The Family Gamers Podcast

We’re joined this week by the Burrell family. Their kids Jarred and Peyton are the hosts of “Kidsplaining” – game tutorials done by kids. (And fun stuff like unboxing and guess-the-rules.) Thanks to First Move Financial for sponsoring this show – Claire tells us about the “fun ratio”, a helpful tool for your kids to understand how to make the best use of their money when buying toys and games. For more ways to equip your children for the future, go to FirstMoveFinancial.com/familygamers and set up a time for a free call. Kids + Kids Our kids interview the Burrell kids and ask about Jumanji and how long they’ve been making videos about board games (about 4 months). Then some talk about treehouses and TV shows. Their favorite kind of games? Roll-and-write! We discuss Roar & Write, Roland Wright, and That’s Pretty Clever. What the longest game you’ve played? Scythe between just the boys (5 hours!) Favorite trip? Disney World and a cruise! Wow! Jarred tells us that he loves engineering and building things, and reading. We recommend Scratch (scratch.mit.edu) for learning to code. SNAP Review – The Bad News Bears We review this expansion for Bärenpark. If you’re looking to add to your koala-ty family experience, check out the new modules. Listen to the SNAP and check out the pictures. More Kidsplaining – with Adults Allison and Daniel decided to let their kids teach adults about their favorite board games. This helps friends and family members to feel less intimidated – if a 10-year-old can explain how to play the game, it’s something an adult can approach. They’re committed to making high quality videos while only doing as much as their kids are comfortable with. Amazingly, Jarred has written entire scripts by himself and took to using a teleprompter right away. They’re loving the community that comes together around board games. Media and even publishers are so supportive! Unboxing videos are “like Christmas every day” – it’s so joyous to watch the boys open up a box and just start punching out pieces and get excited for what they see. How do you get your kids into board games? Enjoy doing it yourself! If they see mom & dad enjoying games together, they’ll see it as “normal” and do it too. Allison & Daniel have intentionally stayed away from “kid” games and kept to “adult” games that a pre-reading kid can play. They recommend Horrified for cooperative games (encourages real cooperation instead of a ringleader) – and encourage you to get games that look fun, even if they look too hard for your kids. Find Kidsplaining Online: Youtube: youtube.com/Kidsplaining Instagram: @Kid.Splaining Facebook: @Kid.Splaining Twitter:

Episode 202Room to Grow:Engine Builders We find out that 202 is a “Smith number”! (Thanks Wikipedia…) This episode of the podcast is sponsored by First Move Financial. You only have a few more days to file your taxes! If you don’t understand the new changes in tax law affecting retirement, you might want to set up a call with First Move by going to firstmovefinancial.com/familygamers, they’re happy to have a quick conversation about your retirement needs to see if they can help you. We’re going to talk this week about how to teach a specific mechanic (engine builders) to your kids, starting with a very simple game and then moving to more complex games. What We’ve Been Playing Wingspan – maybe overhyped, but it’s a good game and we’re enjoying it. Unlock: Squeek and Sausage – you’re escaping a mad scientist (who looks a bit like a clown). Not overly scary, good with our kids. Quirky Circuits Valeria Card Kingdoms – definitely has a few features that make it more fun than Machi Koro. Super Cats – quickly becoming a big hit with our family. Barenpark with both expansions from The Bad News Bears – surprisingly, playing with two expansions was not more difficult or long than playing with a single expansion. Tussie Mussie (Button Shy) – we are becoming big fans of Elizabeth Hargrave’s designs. (We pre-ordered her next one: Mariposas) The solo expansion for Tussie Mussie is pretty easy to learn and feels like playing against a real opponent, which Anitra always likes. Desert Pack (Button Shy) – by Sam Bryant and Gwen Ruelle. A bluff/combat game, where every card is identical! Fight and defend with your coyotes in their given orientations; rest some coyotes to upgrade them, but defending coyotes get downgraded (or removed from the game). Skulk Hollow (Pencil First Games) – Asymmetric dueling game, review is out today. We really like this game! Ticket to Ride on iOS – Andrew managed to get his lowest score ever… News The 2020 Kinderspiel des Jahres winner was not a HABA game, and from a publisher who has never won a Kinderspiel before. The game is called Speedy Roll, and it’s super cute, using a sort of fuzzy ball “hedgehog” to pick up apples, mushrooms, and leaves. SNAP Review – Marshmallow Test No, not “chubby bunny”. It’s not that kind of marshmallow test! We review Marshmallow Test, a simple trick-taking game from Reiner Knizia and Gamewright. Go to the SNAP review page for a full transcript and more pictures. Room to Grow – Engine Builders Let’s talk about engine builders. What is it? This is the definition we found: “Engine building: a game system in which player actions become stronger or more effective over time.” That’s a good place to start, but encompasses a much wider scope than we are looking at here.

