Despite the unpromising start, we had a fantastic experience that first time, diving into the game within 5 minutes of opening the box. Even though we committed several rules errors – entirely my fault, sloppy reading – that did not seem to affect play balance or enjoyment, so the game is robust from that perspective. Player choices are limited, but we all had a great time.
CPU Wars Volume 1.0: The Battle of the Desktops is one of the newer entries into the ever-growing family of Top Trumps like games. CPU Wars challenges the players to compare processor statistics and attempt to select the value that would win between all the players. Very little is needed in the way of computer science knowledge to play the game. A player can simply guess and hope for the best. While computer geek purist will wrinkle their nose at such behavior, it does make a game that uses very technical stats into a fast game anyone can play.
From the Depths is the first release of miniatures inspired by the Dungeon Crawler universe. The miniatures represent a plant vine, an otherworldly arm, a slimy Kraken tentacle, and three stringy grappler tendrils. Each miniature is securely mounted to a plastic black base, pre-painted, and very detailed. Since "slimy things that grab" are pretty much a given in just about any genre, be it Sci-fi, Fantasy, or Horror, the vast majority of today's miniature games can use these miniatures with ease, fitting in perfectly to the current theme and narrative.
RoShamBo brings the classic and time-honored game of Rock-Paper-Scissors to the family gaming table and uses it to be the determining factor in challenges. The winner of these challenges goes on to win the game (eventually), but the losers are usually penalized by being given silly tasks to complete. For example, barking like a dog for 1-minute. The game is simple, to the point, and will generate laughter and groans at the table. Victory and defeat is only a hand sign away, but so is the promise of potentially embarrassing tasks.
An oldie but a goodie, still going strong after 10 years. Carcassonne, in one form or another, deserves a place on every Parent Geek's shelf. But is there enough to scratch the gamer geek itch? READ ON!
Double Double Dominoes, by Calliope Games, is a light abstract game where the players use dominoes to match numbers and score points. Players cannot only score on their turn, but also their opponent's, which means the players at the table must be watching and communicating during the game at all times. Place a domino on the board and you could score points for yourself and for more than one of your opponents!