of print :( Just One (Repos) – I am consistently amazed at how much fun we’ve had, even making it work with our pre-reader. And the cooperative nature of the game means that everyone always wants everyone else to win. For Science! (Thanks Flip) Last week, Flip mentioned he was sending us something… it was Smartfood Crunchberries popcorn mix! We give you our mixed thoughts on this strange food combination. See the video on Facebook. SNAP Review – In A Flash Firefighters Which firefighter can race and untangle their hoses first? Elliot helps us review this speedy pattern-matching game from HABA. See more pictures and read our transcript at the SNAP review page. Andrew’s Favorite Games Since it was recently Andrew’s birthday month, we decided to ask him about a few of his favorite games. Game for Our Whole Family Requirements for our family situation: not a speed game. Works with a pre-reader; strong iconography. Visually engaging. Has to allow for five players. Andrew’s choice: Quacks of Quedlinburg (with the Herb Witches expansion to bring it to 5 players) – from North Star Games. Runner up: Horrified To Play With Gamer Buddies Andrew debates the merits of Tzolk’in or Teotihucan or Roll Player… but ends up with: Ethnos (from CMON) Why doesn’t Anitra like Ethnos? It’s hard to nail down. Two Player Game Fight for Olympus (Mayfair / Asmodee) There are so many great two player games we could choose from, but this one fits just right for where we are right...

Welcome back to friend of The Family Gamers, Flip Florey! Thanks to First Move Financial for sponsoring this episode of The Family Gamers Podcast. To learn more about credit counseling and help find a reputable counselor, go to FirstMoveFinancial.com/familygamers and set up a time to talk. Episode 100 of Flip Florey’s Super Saturday Boardgame Serial is coming on Saturday! We can’t give away any secrets, but it’s going to be great. What We’ve Been Playing Mariposas (AEG) – feels a little short, but that’s OK. Wondering if we’ll like it better at more than two players. Monster Match (Happy Planet) – our review. “Only 75% of the players were in tears!” Ticket to Ride (Days of Wonder) – our gateway game of choice. We recommend the “Stay At Home” print-and-play map if you want a little variety without spending much money. Illusion (Pandasaurus) – Not completely color-blind friendly, but worth it. Put cards in order by the percentage of a given color. Call another player’s bluff and flip over the cards – if you’re right, you get the point! Go Away Monster (Gamewright) – our review. We’re aging out of this one. Highly recommend it as a first game to teach turn-taking. Barnyard Bunch (HABA) – we review this in the break. Rhino Hero Super Battle (HABA) – Just plain fun. In A Flash Firefighters (HABA) – appropriate at any age, but best when all players are at a similar skill level. “A game is always good when you get to yell something at the end.” Review coming soon. Carcassonne (Z-Man Games) – the expansions have overtaken the original game. We all enjoyed playing this on the XBox 360 more than we like it in person. SNAP Review – Barnyard Bunch Elliot helps us review this charming cooperative game. Keep the animals from escaping the farm! See the rest of the pictures and read the transcript on our SNAP review page. Flip Florey DId we mention Flip created the CUBE action figure? (Pictured at the beginning of these show notes.) “A pet rock for gamers.” They’re basically a desk toy, but it’s a cute idea and the accessories are really well done. About FFSSBGS Flip Florey’s Super Saturday Board Game Serial is a podcast that combines board games and all things “Saturday morning”. Every episode has a guest, and ends with the guest trying to answer questions and win a prize for a lucky listener. Episode 100 “takes a page from a popular game released earlier this year.” That’s all he’ll say! Did we mention that Flip used to work as a party clown? Because of that, he has learned to find joy in small things, and stupid/ridiculous things, but also in well-crafted things.