This week, we’re joined by Carla Kopp from Weird Giraffe Games to talk about Roar & Write (currently on Kickstarter), and a few other games she’s excited for right now. The Family Gamers Podcast is sponsored by First Move Financial. If you want to talk to a professional to see if you are on track to achieve your goals go to firstmovefinancial.com/familygamers to schedule a quick phone and see if First Move is the right fit for you. What We’ve Been Playing Carla has been doing a lot of playtesting: mostly Fire in the Library Card Game and Scents and Sensibility (hedgehogs in a flower shop) 10 Days in the USA kicked off our Independence Day weekend. We’re hoping to also get in a play of Hanabi to substitute for the fireworks we’re missing. Super Cats Fire in the Library Rap Godz (Hoop Godz is coming soon!) Stone Age: Anniversary Edition Valeria Card Kingdoms (Andrew played solo!) Telestrations: Upside Drawn Telestrations: Upside Drawn, Fire in the Library, and 10 Days in the USA Last Week! Last week we played Boardgame in the Middle just for fun. Carla wins the game! Cities Skylines has an average weight of 6.84, Megacity Oceania is 7.01, and Sprawlopolis is 7.46 (as of when we played Boardgame in the Middle). We also asked you, our listeners to guess the highest weight of the games in our library. Congratulations to Sheramy for her guess! SNAP Review – Clip Cut Parks Is this “roll and cut” game a novel take on the roll and write genre – or just a novelty? Andrew and Anitra tell you all about it. See the pictures and the transcript for this SNAP review. Questions for Carla Let’s talk about Weird Giraffe Games and Galactic Raptor Games. Roar & Write: An Animal Kingdoms Game We loved Animal Kingdoms (our review). Carla designed the solo mode for that game, and she also designed Roar & Write (currently on Kickstarter), set in the same world. The Animal Kingdoms decrees come back here as animal “committe members”, plus specific requirements for each kingdom, plus a hidden objective for each player. Going “out” early still gives you extra points, although in a slightly different way here, since Roar & Write allows for any number of players. It’s the right time for a lighter, less expensive game (only $19 including shipping!), especially one that can be played remotely. Originally Roar & Write was going to include some area control, but that proved too difficult to do in a roll and write game – and they ended up with a game they liked a lot better.

Episode 200! We are excited for episode 200! We start with well-wishes from Jeff Johnston (Pair of Jacks Games), who has become a friend since we interviewed him for episode 43. Andrew has 200 facts about 200?! No, only two. Thanks to First Move Financial for sponsoring the podcast! We sent out an e-mail to all of our friends that we’ve had on the show before, inviting them to join in on the fun. We’ll be sharing those throughout the show. How about that adorable picture of Seb Funkhouser above? The Funkhousers‘ son is finally old enough to play some family games! Thanks to Ryan & Erin from One Board Family for their well-wishes! Giveaway We had a top secret giveaway on the Family Gamers Newsletter. If you aren’t getting our newsletter you should be – sign up now! Thanks for the kind wishes, Andy Geremia. We think you rock, too! What We’ve Been Playing Andrew’s brother and sister came to visit and they played three-headed Magic: The Gathering. Now Asher wants to play! It became an important learning experience for how to work through frustration. Unmatched (still good… and we figured out how to play it over video-chat, like we mentioned in episode 196.) Cartographers (from Thunderworks Games) – apparently Andrew is the artistic one, at least when it comes to games like this? Cities: Skylines (from KOSMOS) which is still incredibly frustrating and hard. Megacity: Oceania (from HUB Games) was a nice palate-cleanser and feels a lot more productive. We made a lovely city! Bees: The Secret Kingdom (from Awaken Realms Lite / Van Ryder Games) – check our SNAP review. Clip Cut Parks (from Renegade) Koi (from Smirk & Laughter Games) – we published our review today. IceCOOL (from Brain Games) Cartographers final sheetsMegacity: OceaniaClip Cut Parks Nick and Izzy share a fact about 200 and what they love about listening to (and contributing to!) The Family Gamers. Back Talk First, Peter Ellis tells us that we were BOTH right in our argument about when summer starts. (The solstice on June 20 began Astronomical Summer, but Meterological Summer started June 1.) Also: we asked on Facebook what people’s favorite memory was of the show and we wanted to share some of those with you:

