My first encounter with Valeria: Card Kingdoms at SaltCon 2017 was an absolute blast, leaving me eager for more.

It reminded me a lot of Machi Koro, but I liked Valeria's fantasy theme much better. Plus, I loved that everyone gains resources on anybody's turn, not just on their own turn.

I added the game to my wish list soon after, but just never pulled the trigger on buying a copy. That is, until two years ago when Daily Magic Games published an updated version!

The new edition not only had upgraded components and streamlined play, but it was also much cheaper!

I've since introduced the game to many friends, and everyone has had a great time playing.

Valeria: Card Kingdoms game review is an article from The Board Game Family

The first weekend of March, I spent a couple of days playing a bunch of fun games at SaltCon Spring 2024.

SaltCon Spring is a 4-day event held on the first weekend of March. This year, I arrived Thursday night after work and stayed through Saturday afternoon (taking Friday off work so I could play all day).

Even though SaltCon now hosts game events a few times each year, the spring gathering is the biggest of the bunch and one I look forward to every year.

This year, the attendance hit 2,400!

Read on to get a quick recap of the 16 different games I played and my thoughts on each.

16 Board and Card Games Played at SaltCon 2024 is an article from The Board Game Family

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.

Board Game Gift Guide 2023 – 45 Favorites! is an article from The Board Game Family

SaltCon Spring just keeps getting bigger and better every year!

This year over 2,000 people enjoyed playing board games, card games, dice games, party games, and more for 4 days straight as part of SaltCon Spring 2023.

And with that many people, there’s a broad range of gaming interests. That’s why there are also areas in the convention center set aside for RPGs, miniatures painting, dexterity games, play-to-win games, competitions, and an Artemis Spaceship Bridge Simulator.

But even as the event itself keeps getting bigger, this year the game playing for me was much more intimate.

15 Games Played at SaltCon 2023 is an article from The Board Game Family

Time is ticking down and there are only a few more shopping days left until Christmas Day.

If that puts you in a frantic rush for finding game gifts for your friends and family this year, we can help with that!

For starters, jump over to our 2022 Board Game Gift Guide and you’ll find a bunch of great games to choose from as gifts.

If you already have what you need with those game gifts and just need a few smaller games to pack a Christmas stocking with game goodies, then this list of 15 recommended games is for you.

15 Stocking Stuffer Games for 2022 is an article from The Board Game Family

As the holidays approach, it’s super common for people to look for the best family board games to give as gifts to family members and friends.

This is our 12th year publishing a Board Game Gift Guide to help you find fantastic board games, dice games, card games, party games, and more for those you love.

And this year we’ve got 36 new board games to recommend!

Since there’s a wide range of people to consider for game gifts, we break down this board game gift guide into various categories with a handful of game ideas in each.

Board Game Gift Guide 2022! is an article from The Board Game Family

Who would win between Doctor Strange and Captain Marvel?

Or between Black Panther and Black Widow?

Or between Loki, Mile Morales Spider-Man, Scarlet Witch, and Thor in a free-for-all match?

Well, in Marvel Dice Throne, by The Op and Roxley Games, you’ll get to find out.

And as you might guess, who comes out on top will change from one play to the next. That’s what makes this dice-rolling, dice manipulating, and card playing game a hoot. With a high amount of luck and some card management, almost anything could happen to turn the tide of fortune.

Marvel Dice Throne dice game review is an article from The Board Game Family

When our monthly game night fell close to Star Wars Day earlier this month, we had to dive into some Star Wars games.

And that meant it was a perfect time to play Star Wars: Destiny!

It's a 2-player card and dice game battle that we have tons of cards for – so we could set up multiple head-to-head battles among everyone there. Plus, it can be played in 30 minutes and then we can be on to the next battle against a different opponent.

That's also when I realized that even though we've had the game for a number of years, we haven't posted our full review of Star Wars: Destiny yet.

That changes today!

Star Wars: Destiny card game review is an article from The Board Game Family