Summary: <br> As always, we’re here to talk about gaming as a family. Our kids start school this week, and we are really looking forward to having a regular schedule again. However, it means less time for playing games!<br> <br> <br> <br> We are thinking about games that our kids could bring to school to play with their friends. Younger kids should check with the teacher first, of course.<br> <br> <br> <br> What We’ve Been Playing<br> <br> <br> <br> A ton of Panic Island – although every game only takes 2 minutes, plus about half a minute of set up time. Every time we play, we want to play again and do better.<br> <br> <br> <br> We visited family in Rochester, NY. While we were there, we visited TWO excellent local game stores that were recommended to us.<br> <br> <br> <br> Millennium Games<br> <br> <br> <br> Board games, Warhammer, and… disc golf? Apparently there’s a crossover there.<br> <br> <br> <br> We got to try Just One with an in-store demo. Easy to see how it refines the concepts from other word/guessing games. This is a lot of game in a small package. Highly recommended!<br> <br> <br> <br> Cat Lady – fun but a bit long to try to demo in the store. Similar set-collection mechanics to the Trapper Keeper Game – take a whole row or column, but then place a marker so the next player cannot make the same choice.<br> <br> <br> <br> We picked up Kero and played it a few times after we traveled back home. Two players, rolling dice to get resources while your sand timer runs down. There’s a lot of luck, and it’s not as tight as we’d expect from a two-player-only game. (Two player games that are really tight: Expedition Altiplano, <a href="http://www.thefamilygamers.com/hanamikoji/">Hanamikoji</a>, and <a href="http://www.thefamilygamers.com/caverna-cave-vs-cave/">Caverna: Cave vs. Cave</a>)<br> <br> <br> <br> Unlock! Heroic Adventures<br> <br> <br> <br> Rocky Road a la Mode – a way to end a night of gaming on a high note. Lives up to the Green Couch Games style: filler with some bite.<br> <br> <br> <br> Just Games<br> <br> <br> <br> A very different feel than Millennium Games. This one had a large LEGO section at the front and a very large play area at the back. They had a card-catalog-style organizer for individual Magic cards. The open play area had an option to rent board games! And there were a bunch of family-weight games from publishers we had never heard of – we picked one up and will report back.<br> <br> <br> <br> Back At Home<br> <br> <br> <br> SHOBU and even more Panic Island – not very similar except their both short.<br> <br> <br> <br> <a href="http://www.thefamilygamers.com/draftosaurus-review/">Draftosaurus</a><br> <br> <br> <br> <a href="http://www.thefamilygamers.com/ancestree-review/">Ancestree</a><br> <br> <br> <br> Quacks of Quedlinburg<br> <br> <br> <br> Ticket to Ride: New York – this might end up replacing the classic Ticket to Ride for us. It faithfully keeps the feel of the original, but plays in 20 minutes.<br> <br> <br> <br> Backtalk<br> <br> <br> <br> Thanks to Chrissy who has been sharing about the games they’ve been playing while camping.<br> <br> <br> <br> Aaron shared about The Fairy Game from Peaceable Kingdom.<br> <br> <br> <br> <a href="http://www.thefamilygamers.com/guess-it-get-it-gumballs/"></a><br> <br> <br> <br> SNAP Review: Guess It, Get It, Gumballs<br> <br> <br> <br> Elliot helps Anitra explain this memory game “of faces and feelings” from Peaceable Kingdom.<br> <br> <br> <br> Read the summary and see more pictures here: <a href="http://www.thefamilygamers.com/guess-it-get-it-gumballs/">Guess It, Get It, Gumballs</a>.<br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br>