This week, we are joined by Mik and Starla from Our Family Plays Games! But first, a word from our sponsor, First Move Financial – and it ties in with the number 199! We find out that Grant (Mik & Starla’s son) edits all their videos! Wow, he’s doing a great job. What have you been playing lately? Suburbia (Bezier Games) Everdell (Starling Games) Unmatched: Cobble & Fog (Restoration Games), and Unmatched: Bigfoot & Robin Hood We got a little off the rails here… Champions of Midgard Lords of Waterdeep Roll Player Following last week’s episode, our kids have been asking to play Toasted or Roasted (Education Outdoors) The Kids of Carcassonne – the more we play it, the more we like it. Quacks of Quedlinburg Terra Mystica (find it on Board Game Arena) Rock Paper Switch SNAP Review – Valley of the Vikings What do Vikings, bowling, and falling off a dock have to do with collecting coins? We don’t know either, but they all go together in Valley of the Vikings from HABA. See pictures and read the transcript at the SNAP review page. Our Family Plays Games Mik and Starla have been posting weekly videos for about six months now. They started playing modern hobby board games around seven years ago. They were tired of playing the same old Monopoly, Sorry, etc. with their son. So Mik started researching other games online. They started with Forbidden Island, only to discover that Starla doesn’t like cooperative games. Then they found Catan, and that was the gateway to trying lots of other games. Why did you start making videos? It started with a Facebook page. Mik and Starla were going to meet-ups and conventions, but weren’t seeing people who looked like them. “When you see people who look like you, you get that comfortable feeling. You feel happy, you feel OK.” Living in Texas, the reception of black people in larger gaming groups was mixed. They made a few great friends who helped them feel welcome anyway. But as they continued to reach out, they couldn’t find many content creators who were focused on gaming as a family or people of color. So they decided to start their own Youtube channel that combined both, and be a resource for people of color who are looking for more about board gaming. Their goal is to get more people of color to enjoy this hobby, which is so valuable to keep families together. Andrew & Anitra really connected with the video series called “Beyond Monopoly”. We talk about what prevents people from joining the larger gaming community. “There’s not enough designers who look like us, there’s not enough boxes that look like us… not enough games that represent our stories.”Mik “We want all of those views to have an opportunity to be shared.”Starla

Episode 198 – Summertime Games Our kids are out of school (or “school”), so that means (for most intents and purposes) it’s summer! We’re hoping this means a lot more gaming. First, we learn about the radioactive gold isotope AU198. Then, thanks to our sponsor, First Move Financial, for sponsoring this episode of the podcast. What We’ve Been Playing Unmatched: Cobble & Fog (Restoration Games). Andrew is in love with this game for many reasons. Draftosaurus (Ankama / Luma Games) Sparkle Kitty (Breaking Games) – the fun here is from saying the silly word combinations. Abandon All Artichokes (Gamewright) Super Kitty Bug Slap (Steve Jackson Games) Super Cats (from The OP) – we talked about this two weeks ago. We compare it to Go Nuts for Donuts – you’re “bidding” to get your desired result, but with your fingers instead of cards. Very quick, even with the whole family. Scooby Doo: Escape from the Haunted Mansion (The OP) – similar to an Unlock! or EXIT, or the Adventure Games that we enjoyed earlier this year. Full review coming soon. We supported our FLGS with Throw Throw Burrito (Exploding Kittens) for the kids. A silly real-time set collection game that also involves hitting each other with foam burritos. News My City – now available for pre-order from KOSMOS (pre-order from Barnes & Noble or your local game store). Polyominoes, Reiner Knizia, legacy game? Sounds awesome. SNAP Review – Metro X We tell you about this flip-and-write game, an abstract game that’s got just enough theme to keep everyone in our family excited. See the SNAP review page for a full transcript. Summer Games Andrew is thinking particularly of games that are quick to play, easy to pick up / put down. Also games with chunky components (generally won’t get blown around by a stray breeze). Anitra is thinking of games our family typically plays in the summer, often outside, many of which happen to be heavy-duty. Also games that don’t have complex rules and can be played even with distractions (or paused to take care of some perceived emergency). Toasted or Roasted (Education Outdoors) – comes camping with us every year. Really appealing to kids because of the components and high luck factor. [Edit: Oops! We originally listed this as being from Gamewright. It’s actually from Education Outdoors and friend of the show Jeff Johnston.] Drop It (KOSMOS) – chunky and easy to play outside,