Warning: This show may make you hungry! 212 is the area code for Manhattan, and also a set of clothing brands? Who knew. Now you do! Thanks to our sponsor, First Move Financial, for sponsoring this episode. What We’ve Been Playing Century Golem (Plan B Games) Tang Garden (Thundergryph Games) – pushing the boundaries of “boardgames as art”. Akrotiri (Z-Man Games) – more playing with perspective Marvel Battleworld (Funko Games) – wait for the SNAP review in the break. Cities: Skylines (KOSMOS) – PLAY WITH THE SCENARIOS to avoid our frustration. Similo: History (Horrible Guild) – our Similo review Cloud City (Blue Orange) – light and quick construction game. Neat! The insert… not so great. Encore! (from Stronghold, AKA Noch Mal!) – Nick reviewed this, and Anitra finally got a chance to play it. For Science! Andrew sings the praises of Cheez-It Duoz: Caramel Popcorn & Cheddar. Looks like it’s already sold out on Amazon: see if you can find it on clearance at a grocery store near you. SNAP Review: Marvel Battleworld Defeat Thanos and collect mini figurines in this luck-heavy collectible game suitable for ages 6+. Asher and Andrew tell you all about it in our SNAP review. Check the website for pictures and a transcript. Food Games We are really surprised to see that we have reviewed more than 20 food-themed games! And we’ll be adding more soon, with the Pop-Tarts card game. In the past, we talked about very kid-friendly food games (episode 146 – only “adult” game was Viticulture). Let’s talk about slightly more grown-up games this time: ones that require reading and/or a bit more critical thinking. Backtalk We asked our community members about their favorite food games. Their recommendations: Food Truck Champion (Daily Magic Games) – set collection with multi-use cards. Looks a little bit like Rocky Road a la Mode, but more complex. Can “match” active player’s chosen action. Fabled Fruit (Stronghold) Foodfighters (Kids Table Boardgaming) – A two player battle. Each team is made up of food, of course! Sushi Roll (Gamewright) – we reviewed this earlier this year. Burger Up – looks like you stack cards to make the biggest, best burger. Safranito (Zoch Games, out of print) – dexterity/strategy game about throwing coins to bid for Indian spices. New York Slice (Bezier Games) – one of the better I-split-you-ch...

Welcome to the Family Gamers Podcast! This week, we’re talking to Kathleen Mercury, a middle school teacher who teaches game design (among other things). We talk about the many hats Kathleen wears (game designer, teacher of game design, What we’ve been playing! Kathleen played a lot over the summer, but not much since she started teaching school again this fall. But she has played Cones of Dunshire! We’re jealous. We’ve been playing: The Bears and the Bees (Grandpa Beck’s Games) The Crew (KOSMOS) – different than your average cooperative game. Cloud City (Blue Orange) – by Phil Walker-Harding. Easy to get into, but a ton of spatial relations. Get as many long connections between towers as possible. Walk the Plank! (Mayday Games) – Anitra loves the silly chaos, but also that there can be (in theory) two winners! Ever followed it up with Get Bit! ? Castles of Caladale (Renegade Game Studios) – so glad to finally play a full game after seeing it at PAX Unplugged 2017 and interviewing David Wilkinson, the designer. Hanamikoji (Deep Water Games) – a great two-player game. Check out our review. Jaipur (Asmodee) – another great two player game. Lost Cities (KOSMOS) Teotihuacan (Board & Dice – we played on Board Game Arena) – a little less complicated than Tzolk’in. Speaking of Board Game Arena, we’ve also been playing a lot of Downforce there! We love the original, and the expansions make it even better. Want to play games with us on BGA? Look for “familygamersAA”, “mrsNightskrye”, and “mmmmmmmercury”. SNAP Review – 5er Finden We really enjoyed this unusual speedy search game from HABA. Claire helps us review it. Count to five and see our pictures on the SNAP review page. About Kathleen Mercury So many things! We start with discussing Kathleen’s website KathleenMercury.com (and envying her incredibly nerdy photos). Kathleen is a middle school teacher. She says that teaching feels brand new now. But that’s not a bad thing! For example, she’s doing “filmmaking” this fall (using iPads) rather than “cosplay” or role playing games. Encouragement for parents of middle schoolers: “Seventh grade is the year everything blows up” but then kids get to put the pieces back together and figure out who they really are. Kathleen checks in with her students regularly; creating a responsive working relationship benefits everybody. Everything is going to be fine. Your children are going to be fine.

