We’re excited to welcome back our friend Marc Specter! We’ll talk about his current Kickstarter and lots of other games coming soon.

370 fact – Abell 370

See images here: https://hubblesite.org/contents/media/images/2017/20/4024-Image.html

Sponsor message

Did you know there’s a U.S. Law that allows every American to check their credit reports with each of the three major credit bureaus each year, for free? You don’t have to sign up for a service or pay a monthly fee, just go to annualcreditreport.com.

It’s important to check your credit reports so you know if someone has opened accounts in your name, if a creditor is mis-reporting an old debt, and to see which accounts you forgot to close that may be hurting your credit score.

First Move has a blog post about how to read your credit reports. If you’re overwhelmed by debt, hiring a financial advisor may not be right for you, but First Move is still happy to have a 15 minute phone call to get you going in the right direction and point you toward free resources. Go to firstmovefinancial.com/familygamers to set up a time to chat today.

What We’ve Been Playing

Faraway – “a mind bending melange of simple mechanics”
Sherlock Solitaire (review coming soon)
Flashback: Lucy (our review)
Dead Man’s Draw AKA Captain Carcass
What the Heck? (our review)
Roll for It! (our review)
Drop It (our review)
Compile (coming this summer)
Genotype (review coming soon)
Gorinto
Stroop

SNAP Review – Doomlings

Doomlings is super cute, and easy to get started. It’s good for light family play without boring heavier gamers.

Watch the video or read the transcript of our Doomlings review.

Grand Gamers Guild with Marc Specter

We first had Marc on the show all the way back in episode 53! Now we are good friends.

What is Bouba/Kiki?

The newest game from Grand Gamers Guild – on Kickstarter until May 3.

This is a party/communication game, based on the Bouba/Kiki effect. We mentally associate certain sounds with certain kinds of shapes. Could you match up with the rest of the table to pick the same one?

Marc always wants you to get a benefit from backing on Kickstarter – so you’ll get a slight discount, and either nicer components or extra packs of cards.

Marc’s not a big fan of stretch goals, but there are a few small ones here.

There’s a campaign (actually, six campaigns) with scenarios that bend the concept!

What is Stroop?

(We talked about Stroop back in episode 53! We’ve been a fan of it ever since.)

There’s a special add-on to this Kickstarter – can you tell us about that?

The Marriage Mix-up – another 18-card Holiday Hijinks. Also from the mind of Jonathan Chaffer!

Back the Kickstarter!

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/grandgamersguild/bouba-kiki-stroop-reprint

What else is coming from Grand Gamers Guild?

more 18-card escape rooms: The Marriage Mix-up and Endangered Rescue: Galapagos Penguins

La Familia Hort (Nick will be reviewing this)

Words of a Feather (our preview)

The Fog: Escape from Paradise

Deck-building game – Pasaraya: Supermarket Manager

Holiday Hijinks set with 3 more games (10, 11, 12) around the end of the year

more Endangered! A full box set with an Australia theme.

Find Marc online:

GrandGamersGuild.com

Facebook: @GrandGamersGuild
Email: [email protected]

Find Us Online:

Facebook: @familygamersaa and thefamilygamers.com/community
Twitter (X): @familygamersaa
Threads: @familygamersaa
Instagram: @familygamersaa
TikTok: @familygamersaa
Youtube: TheFamilyGamers

or join the Family Tabletop Community on Discord! thefamilygamers.com/discord

Or, for the most direct method, email us! [email protected] and [email protected].

Check out our new Family Gamers and Play Games with Your Kids merchandise – T-shirts, hoodies, and mugs – at thefamilygamers.com/merch.

PLEASE don’t forget to subscribe to the show, tell your friends about the show, and leave us a review at Apple Podcast or whatever your podcast subscription source is. We’re also on Amazon Music, TuneIn, and Spotify.

The Family Gamers is sponsored by First Move Financial. Go to FirstMoveFinancial.com/familygamers to learn how the team at First Move Financial can help you pile up the victory points.

The post Episode 370 – Bouba/Kiki with Marc Specter appeared first on The Family Gamers.

This week, we’re talking “slider games”. These are bite-sized, ultra-fast games that you can play in 10 minutes or less!

369 Fact

Nikolai Tesla’s obsession with the numbers 3,6,9!

Did you know that all multiples of 3 add to 3, 6, or 9 if you add the digits together?

Sponsor Message

If you want to talk to First Move about other habits you can build to take that next step toward your goals, go to firstmovefinancial.com/familygamers to schedule a call.