Back the Comeback is a movement to encourage people to get back into their friendly local game (and comic) stores. We’re joined by Brandt Sanderson who works at The Portal game store in Manchester, Connecticut. First, some facts about 197 – * Jonathan Papelbon, MLB closing pitcher, gave up 197 earned runs in his career.* Dennis Eckersley, MLB relief pitcher (with the highest Wins Above Replacement statistic) had 197 wins in his career. * United Nations Security Council Resolution 197 recommended that the Republic of Zambia be admitted.* 197 is a “Keith” number. A quick message from our sponsor: If you’d like to have a free conversation to help you understand how to do some due diligence on a charity before making a donation, go to firstmovefinancial.com/familygamers and schedule a 15 minute phone call. What We’ve Been Playing Brandt has around 200 plays of Marvel Champions. Wow! A lot of two player dueling card games. Build a deck and play it over and over. Abandon All Artichokes – a great game to play with kids. Liberation of Rietburg – remarkably accessible. Much easier (and faster) than the Legends of Andor. The characters you can play have a surprising amount of differentiation. Animal Kingdoms Pictures (recreate photos with various materials – and everyone plays simultaneously! Board Game Geek has more info) Highly recommended for playing with kids. Draftosaurus – still loving it! L.L.A.M.A. – not a favorite. Castle Panic – it’s been a while, but it’s so good! Piratatak (by DJECO) – very luck-dependent, so kids like it, but it can be very short or very long. Tiny Towns – one of many that our kids have been itching to play lately (including Draftosaurus and Castle Panic) Metro X (now published by Gamewright) – Anitra has been playing a LOT and introducing it to the rest of the family. A flip and write game that we’ll be reviewing soon. Highly recommended as a travel game. KOI (by Smirk & Dagger) – the more Anitra plays it, the better she likes it. A lot of randomness here. Ticket to Ride: Japan map – with bullet trains! Interesting strategies involved. (We also discuss the Stay At Home map – mentioned last week – and the UK map.) Ingenious – where Anitra came in last, behind a six-year-old, modeling how to be a good loser! Back the Comeback How can we support our friendly local game stores? (Disclaimer: Brandt can only speak for his employer,