It’s Labor Day weekend in the US. If you’re getting together with family, what games will you play? We recommend party games that are good at 4-8 players and across generations. Fact: Class 210 patents are about purifying or treating water (or other liquids). Thanks to our sponsor, First Move Financial! Schedule a call to help understand your core money values. What We’ve Been Playing Animix (Blue Orange Games) – This game feels familiar, but we can’t figure out why. Lay out a central tableau; on your turn, play a card from your hand – either face down into your own space, or swapping it with a card from the central tableau. Once all cards are played out, each animal scores for the player who has the most of that animal. Color It! (HABA) – Exactly what we want a “my first roll and write” to be. Filler (Green Couch Games) – Claire wants to play more food-themed games. What’s your favorite? Pan Am (Funko Games) – We found out this week that it’s not as good at 3 players; the early game is very frustrating with that many workers on the board. We have theories on how to make this better. Ancestree (Calliope Games) – one of Eric Lang’s lesser known titles, since he doesn’t do many family games. One of our favorites! Dice Throne (Roxley Games) – We like it best “king of the hill” style with 3+ players. You’re always motivated to bring down the leader. Kingdomino (Blue Orange) – Math practice at the end of a fun game. Even our youngest got practice “counting by 2s” and other mutlipliers. Tajuto (Super Meeple / Luma Imports) – we released our review today. It starts disappointingly slowly, but otherwise it’s great. Rock Paper Switch (Mindware) – As we said in our review, it’s hardest at more than two players. Watch out for the wild color(s)! Harry Potter: House Cup Competition (The Op) – Perfectly themed worker placement game. Quick plug for Anitra’s blog post to encourage parents to stick with the hard work of parenting. SNAP Review: Smoosh & Seek Treehouse Corey and his daughter tell us about this darling, cheerful cooperative game. This game is intended for very young children, using “smoosh dough” to add a tactile component to a simple memory game. Read the summary and see more pictures on our SNAP review page. Backtalk In episode 208, we recommended games under $20. Lots of people gave us their recommendations too! See our Fac...

This week, we welcome Bruce Voge to the show! You may have seen Bruce before from our cricket-eating videos. We have a 209 fact that is baseball-related. As of recording time (8/28), the top 5 hitters in the major leagues have combined for 209 hits. Thanks as always to our sponsor, First Move Financial – they can help you with a budget. What We’ve Been Playing Last Defense! (wait for the SNAP review later.) 5er Finden (HABA) is still amazing. Crokinole boards are heavy. Pan Am (Funko Games) – is amazing at 2 players. … isn’t it great that there are GOOD licensed games now? 4×6 plastic photo cases (from the craft store) are an amazing way to store small box games. (A BGG thread that talks about this: https://boardgamegeek.com/blogpost/62375/storage-option-iris-46-photo-case) Anitra debates whether or not to get the Button Shy Game Haul bag. (Kickstarter: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/239309591/button-shy-game-haul-bag) Prisma Arena (HUB Games) – we did not anticipate how much our kids would love this game. “Pretty Pretty Princess Unmatched“? Not quite, but not far off. SNAP Review – Last Defense! Can you defend your city from unknown monsters? You have 20 minutes to find the trapped scientists in Last Defense!, but we have 5 minutes to tell you about it with Elliot. Read the transcript and see the pictures on our SNAP review page. What’s Up with Bruce? Bruce is an entertainer by nature. He’s been doing the Party Gamecast on and off, and recently got back into doing the podcast again. He also created a Youtube channel called “Board Game the Game Show”, with four different “shows” as part of it: * Board Game the Game Show (turning real board games into a game show format)* The Challenge (a clue-giving game)* It’s Quiz Time (ask questions about an image – live responses – a great replacement for bar trivia)* WIN-terview (an interview with a board game personality, and then a set of 50/50 questions that all viewers can answer) – our favorite! Flip the Table taught us that board game media (podcast, etc) could be FUN! That’s been a big inspiration for Bruce. Another piece was needing content that’s unique for virtual conventions. One more, but a lot less boardgame-related: Just Barely Sports, a podcast that explores things that are sports-adjacent: team names, logos, videogames, trading cards. We discuss the Raptors, the Trash Pandas, the Iron Pigs, the Rumble Ponies, and Blaseball.

