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Expeditions board game review

When I heard Stonemaier Games was publishing a sequel to Scythe, my interest jumped into overdrive.

After all, if you’ve seen my video review “17 Things I Love About Scythe” then you know how much I enjoy the original board game. And even while I write this, I realize my original review was over 7 years ago in July 2016!

Wow, how time flies.

Anyway, earlier this year, Stonemaier Games released Expeditions to the delight of many.

I was fortunate enough to get a review copy and now I’m eager to share my thoughts after diving into the game wholeheartedly.

December 7, 2023December 7, 2023 Trent 4 Comments 2-player, 3-player, 4-player, 5-player, solo, Stonemaier Games, strategy, theme

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Board Game Gift Guide 2023 – 45 Favorites!

We’ve posted a Board Game Gift Guide for the past 12 years. And each year we’ve recommended around 40 games to get your friends and family as gifts.

Which means that through our annual gift guides, we’ve shared close to 500 game ideas!

Well, rather than give another list of new games to check out, we’ve decide to roll back through our 12 years of game gift guides and pick out our very favorites to recommend for 2023.

So, without further ado, here’s our recommended favorites in each category.

November 8, 2023December 20, 2023 Trent 3 Comments 2-player, abstract, board game gifts, card, deduction, dice, family, game gift guide, luck, party, Star Wars, strategy, theme

The Lord of the Rings: Adventure to Mount Doom board game

Board Games Cooperative Games Family Games Game Reviews

The Lord of the Rings: Adventure to Mount Doom game review

Over our 14 years of doing family board game reviews, we’ve played and reviewed a number of The Lord of the Rings games.

Today’s review is on the lighter side of The Lord of the Rings board and card games, The Lord of the Rings: Adventure to Mount Doom, by Kosmos.

Like a number of LOTR games, this game is a cooperative board game. Players work together to help Frodo and Sam get the ring to Mount Doom. They do so by rolling dice, reacting to cards, fighting Uruk-hai, dodging Nazgul, and overall maneuvering the Fellowship along the treacherous route.

While it’s a simpler LOTR game, we’ve still lost more times than we’ve won. Just begging us to play again.

October 24, 2023October 24, 2023 Trent 0 Comments 2-player, 3-player, 4-player, cooperative, dice, Kosmos, luck, solo, The Lord of the Rings, theme

Board Games Family Games Game Reviews

Four Corners board game review

Growing up in Utah, I often heard about the Four Corners. That’s because the Four Corners is the place where the corner borders of Utah, Colorado, Arizona, and New Mexico all meet. In fact, it’s the only location in the United States where four states meet.

Friends would talk about going to the Four Corners where they could be in all four states at the same time by placing their hands and feet in each state (or just laying on the crosshair mark).

So even though that image is firmly planted in my mind when I hear “Four Corners”, the latest game from Calliope Games, named Four Corners, has nothing to do with any of those states.

Instead, the Four Corners board game is a puzzle type game where players race to complete their dealt goals before their opponents complete theirs. They do so by adding and twisting tiles to create different patterns in the play area.

September 2, 2023September 2, 2023 Trent 0 Comments 2-player, 3-player, 4-player, 5-player, 6-player, Calliope Games, luck, solo, tiles

Board Games Card Games Family Games Game Reviews

7 Wonders Architects board game review

Way back in 2012, we reviewed a hot new card game getting a lot of buzz – 7 Wonders.

While it looked intimidating with so many colors and symbols, it quickly became a family hit – even for mom!

Fast forward a decade and Asmodee released a new standalone iteration on the theme with 7 Wonders Architects.

The game play is quite different while still feeling familiar for those who enjoy the original. It’s a much simpler card game and also includes players physically building their personal wonder in stages.

And because it’s a standalone game, one wonderful thing is that you don’t have to know the original to enjoy 7 Wonders Architects.