Episode 196Top Games for Remote Gaming Thanks to our sponsor, First Move Financial. Set up a FREE meeting today at FirstMoveFinancial.com/familygamers. This week, we’re talking about games we’ve discovered work well for remote gaming (with video conferencing). If your friendly local gaming store is re-opening, we encourage you to #BackTheComeback and buy something to help them stay in business. Why not a game that you could play remotely with family and friends if there’s a second wave of closings? What We’ve Been Playing Bees: The Secret Kingdom (we talked about this last week too). A learning opportunity for our kids to set themselves up for multiple paths to victory. Barenpark: The Bad News Bears – the Grizzlies expansion. This expansion gives you more of the Barenpark play style you already know and love. (The Monorails expansion completely changes up the puzzle. Both expansions come together in The Bad News Bears, so you can do either one or both!) Dice Throne – we had a good time with the king-of-the-hill rules for three players. Cinco Linko (aka OK Play) – a nice quick time-filler Anitra is still enjoying solo plays of HexRoller & MetroX. Scrambled States of America – a nice combination of a “speed” game and an educational game. Ticket to Ride: Stay at Home – which is also our first news item for the podcast! News Ticket to Ride: Stay at Home – a map & cards that’s free to print at home. Combine with your Ticket to Ride trains & train cards to play a shorter game with a few neat twists: specialized ticket cards for each character, and “family routes” that players can team up and complete together. Find it at the Asmodee website. The Evolution app from North Star Digital is STILL 50% off – but only until June 5th! Asmodee is partnering with Blizzard to create Small World of Warcraft – coming soon! We can finally talk about Super Cats. Silly, simple fun for $10. Learn more from The OP. SNAP Review – Paranormal Detectives Can you deduce the circumstances of a ghost’s demise? Take the role of detectives communicating with the supernatural and find out in Paranormal Detectives by Lucky Duck Games. See pictures and read the transcript at the SNAP review page. Favorite Games to Play at a Distance We’re not playing many games with people outside of our immediate family. But it would be good to prepare for a second wave of lockdown – why not teach our extended family and friends some games that we’d be able to play over video chat in the future!...

First, we learn a little bit about the Ferrari 195 S. This week we welcome back Ric White from the One Board Family. Thanks to our sponsor: Donnie from First Move Financial tells us why Andrew is wrong about Welcome To… and invites you to set up a chat by going to FirstMoveFinancial.com/familygamers today. What We’ve Been Playing Rallyman GT on Board Game Arena Smash Up from AEG Seasons of Rice from Button Shy Cover Your Kingdom from Grandpa Beck’s Games Codenames Duet from Czech Games Bees: The Secret Kingdom from Van Ryder Games and Awaken Realms Lite Tang Garden from Thundergryph Games (and will be distributed by Lucky Duck Games) With the last two games, we wonder if the board gaming community is ready for games that are to be enjoyed “both as a game and a piece of art.” Our Conversation with Ric We asked Ric: What’s it like being a teacher during pandemic/lockdown? Ric and his fellow teachers got a little bit of warning during their spring vacation. We talk about how kids are in very different places right now (attention, technical difficulties, learning challenges, etc.) Even online schooling techniques that existed before this lockdown have a limited application for the situation we’re in now. Teachers are being stretched in many ways – some good, but all of them very challenging. Don’t think next year is going to look like “a normal school year”. At the highschool level, AP classes, placement exams, etc all are looking very different. Elementary teachers will be “like producing a TV show” to keep kids’ attention. Find Ric & One Board Family Online: Facebook: @oneboardfamilyTwitter: @oneboardfamilyInstagram: @oneboardfamily Twitch: @oneboardfamilyYoutube: @oneboardfamily Don’t forget to check out the One Board Podcast & Will It Game! 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,

We start with some historical facts from the year 194! This week, we’ll be talking about games we pull out when we want something quick. Sometimes we just want to take a quick break to play a game between schoolwork or chores. Thanks to Dave for suggesting this topic! Thanks to our sponsor, First Move Financial! If you’re curious about ETFs or other investment vehicles, get some help! Go to FirstMoveFinancial.com/familygamers to set up a 15-minute phone call. What We’ve Been Playing Funkoverse (both the Batman set and the Harry Potter set). Andrew praises the rulebook highly – it makes it really simple to get started! MetroX (from Gamewright) – solo play is solid. NyteLyfe Solitaire (from Button Shy’s Game of the Month Club). A neat twist that places a bit of a plot around a traditional 52-card solitaire game. Cover Your Kingdom (from Grandpa Beck’s Games) – puntastic family fun. A little long, but that’s solvable. Kids’ Game Day! Everyone picked at least one game to play. Abandon All Artichokes, Dr. Eureka, Tiny Ninjas, and Pyramix. Interestingly, Pyramix doesn’t get played a lot, but we keep coming back to it over and over, at all ages. Forbidden Desert (from Gamewright) – fun but much harder than we remembered. Animal Kingdoms has a satisfying solo mode, which Anitra talks about in her review, published today. ION: A Compound Building Game (from Genius Games) – a drafting game in the same vein as Sushi Go, where players create compounds from ion cards (positive/negatively charged molecules). Easy to get started, reasonably interesting, and well put together – the best kind of educational game. Backtalk! A teacher in New Zealand asks about print and play games for kids in early elementary. Anitra recommends PNPArcade as a good starting point with a lot of variety. Andrew suggests the free mystery available at CleverKidsMysteries.com. We’ve also enjoyed Ninja vs Robot (a solo game that only requires a single sheet of paper and two dice). You can also check out this thread on BoardGameGeek! Monza Winner Congratulations Jeremiah B, and thanks for subscribing to the newsletter! SNAP Review – Yum Yum Island The whole Smith family tells you about this silly, cooperative dexterity game. Rescue all the animals on Yum Yum Island by feeding them green or pink food tokens… while blindfolded! See the rest of the pictures and read the transcript on our