What We’ve Been Playing

Kiri-ai: The Duel
Sherlock Solitaire
Time’s Up! Family Edition – this is like Celebrity, which we talked about in episode 35.
La Familia Hort

Monthly Report March

Andrew: 25 plays, 16 unique games H-index:3. Most played: Doomlings, prototypes, and Tin Spin – 40% of plays were at GAMA Expo!

Anitra: 29 plays, 16 unique games H-index: 2. Most played: Skyrockets, Explosion in the Laboratory

Welcome New Members

Stop in and say hi!

SNAP Review – Rush Hour

Elliot and Andrew review this classic puzzle game. We think it’s a great activity for traveling!

Watch the video or read the transcript.

Sliders – Ultra-Fast Games

The topic for this podcast came from… not having time to play games lately. The few games we’ve been playing tend to be 10 minutes or less.

These are so fast we wouldn’t even call them filler games! Normally we would play these several time in a row, but you can play them just once.

So when even a filler game is too long, let’s go for a slider game!

• Skyrockets – so short that if we lose, we usually play again and it’s still less than 15 minutes. More forgiving than most timer-based games. Cooperative.
• Panic Island – also cooperative, and plays in ONE minute.
• Get the MacGuffin – up to 12 players! Silly and still very fast.
• Pocket Paragons – super fast dueling game with lots of options.
• Kiri-ai: The Duel – another super fast dueling game.
• Trio – we’ve been playing a lot of this. Even with teaching it, it’s under 10 minutes.
• Tin Spin – surprisingly fun, incredibly simple.

Find Us Online:

Facebook: @familygamersaa and thefamilygamers.com/community
Twitter (X): @familygamersaa
Threads: @familygamersaa
Instagram: @familygamersaa
TikTok: @familygamersaa
Youtube: TheFamilyGamers

or join the Family Tabletop Community on Discord! thefamilygamers.com/discord

Or, for the most direct method, email us! [email protected] and [email protected].

Check out our new Family Gamers and Play Games with Your Kids merchandise – T-shirts, hoodies, and mugs – at thefamilygamers.com/merch.

PLEASE don’t forget to subscribe to the show, tell your friends about the show, and leave us a review at Apple Podcast or whatever your podcast subscription source is. We’re also on Amazon Music, TuneIn, and Spotify.

The Family Gamers is sponsored by First Move Financial. Go to FirstMoveFinancial.com/familygamers to learn how the team at First Move Financial can help you pile up the victory points.

The post Episode 369 – Slider Games – Bite-Sized Fun in 10 Minutes or Less! appeared first on The Family Gamers.

We are no longer restricting our interviews to just odd-numbered episodes. We couldn’t wait any longer to have Ken Franklin on the show again!

368 Fact

We learn about Studio 368, doing very cool stuff for creators and media (like Greta Gerwig, Lena Dunham, and the Safdie brothers).

Sponsor Message

Are you doing your taxes? Some states offer a tax break for residents who invest in their state’s 529 college savings plan. If you want help planning for your kid’s college education you can go to firstmovefinancial.com/familygamers. There’s a link there to set up a 15-minute call to see if First Move can help you.

What We’ve Been Playing

Daybreak – A cooperative game where you try to reverse global warming. Ken also calls it “Terraforming Earth”

First in Flight – review coming soon from Anitra

Explosion in the Laboratory – 27-card game about mixing “vials” in progressively more dangerous environment. An interesting take on push-your-luck with no dice and limited card draws.

Tir na Nog – You’re sending storytellers into fairyland to get experiences to turn into a saga. (Claim cards and try to arrange them.) Scoop: Ken is designing an 18-card escape game based on this one! There will also be mini-escape rooms based on Roll Camera and The Artemis Odyssey.

Mind Map

Tin Spin

Monthly Report – February

Anitra: 30 unique games 48 times. H-index 3, with ArcheOlogic, Redwood, Unmatched, At the Helm, Skyrockets, and Pocket Paragons having at least 3 plays.

Andrew: 14 unique games 20 times. ArcheOlogic 4 times! Unmatched 3 times, Picky Pixie twice. H-index 2

Welcome New Members

Stop in and say hi!

SNAP Review – Get Bit!

Outrace your buddies so they get bitten by the shark and you don’t! This new version of Get Bit! works with 2-7 players, but is still best at 4 or more.

Watch the video or read the transcript for Get Bit!

Ken Franklin

Ken is back in clinical practice as a medical doctor three days a week, which makes him pretty busy.