Looking to add a little variety to your game library without spending too much money? We recommend several new(ish) games you can find for under $20. 208 fact: “When You Dish Upon a Star” is the 208th episode of the Simpsons – the 5th episode of season 10. So long ago! (More info: https://simpsons.fandom.com/wiki/When_You_Dish_Upon_a_Star) Thanks to our sponsor, First Move Financial. What We’ve Been Playing Endangered from Grand Gamers Guild (our review) – after talking to Marc Specter last week, we set up and played with the Giant Pandas. We will be backing the Kickstarter for Endangered: New Species. 5er Finden from HABA – we cannot get enough of this roll and write. (Proof on Twitter: twitter.com/TheOneTAR/status/1295577830948876288) Barnyard Bunch from HABA – we played with only big kids, but had a great time with it. Kids made silly animal sounds every time they moved an animal. Cupcake Academy from Blue Orange – we enjoyed this much more at two and three players. Requires a level of cooperation and teamwork that we don’t normally get to see in games. Drop It from KOSMOS (our review) – an all-ages favorite (We agree with Dad Suggests on Twitter: twitter.com/FamilyGamersAA/status/1296787977662758914) SNAP Review – Super Cats We love this silly, fast game, and so does 6-year-old Elliot. He’ll tell you all about the Super Cats and the Robo-Dog. See the rest of the pictures and the transcript at our SNAP review page. Games Under $20 How can you add variety to your family game library without breaking the bank? We’ve got a few unusual games for under $20. GameOur ReviewPrice5er Finden (HABA)(no review yet, but we love it)$20 on AmazonAbandon All Artichokes (Gamewright)We rate it 4.5 /5 vegetables $13 on Amazon(Most Gamewright games are under $20)Clip Cut Parks (Renegade)We rate it 3.5 / 5 park squaresNot our favorite, but certainly unusual.$19 on Amazon5 Minute Dungeon,5 Minute Marvel (Spin Master)Our boys love these games.Dungeon: $20 on AmazonMarvel: $17 on AmazonHeist: One Team, One Mission (University Games)We rate it 4.5/5 millions of dollars$13 on AmazonSimilo (Myths, History, or Fables) (Horrible Guild & Luma Imports)We rate it 5/5 clues$10

We are talking to Marc Specter from Grand Gamers Guild this week, primarily about the expansion to their game Endangered. We learn about a major league pitcher with 207 wins – but he’s famous (or infamous?) for something very different. Look up Carl Mays and find out the gruesome details. Thanks again to First Move Financial for sponsoring this episode! We’re really pleased that the Kickstarter for Endangered: New Species is already doing so well. But first… What We’ve Been Playing Cupcake Academy (Blue Orange) – as Anitra suspected last week, it plays smoothly at two players. Dragomino (Blue Orange) – Lives up to its “My First Kingdomino” subtitle. Patchwork (Mayfair / Lookout Games) Monza (HABA) – always fun to pull out and play quickly. Narwhal Free-for-All – why is a water game indoors more attractive than lots of water outside? We don’t know. But this is still a super cute game. (our review) Baby Dragon Bedtime (Tin Star Games) – a speedy deck-building game that’s also a memory game, with dragons?!? Count us in. Sumeria (Reiver Games) – anyone heard of this? Open information worker placement/area majority game. Out of print, but it does seem to be available on Amazon. Harry Potter House Cup Competition (The OP) Endeavor: Age of Expansion (Grand Gamers Guild) – “the euro-iest, engine-builder-iest game you’ll ever have the opportunity to play.” In a Flash Firefighters (HABA) – pattern recognition, speed puzzle game. T from HABA told us about this two weeks ago. Quote from six-year-old: “Really fun, but really frustrating.” 5er Finden (HABA) – our new favorite roll-and-write. Like Boggle but with symbols instead of letters. [Correction: the grid is 10×10.] SNAP Review Wait a minute! Marc hijacked our SNAP review and put in an ad for Endangered instead! See the Kickstarter. Endangered: New Species The original Endangered comes with two species (tigers and sea otters) but there are many things that will change up each game (roles, ambassadors, etc). We talked about this back in episode 141 with Joe Hopkins. The New Species expansion will add at least 5 more animal scenarios, another role, and more. Endangered is a cooperative game where the players work together to save an endangered species. Each role has special powers and a semi-unique deck of player cards. Try to stave off destruction, while pushing animals together to make mating pairs. But you must also convince 4 out of 6 ambassadors to vote for your cause to win! Each animal behaves differently (just like the real world): Tigers don’t stay together forever (represented by ha...