Welcome to another episode! Our fact this week comes from Dwayna. 193 is the current number of member nations in the UN. Episode 193 Evolution: Education Edition Thanks to our sponsor, First Move Financial. We’re going to talk about Evolution: Education Edition with Scott Rencher, but first – let’s talk about what we’ve been playing! What We’ve Been Playing Claire is prototyping a 18-card cake-building game. We’ve had fun with it so far – and the 18-card constraint is a handy way to put boundaries on the design (and make it quick & easy to change). Speaking of 18-card games… we pre-ordered Desert Pack from Button Shy. This deduction game was designed by Gwen Ruelle and Sam Bryant (AKA Runaway Parade, makers of Fire Tower)! Rock Paper Switch from Mindware. (Andrew saw this game at Toy Fair this past winter.) Think of chess crossed with rock-paper-scissors, and it is playable at 2, 3, or 4 players. Kingdomino proves to be nice practice for spatial relations, multiplication, and mental math. Animal Kingdoms (review coming soon). Tussie Mussie – Anitra will never say “no” to this one. Nice that it’s competitive in terms of “make mine the best” rather than dragging down other players. Best Treehouse Ever: Forest of Fun hadn’t been played recently. Women in Science – one of first reviews we ever did! Light and easy to play, but piqued our boys’ interest in learning about the various scientists. Tajuto from Super Meeple is an interesting Renier Knizia game about building pagodas. It starts so slowly. We wonder if that’s because we only had two players or if there’s something else about it. Giveaway You still have a week to enter our Monza giveaway. It’s become one of our favorite HABA games, and as far as we’re concerned, it’s the Candy Land killer. Enter right now! SNAP Review: Abandon All Artichokes Claire and Anitra tell about this fast-moving deck-building (or “deck-wrecking”) game. Read the summary and see pictures on the SNAP review page. Interview: Scott Rencher from North Star Digital Scott is involved with the creation of the digital version of the Evolution boardgame. They’ve just released a specifically education-targeted version of the game, and we’ll talk about that. Game Scott has been playing Quacks of Quedlinburg (not to be a company man, but…) Scott likes it for family play, because there’s enough randomness that adults don’t need to throw the game. Apparently when he plays with his adult family, they all cheat!