He’s looking forward to facilitating giant Mansky Caper again at GrandCon.

But that’s not the main reason we asked him on the podcast…

Flash Point: Legacy of Flame

Ken designed this legacy game with Chris Leder and Kevin Rodgers.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ibcgames/flash-point-legacy-of-flame

What kicked off the design for a Flash Point legacy game?

Indie Boards & Cards had talking about it for a long time, but pushed to the back burner.

But in 2021, Ken found this out, and asked Chris and Kevin – “do you want to make a legacy version of Flash Point?” “YES, of course!”

Figured out the outline of the first third within a week, then pitched it to Indie Boards & Cards and signed a contract.

Then spent three years meeting virtually every week “and we played the snot out of it”.

Each designer brings their own strengths.

Kevin has a gift for narrative design. He wrote the “screenplay” of the campaign.

Chris is an incredible rulebook editor, and a gift for spotting what brings fun and what drains fun.

Ken put his prototyping skills to work and was spreadsheet master, mapping out the different paths the campaign could take.

The game was pretty much done after 14 months of solid work.

There’s a ton of expansions already for Flash Point. How does that work with the legacy game?

There are already so many expansions, you can’t play with all of them together. It just doesn’t work.

They looked at what elements in the expansions make sense for a story where cadet firefighters are going through their careers. So some expansion elements carried over to the legacy game, and some pieces are new. For example, they pulled the “Fire deck / event deck” from the Tragic Events expansion, replacing hot spots.

More about Flash Point: Legacy of Flame

You’ll be working through a sort of ensemble story, with many character arcs and events.

When you’re done with the campaign, you’ll have 12 new maps to play with any Flash Point module or expansion, and every character you’ve created can be used again.

Instead of making different terrain-styled boards, this game uses two spiral-bound books for the 12 maps.

Announcement: there will be a recharge pack, if you want to replay the campaign fresh.

When characters are knocked down, you are incentivized to sit them out and end up using all the characters.

Instead of using tons of envelopes, they’re using scratch-off elements in many places.

You don’t need anything extra, and you don’t even need to have played Flash Point before!

Check out the Kickstarter campaign!

Find Ken online:

Instagram: @kenplays2grin
X: @kenplays2grin
Facebook: drkenfp and Franklin Farms Game Nights

Email him at drkenfp @ mac.com

Find Us Online:

Facebook: @familygamersaa and thefamilygamers.com/community
Twitter (X): @familygamersaa
Threads: @familygamersaa
Instagram: @familygamersaa
TikTok: @familygamersaa
Youtube: TheFamilyGamers

or join the Family Tabletop Community on Discord! thefamilygamers.com/discord

Or, for the most direct method, email us! [email protected] and [email protected].

Check out our new Family Gamers and Play Games with Your Kids merchandise – T-shirts, hoodies, and mugs – at thefamilygamers.com/merch.

PLEASE don’t forget to subscribe to the show, tell your friends about the show, and leave us a review at Apple Podcast or whatever your podcast subscription source is. We’re also on Amazon Music, TuneIn, and Spotify.

The Family Gamers is sponsored by First Move Financial. Go to FirstMoveFinancial.com/familygamers to learn how the team at First Move Financial can help you pile up the victory points.

The post Episode 368 – Ken Franklin and Flash Point: Legacy Of Flame appeared first on The Family Gamers.

Andrew is back home from GAMA Expo! GAMA was kind enough to select The Family Gamers as Hosted Media for this year’s Expo, and we thank them for their support! GAMA is a growing and changing organization and we commend them for their hard work!

367 Fact

We learn about the Model 367 Bipod hybrid flying car. https://newatlas.com/bipod-hybrid-flying-car/19258/

Sponsor Message

To schedule a time to talk to First Move about other ways to take control of your finances, head over to firstmovefinancial.com/familygamers to set up an initial 15 minute call.

What We’ve Been Playing

Compile – “like a cross between Smash Up and Hanamikoji“. Draft decks of cards, then

Nidavellir – we found out it’s on Board Game Arena (for paid users)!

SNAP Review – Picky Pixie

This compact deduction game will have you guessing about the pixie’s complicated palette. We think it’s best for kids and adults who already like deduction.

Watch the video or read the transcript on our website.

For Science! – On the Road – Claudia Sanders Dinner House

“A whole that is greater than the sum of its parts.”

“The epitome of KFC-southern cooking.”

There was more food than they could eat, but everything was delicious!

