Summary: <br> Welcome to the Family Gamers Podcast! This week, we’re talking to <a href="https://www.kathleenmercury.com/">Kathleen Mercury</a>, a middle school teacher who teaches game design (among other things).<br> <br> <br> <br> We talk about the many hats Kathleen wears (game designer, teacher of game design, <br> <br> <br> <br> What we’ve been playing!<br> <br> <br> <br> Kathleen played a lot over the summer, but not much since she started teaching school again this fall.<br> <br> <br> <br> But she has played Cones of Dunshire! We’re jealous.<br> <br> <br> <br> We’ve been playing:<br> <br> <br> <br> The Bears and the Bees (Grandpa Beck’s Games)<br> <br> <br> <br> The Crew (KOSMOS) – different than your average cooperative game.<br> <br> <br> <br> 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.<br> <br> <br> <br> 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! ?<br> <br> <br> <br> Castles of Caladale (Renegade Game Studios) – so glad to finally play a full game after seeing it at <a href="http://www.thefamilygamers.com/episode-74-super-paxu-super-show/">PAX Unplugged 2017</a> and <a href="http://www.thefamilygamers.com/episode-79-david-wilkinson/">interviewing David Wilkinson</a>, the designer.<br> <br> <br> <br> Hanamikoji (Deep Water Games) – a great two-player game. Check out <a href="http://www.thefamilygamers.com/hanamikoji/">our review</a>.<br> <br> <br> <br> Jaipur (Asmodee) – another great two player game.<br> <br> <br> <br> Lost Cities (KOSMOS)<br> <br> <br> <br> Teotihuacan (Board & Dice – we played on <a href="https://boardgamearena.com/gamepanel?game=teotihuacan">Board Game Arena</a>) – a little less complicated than Tzolk’in.<br> <br> <br> <br> Speaking of <a href="https://boardgamearena.com">Board Game Arena</a>, we’ve also been playing a lot of Downforce there! We love the <a href="http://www.thefamilygamers.com/downforce-review/">original</a>, and the <a href="http://www.thefamilygamers.com/downforce-danger-circuit-and-wild-ride/">expansions</a> make it even better.<br> <br> <br> <br> Want to play games with us on BGA? Look for “familygamersAA”, “mrsNightskrye”, and “mmmmmmmercury”.<br> <br> <br> <br> <a href="http://www.thefamilygamers.com/5er-finden/"></a><br> <br> <br> <br> SNAP Review – 5er Finden<br> <br> <br> <br> We really enjoyed this unusual speedy search game from HABA. Claire helps us review it.<br> <br> <br> <br> Count to five and see our pictures on the <a href="http://www.thefamilygamers.com/5er-finden/">SNAP review page</a>.<br> <br> <br> <br> About Kathleen Mercury<br> <br> <br> <br> So many things! We start with discussing Kathleen’s website <a href="https://www.kathleenmercury.com">KathleenMercury.com</a> (and envying her incredibly nerdy photos).<br> <br> <br> <br> 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.<br> <br> <br> <br> 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.<br> <br> <br> <br> Kathleen checks in with her students regularly; creating a responsive working relationship benefits everybody.<br> <br> <br> <br> Everything is going to be fine. Your children are going to be fine.