This week we’re going to talk about the “shelf of shame” – although sometimes we call it “shelf of opportunity” to make ourselves feel better. We tried really hard to get some games OFF that shelf this week. 192 begins the “home block” of IP addresses on a local area network (192.168.1.1 is usually your router!) Thanks to Michael Lettner for this fact. Thanks to our sponsor, First Move Financial! If you’re curious about “sequence of return risk”, go to FirstMoveFinancial.com/familygamers to set up a 15-minute phone call or a 90 minute meeting. What We’ve Been Playing We actually spent time outside this weekend – spring has finally come to New England! But we also played board games, of course. TAGS by HeidelBÄR Games. Name off things that fit a category and start with a certain letter. Grab the corresponding “marble” off the grid. Keep going around and around until all the marbles are taken or every player passes. This is a game like Anomia where your brain might get “spotlight shock” on your turn – prepare yourself with answers before it’s your turn! Koi by Smirk & Dagger. Play as giant goldfish moving around the board and eating dragonflies and frogs. Review coming soon. Abandon All Artichokes by Gamewright. Already in Anitra’s top played games for the year, even though we’ve only had it for a month or so. Really simple to pick up and start playing. Animal Kingdoms by Galactic Raptor Games. It took us a while to get around to playing this the first time, but ever since, it’s been near the top of our list. Area control combined with making sets of cards. The restrictions for the sets of cards change every round. Gorgeous and easy to get into. MetroX by Gamewright. A flip-and-write game to fill in a subway map. It becomes very difficult very quickly because there are only a few cards that allow you to skip over an already-filled station, and many of the lines overlap. Very portable (a single shared deck, and each player gets a thick whiteboard & marker) and we think it would make a great restaurant game. Lots of “kid” games like Monopoly Gamer and Monopoly Junior. They’re not great, but at least they’re shorter than standard Monopoly, with a easily defined endpoint. But also HEIST and Keys to the Castle. Keys to the Castle by Outset Media. Travel across the board, playing cards to “open doors” or to slow your opponent(s) down. First player to the opposite side wins. Silly Street – with the nine-year-old. “I feel like being silly!” We had a great time. Go Cuckoo (by HABA) with our eleven-year-old. No little kids means we could be cut-throat. :) A reminder that games are supposed to be about having fun! Don’t worry about the “suggested age” (in either direction). SNAP Review: The Game of Wolf Awoooo! The Game of Wolf puts a twist on party trivia games. Pick a pack to help you get the most answers right, or double your points by going as the Lone Wolf.

191 – Clever Kids Mysterieswith John Zilch Let’s start with our fact for 191 – thanks to Dwayna. Special Orders 191, issued by Robert E. Lee, created a domino-effect during the American Civil War which lead to Lincoln’s timing publicizing the Emancipation Proclamation. More information: https://youtu.be/HjKKoLHwwB8 and https://www.nps.gov/mono/learn/historyculture/so191.htm Our Sponsor Did you know there’s a U.S. Law that allows every American to check their credit reports with each of the three major credit bureaus each year, for free? You don’t have to sign up for a service or pay a monthly fee, just go to annualcreditreport.com. First Move has a blog post about how to read your credit reports. Hiring a financial advisor may not be right for you, but First Move is still happy to have a 15 minute phone call to get you going in the right direction and point you toward free resources. Go to firstmovefinancial.com/familygamers today to set up a time to chat. What We’ve Been Playing Codenames (our Disney video) Bloom Town (from Sidekick Games) Go Nuts for Donuts (Gamewright) Mountains (HABA) Cities: Skylines (Paradox & KOSMOS) 5-Minute Marvel (Spin Master Games) – surprisingly fun even with younger kids who are still working on symbol-matching. The Game of Life inspired the kids to make their own game! (We’d recommend other games, but always glad to see kids trying game design.) Imhotep: The Duel (KOSMOS) Clever Kids Mysteries We’ve never done a “real” escape room, but we like escape rooms in a box. We usually keep on hand some EXIT boxes, Unlock, etc. but none of them is as good for kids as Clever Kids Mysteries. John’s goal has been to create something simpler than the other escape room boxes, and something that would be great for families with kids to work on together. The existing boxes (Mystery at the Lux Museum, Case of the Wayward Sleigh) each have eight puzzles for kids to solve to get to a final solution to a problem posed at the beginning. John’s inspiration was an odd event that happened when his kids were around 6. They found a notebook with some text in it. In their heads, it was a mystery, and they were trying to solve it. “What if a real letter came to your house with clues and a story, and the detectives were asking for a kid’s help?”John Zilch Depending on your family and your kids, you may want to play through the mysteries together, or simply be available for “hints”. Each of the mystery boxes is $10 plus shipping, and we think they’re well worth it. They’re obviously hand-crafted, and getting a package in the mail is very exciting! We reviewed Mystery at the Lux Museum...