GAMA Interviews

0:26:00 Friendly Skeleton with Azkedelia

Trash Talk – a party game about the language barrier between raccoons and possums, using trash items to communicate!

Coming April 5, distributed by Asmodee.

0:30:30 Hawberry Games with Julie

Cake Auf! – make international recipes in a race before your opponents!

Emotional Intelligence – answer this-or-that questions based on an assigned (secret) personality type.

Check them out at the Hawberry Games website.

0:37:30 Pandasaurus with Raina

Mind Up – Draft cards and play them into your sets. But you’ll have to play cards from your hand to “bid” and win the cards you want.

Knarr – Recruit Vikings into your band, activating groups by color.

Courtisans – Play cards to different places around the Queen’s table. Win points depending on each families’ status at the end of the game. A lot of take-that in a fast game.

Faraway – Have a great journey! Cards are scored in the reverse order from which they are played.

Boxtop Pinball – Flick dice down the board. Oops! We didn’t get a picture of this one.

0:42:45 Fireside Games with Justin

Ultimatch – Cooperate to make matches to clear cards out of a pyramid, but use addition or subtraction to make mathematical or color matches as well. Or use two cards to make an exact match – color and number! That lets you draw two cards – one for your hand and one towards a common pool for all players.

Zoomies – dog-walkers with domino tiles. Stay tuned!

0:48:00 Lucky Duck Games with Devon

Kiri-ai: The Duel – a 16-card dueling game. Hit your opponent twice (but always from the front, to be honorable) to win. Available now at LuckyDuckGames.com.

Toriki: the Castaway Island – Survive the island and leave on your own terms! Explore, gather knowledge, and complete your mission.

0:55:15 Skybound Tabletop with Matt

Invincible: Escape from Mars – Social deduction game based on the Amazon show / comic series. But the roles change every round!

Sheep in Disguise – You want to collect flocks of cute sheep (three of a kind).

ContraBanter – A word-smuggling party game. Answer the other team’s question with a story, inserting your secret words. But if you sneak your words well enough, you’ll have to sneak them into the next round’s story as well!

1:02:00 Thunderworks with Jess

Stonespine Architects – a pick-and-pass card drafting game in the Roll Player universe. Available end of April.

Citizens of the Spark – Use unique animal citizens with their own powers in each game. Mostly simultaneous play.

Metrorunner – a sci-fi game with a rondel representing the metro you’re riding around the board. Collect resources, hack the network, and/or finish job assignments.

1:11:30 Pink Hawk Games with Emily

Pirates of the High Teas – Make sets of dishes to serve your captain! Coming to Kickstarter in September.

Good Kitties – Cooperative game of plotting world domination, while avoiding the dog. Probably next year.

Find out more at PinkHawkGames.com

March Madness!

We are putting out extra reviews all month long!

But also check out our Best Family Game brackets. We just finished the round of 32. Go vote in the Sweet Sixteen!

Find Us Online:

Facebook: @familygamersaa and thefamilygamers.com/community
Twitter (X): @familygamersaa
Threads: @familygamersaa
Instagram: @familygamersaa
TikTok: @familygamersaa
Youtube: TheFamilyGamers

or join the Family Tabletop Community on Discord! thefamilygamers.com/discord

Or, for the most direct method, email us! [email protected] and [email protected].

Check out our new Family Gamers and Play Games with Your Kids merchandise – T-shirts, hoodies, and mugs – at thefamilygamers.com/merch.

PLEASE don’t forget to subscribe to the show, tell your friends about the show, and leave us a review at Apple Podcast or whatever your podcast subscription source is. We’re also on Amazon Music, TuneIn, and Spotify.

The Family Gamers is sponsored by First Move Financial. Go to FirstMoveFinancial.com/familygamers to learn how the team at First Move Financial can help you pile up the victory points.

The post Episode 367 – Mr. Smith Goes to GAMA Expo appeared first on The Family Gamers.

Lunar New Year was not to long ago, and now we are in the year of the dragon! Sounds like a perfect excuse to give you our top 5 dragon-themed games.

366 Fact

There were 366 Episodes of the anime BLEACH (not counting the “Thousand-Year Blood War” arc which came after the main series).

366 is also the world record for most lemmings saved in a single playthrough of the arcade game Lemmings.

Sponsor Message

For expert help applying some of the same principles that help you take down your friends in Agricola, head over to firstmovefinancial.com/familygamers today to schedule a call.

