Summary: <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> 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.<br> <br> <br> <br> 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.<br> <br> <br> <br> Thanks to our sponsor, First Move Financial! If you’re curious about “sequence of return risk”, go to <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="http://firstmovefinancial.com/familygamers" target="_blank">FirstMoveFinancial.com/familygamers</a> to set up a 15-minute phone call or a 90 minute meeting.<br> <br> <br> <br> What We’ve Been Playing<br> <br> <br> <br> We actually spent time outside this weekend – spring has finally come to New England! But we also played board games, of course.<br> <br> <br> <br> 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!<br> <br> <br> <br> Koi by Smirk & Dagger. Play as giant goldfish moving around the board and eating dragonflies and frogs. Review coming soon.<br> <br> <br> <br> 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.<br> <br> <br> <br> 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.<br> <br> <br> <br> 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.<br> <br> <br> <br> 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 <a href="http://www.thefamilygamers.com/heist-review/">HEIST</a> and Keys to the Castle.<br> <br> <br> <br> 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.<br> <br> <br> <br> <a href="http://www.thefamilygamers.com/silly-street/">Silly Street</a> – with the nine-year-old. “I feel like being silly!” We had a great time.<br> <br> <br> <br> <a href="http://www.thefamilygamers.com/snap-review-go-cuckoo/">Go Cuckoo</a> (by HABA) with our eleven-year-old. No little kids means we could be cut-throat. :)<br> <br> <br> <br> A reminder that games are supposed to be about having fun! Don’t worry about the “suggested age” (in either direction).<br> <br> <br> <br> <a href="http://www.thefamilygamers.com/snap-review-game-of-wolf/"></a><br> <br> <br> <br> SNAP Review: The Game of Wolf<br> <br> <br> <br> 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.<br> <br> <br> <br>