206 is the lowest positive integer (when written in English as “two hundred and six”) to employ all of the vowels once only. Pretty cool! We’ve got some more games to upgrade with our Play This, Not That segment. But first… A quick message from our sponsor: There’s a new scam going around that claims you’ve been exposed to COVID 19. Never give out your address or credit card number! f you want to run a phone call or email you’ve received by someone, schedule a quick phone call with First Move Financial by going to firstmovefinancial.com/familygamers. What We’ve Been Playing We tried out Zorro Dice Game from Pull the Pin. Complete quests (by matching dice) to unlock special abilities and eventually beat the “boss”. Nick Martinelli will be giving a full review later. The Pop Tarts Game from The OP – and we consider doing a special edition of “For Science” with Pop Tarts! Pass the Pigs – simple dice rolling, except your dice are tiny molded pigs. Adventure Mart – we talked about this last week in our interview with Rory O’Connor of HUB Games. A deck-building game with some engine-building. Can’t Stop – a simple, mathy press-your-luck game. Might assist our “gameschooling” in the future? (And if you want, you can play it on Board Game Arena.) Concluzio (our review) Last Defense from Funko Games BLANK from HUB Games (our review) – our kids make very swingy rules and Anitra makes rules that calm the swing or are simply fun. Marvel Battleworld (Funko Games) – simple enough that our 9-year-old taught his non-reading younger brother to play. Cupcake Academy (Blue Orange Games) – Andrew mentioned this when he saw it at NY Toy Fair. A cooperative, timed puzzle game based on the Towers of Hanoi. Probably better at 2 players than at 4. We’ll be back with more information soon. Raising Money for Kids with Cancer Andrew will be shaving his head on livestream. We’re matching the first $50 in donations! Text “familygamersaa” to 44321, or go to thefamilygamers.com/buzzoff/. Our goal is to raise $250. Play This Not That Our goal is to take popular games and give you some options that are a little better. Yahtzee Yahtzee is a die rolling, set collection game, and also the original roll-and-write. It’s an abstract game and it has a lot of restrictions. Maybe you like those restrictions, maybe you don’t. Die Rolling, Set Collection Games What are other games that let you “reroll the dice to make a certain set”? King of Tokyo – fight off giant monsters and take over Tokyo! There are cards with special powers you can “buy”, and health that you’ll track. Dice Throne – we call this “Battle Yahtzee” – ...