Episode 190Our Top Roll & Writes We’re going to talk about a few roll & write games today. But let’s kick it off with a fact about the number 190… Nick Martinelli reminds us that the grain alcohol Everclear is available at 190 proof (95% alcohol and that’s a high enough percentage to use it to make hand sanitizer!) Thanks to our sponsor, First Move Financial. Look out for scams related to the stimulus check! The Treasury Department and IRS will not call or email you. Go to irs.gov/coronavirus and click on “Economic Impact Payments” to find out more about your stimulus check or update your information. And go to FirstMoveFinancial.com/familygamers to schedule a 15-minute call and get advice that’s more specific to your situation. What We’ve Been Playing Roland Wright – from Perplext, by Chris Handy. Roll dice, draw colored dice into your personal grid. You’re trying to create certain patterns to match cards in your hand, but you will also erase dots to use special powers. It’s actually an engine-builder game in roll & write form. Endangered – from Grand Gamers Guild, by Joe Hopkins (we had him on the show about a year ago). We played incorrectly (and unintentionally made it a lot easier), but we really enjoyed it. The goal of the game is to win over the majority of “ambassadors” to your cause. But you won’t even know what their victory conditions are until you begin to try to win them over! Meanwhile, you’re also trying to slow the destruction of habitat and encourage the animals to breed. Bananagrams – (from Bananagrams) has become a good supplement to “school” for our older kids. 5-Minute Marvel – from Spinmaster Games. Our youngest loves playing this, and it’s educational in pattern-matching (aka “decoding”). We lose pretty much every time with him, and that’s okay. Monster Match – from North Star Games / Happy Planet. Another great pattern-matching game to play one-on-one with our youngest (as I mentioned when we reviewed it). SNAP Review – Super Powered Smash Masters Listen to our five minute review of Super Powered Smash Masters, a simple dueling game of superhero smashing. Giveaway winner! Last week, Anitra wrote the last entry in our series on HABA games that support learning. HABA and First Move Financial are making it possible for us to give away one copy of each of the games we wrote about! The winner of Brandon the Brave: Stephanie Cardoza! Congratulations. Enter the giveaway for Tiny Park. Roll & Write Games Rather than give you a “top 5”, we’re giving you our favorite roll & write games for specific situations. Let’s start with a the ultimate, classic roll & write: Yahtzee. The very definition of a roll & write: You roll dice, you write some results down,

Listen for Andrew’s fact about 189 – a record that was shattered! If you have interesting facts about a number coming up soon, let us know! Thanks to First Move Financial for sponsoring the podcast. Go to firstmovefinancial.com/familygamers to find out more. Our special guest is Jenn Bartlett, AKA “The Boardgame Librarian”. (We had her on over a year ago in episode 119.) She regularly has a segment on Board Game Breakfast: “From the Page to the Table”. We thought we’d examine this idea with her, pairing up books with games. She highly recommends the graphic novel A Flower in a Field of Lions from Tapestry Comics – it’s about the life of Joan of Arc. We discuss the difference between “librarian” and “person who works at a library”. What We’ve Been Playing Shakespeare – (from Ystari Games) action selection. “Fill in the stage” Marshmallow Test – (from Gamewright & Reiner Knizia) simple trick taking game about delayed gratification. Harry Potter: Hogwarts Battle – (from The OP) We finally beat book 2! Bananagrams – still nicely educational! And now we’ve introduced our homegrown agent of chaos, who is convinced he can make words, therefore he can play… It’s been interesting. Super Powered Smash Masters – (from Dark Unicorn Games) A simple beat-em-up with a superhero/comic theme. Tournament of Towers – (from Iron Hippo Games) As we reviewed several years ago, a great family game that combines dexterity/building with card drafting. PARKS – (from Keymaster) Everything about this game is just nice. A pleasant experience. Dungeon Academy – (from The OP) So cute, and has won over Jenn (not usually a fan of real-time fast-paced games) as well as Andrew (not usually a fan of roll-and-write). SNAP Review – Squire for Hire Andrew, Anitra, and Asher tell you about this ultra-compact game for one or two players. See the pictures and all the information you need at our SNAP review. Boardgames & Books Let’s talk about pairing up games with books! With 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (look for an illustrated classics version or graphic novel): play Deep Sea Adventure (Oink Games) Book & game together – Sherlock Holmes: Four Investigations (Van Ryder Games, based on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s mysteries) Another Sherlock game: Beyond Baker Street (from Z-Man Games) Best for older kids and adults, this Sherlock-themed game completely replaces Hanabi for us. Give clues to what is in your fellow players’ hands. Jenn is a big fan of