July 29, 2023 Trent 0 Comments 2-player, 3-player, 4-player, 5-player, 6-player, 7-player, Asmodee, cards, luck, Repos Production

Card Games Cooperative Games Family Games Game Reviews

Star Wars: Unlock! game review

Happy Star Wars Day!

To celebrate, we’re diving into a review of another Star Wars family board game – Star Wars: Unlock!

That’s right, the very cool Unlock! escape-room series of games now has a Star Wars themed game – with 3 distinct game adventures. As far as escape-room games go, the Unlock! series have been our favorite. So I was super excited when Asmodee published a Star Wars version.

After having played through all 3 adventures, I’m happy to report that all of them are super fun to play.

May 3, 2023 Trent 0 Comments 2-player, 3-player, 4-player, 5-player, 6-player, Asmodee, cooperative, escape room, puzzle, solo, Star Wars, strategy, theme

Board Games Cooperative Games Family Games Game Reviews

Decorum board game review

How well do you get along with the people living under your same roof? Do you know what makes them happy? And can you provide that?

Well, even if you can’t help out in that regard, you can at least try to make them happy with their decorating goals in a fun cooperative board game by Floodgate Games – Decorum!

Decorum is a cooperative, hidden information game where players try to decorate their shared home in a way that makes everyone happy. The catch is that you don’t know what’s going to make the other players happy!

You must deduce what types of things make them happy by what changes they make to the decorations in the various rooms during their turns. Hopefully you’ll all be able to figure that out and arrange things just so before the game ends or you’re not going to survive in the same house for long.

March 25, 2023April 19, 2023 Trent 0 Comments 2-player, 3-player, 4-player, cooperative, Floodgate Games, strategy, theme

Board Games Family Games Game Reviews

Namiji board game review

A decade ago, Funforge released a family board game called Tokaido where players are travelers crossing the “East sea road”, one of the most magnificent roads of Japan. In the game, players collect beautiful items, discover great panoramas, stop for meals, and visit temples – enjoying the journey along the way.

As if to mark a 10-anniversary of Tokaido, last year Funforge and Asmodee released a new board game called Namiji featuring similar game play with a slightly different theme. Instead of traveling a road in Japan, players are now Japanese anglers seeking a fruitful journey at sea.

Those familiar with Tokaido will feel right at home when playing Namiji. And those that haven’t yet played Tokaido, will discover a delightful game to enjoy with their family and friends.

February 28, 2023February 28, 2023 Trent 0 Comments 2-player, 3-player, 4-player, 5-player, Asmodee, family, Funforge, luck, strategy, theme

Board Games Cooperative Games Family Games Game Reviews

Exit: The Game + Puzzle – The Sacred Temple game review

We’ve played a lot of “escape room” board games and card games over the years. They’re full of riddles and puzzles to solve as you cooperatively try to get out of whatever predicament the story has you caught up in.

But rarely do these types of games include actual puzzles to put together!

However, that’s exactly the case with Exit: The Game + Puzzle – The Sacred Temple.

In this EXIT game by Kosmos, in addition to the riddles and challenges along the way, you’ll put together 4 actual puzzles!

Then you’ll look for more riddles/puzzles within those puzzles to progress further on your journey.

If you like puzzles within your puzzles, then read on…

December 15, 2022 Trent 0 Comments 2-player, 3-player, 4-player, cooperative, escape room, Kosmos, puzzle, solo

Board Games Family Games Game Reviews

Play the villain in Star Wars Villainous

I’m currently watching Andor on Disney+ and loving it.

With Disney pumping out more and more Star Wars shows (The Mandalorian, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Tales of the Jedi, The Book of Boba Fett, and much more) it’s no wonder Ravensburger recently released Star Wars Villainous: Power of the Dark Side.

Designed with a similar premise to the popular game Disney Villainous, players take on the roles of popular villains to achieve their nefarious goals before their opponents reach theirs.

Only this time, players get to be their favorite Star Wars villains in Star Wars Villainous!