What’s goin on GenCon GenCon? We said last week we wouldn’t have any Gen Con interviews. Surprise! We managed to get a few after all. But first, let’s thank our sponsor, First Move Financial. Go to www.firstmovefinancial.com/familygamers to set up a time to talk about your financial future. What We’ve Been Playing Super Powered Smash Masters (Dark Unicorn Games) We really like where Claire’s prototype game is going. Anitra talks about her philosophy of being a play tester. Pop-Tarts Game (Funko Games) 7 Wonders Duel Last Defense (Funko Games) – a real time cooperative defense game. Random people run around and try to rescue scientists so they can defeat the weird giant monsters. Uses an iPad app to give instructions in real-time. Endangered (Grand Gamers Guild) – we saved the sea otters, with four players! Wavelength with the Charity Boardgamer – Chris Goodlet hosts virtual game nights every Thursday evening, along with an interview with some board game personality. We’ll be on August 13, raising money for One Mission, which helps kids with pediatric cancer. Stay tuned for how you can contribute! Interviews (0:15:30) HABA with T – written summary on our interviews page. (0:35:30) Funko Games with Jess – written summary on our interviews page. (0:53:10) Gamewright with Nora – written summary on our interviews page. (1:07:50) Hub Games with Rory – written summary on our interviews page. Find Us Online: Facebook: @familygamersaa and thefamilygamers.com/communityTwitter: @familygamersaaInstagram: @familygamersaa Or, for the most direct method, email us! andrew@thefamilygamers.com and anitra@thefamilygamers.com. PLEASE don’t forget to subscribe to the show, tell your friends about the show, and leave us a review at Apple Podcast or whatever your podcast subscription source is. We’re also on Amazon Music, TuneIn, Stitcher, and Spotify. The Family Gamers is sponsored by First Move Financial. Go to FirstMoveFinancial.com/familygamers to learn how the team at First Move Financial can help you pile up the victory points.

We’re going to talk about Gen Con, Gen Can’t, and virtual conventions in general. Fun Fact: There are exactly 204 ways to place three non-attacking queens on a chessboard! Thanks to our sponsor, First Move Financial. We talk about the sunk-cost fallacy What We’ve Been Playing Concluzio (Puzzling Pixel Games) – a pure deduction game that plays a bit like Hanabi. Hold one card face out and get clues about what your card matches (or not). Adventure Land (HABA) – see our review. Sparkle*Kingdom (Breaking Games) – get the coloring sheets and rules at sparklekingdom.com Knot Dice (Black Oak Games) – see our review. Dragonology – picked up this game from the thrift store. Roll-and-move with set collection; so a lot of random chance and much longer than it needs to be. But not terrible; thematicallly great. Harry Potter: Death Eaters Rising (The OP) – a very frustrating cooperative game. Defeat Voldemort and the Death Eaters, primarily through dice rolls. We discuss the difference between cooperative games that are heavily chance-dependent versus ones that have very little chance. Endangered (Grand Gamers Guild) – in which we find out that Anitra is a terrible breeder of tigers. Listen to our interview with Joe Hopkins, the creator, and keep watch for the expansion (more animal types!) coming soon to Kickstarter. My City (KOSMOS) – we’ve been excited for this since Andrew saw it at NY Toy Fair. The Crew (KOSMOS) – trick taking that’s cooperative and with goals. We’re hopeful this will train us to be better at trick-taking! Quirky Circuits (Plaid Hat Games) – our review is linked below. Biblios (IELLO) Qwingo (Gamewright) – we’re reminded why we like it so much and why we gave it such a glowing review. Hues and Cues (The OP) – we played over Zoom and it was fun. News There will be a sequel to Cartographers, one of our favorite roll-and-write (flip and writes)! It’s called Heroes. SNAP Review: Quirky Circuits Cooperate to program robots in this game from Plaid Hat Games. Just one catch – you’re not allowed to talk, and you must play at least one card from your hand every round. Find more pictures at our SNAP review. For Science! We try the Apple Pie Kit Kat. Very artificial, but not bad! Gen Can’t The original un-convention is still happening too! Oddly, it feels smaller than Gen Con, even though it can theoretically reach more people. There will be a photo contest, a mini-painting contest, and a raffle, along with a few hosted events: Mega Plays hosted by Ruel Gaviola, Mandi Hutchinson, Girls Game Shelf; some fun Quiz Shows with Bruce Voge; Jackbox; karaoke; and interactive story times.