What We’ve Been Playing

Dragon Bowl – more info at Scarb Enterprises
Avant Carde (our preview)
Deblockle (our review)
For Northwood!
ArcheOlogic (review coming soon) – the app is nice, but not as much as Andrew was wishing for.
Santorini
Kabuto Sumo (our review) – best when you take risks and don’t take it too seriously.
Picky Pixie (review coming soon)
Pocket Paragons (our review)

Welcome New Community Members

Come on in and say hi on our Facebook group!

GIVEAWAY WINNER!

We picked the winner for a copy of National Geographic Secret Clue: Animals.

SNAP Review – Unmatched: Sun’s Origin

We review the latest addition to the Unmatched series.

This one is based on real people from Japanese history, and we think they’re fascinating. Watch the video or read the transcript on our website.

FOR SCIENCE!

We try Oreo Space Dunk – an Oreo with brilliant pink and blue “marshmallow flavor” filling… and pop rocks?

Send us more weird food FOR SCIENCE! :
The Family Gamers
60 Auburn St. #528
Auburn, MA 01501

Top Five Dragon Games

We talked about dragon games all the way back in episode 169 with Claire. But that’s not what we’re doing this time! This is our top five dragon games for families… in no particular order.

Dragonkeepers

By Michael Menzel, published by KOSMOS; brand new in 2024. You’re drawing cards from a “book”, and then playing dragon cards when you can play the exact quantity and kind specified by the book. There are ways to adjust the book, but there are also more constraints for which types you can play. We’ll be reviewing this one soon.

Dragon’s Breath

A wonderful kids’ game from HABA by Gunter and Lena Burkhart. Remove rings from the “ice tower” to drop gems – and “bet” on which color gems will drop the most.

We reviewed Dragon’s Breath in 2019.

Tsuro

A lovely family game from Calliope of creating a maze and trying NOT to get to the end of your path. It looks very “adult” but is approachable for kids with a bit of patience.

Block Ness

We love Block Ness, but Anitra argues this doesn’t fit. They’re not dragons!

Dragonwood (and Dragonrealm)

Dragonwood by Darren Kisgen is a fantasy-themed game for kids. Turn in sets of cards (matching numbers, matching colors, or runs in order) to roll dice and beat monsters. Different monsters are vulnerable to different kinds of attacks (sets of cards)! This game reinforces a lot of important math skills for kids in a fun way! Dragonwood from Gamewright was one of the first games we ever reviewed.

We also enjoy the sequel, Dragonrealm but it tends a little older. (10+)

Flamecraft

The most complex game in our list due to reading and lots of choices. But still very approachable for older kids (10+). This is our teenage daughter’s favorite. We reviewed it last year.

Anitra loves these dragons the most – cute dragons with jobs! There’s nothing combative or violent in the theme here.

Flamecraft is published by Cardboard Alchemy and Lucky Duck Games.

And since we mentioned it… enjoy this video of Mandy Patinkin and his family learning Wingspan.

Find Us Online:

Facebook: @familygamersaa and thefamilygamers.com/community
Twitter (X): @familygamersaa
Threads: @familygamersaa
Instagram: @familygamersaa
TikTok: @familygamersaa
Youtube: TheFamilyGamers

or join the Family Tabletop Community on Discord! thefamilygamers.com/discord

Or, for the most direct method, email us! [email protected] and [email protected].

Check out our new Family Gamers and Play Games with Your Kids merchandise – T-shirts, hoodies, and mugs – at thefamilygamers.com/merch.

PLEASE don’t forget to subscribe to the show, tell your friends about the show, and leave us a review at Apple Podcast or whatever your podcast subscription source is. We’re also on Amazon Music, TuneIn, and Spotify.

The Family Gamers is sponsored by First Move Financial. Go to FirstMoveFinancial.com/familygamers to learn how the team at First Move Financial can help you pile up the victory points.

The post Episode 366 – Year of the Dragon! Top 5 Dragon Games appeared first on The Family Gamers.

Welcome to Jeremy Pike, staff writer! We’ll talk about how he joined our team, and what he did at Tantrum Con 2024.

365 fact

Why is a year 365 days? Because that’s how many times the Earth spins on its axis while making a complete trip around the sun. And, of course, it’s not exactly 365 either. It’s closer to 365.25, which is why we have an extra day every four years. But it’s a smidgeon less than 365.25, so we skip the leap year every century, except we have one every multiple of 400 years as another slight correction.

Sponsor message

Whether you’re worried about what’s happening or you are lucky to find yourself in a strong financial position and want some help in making the right tactical move, First Move Financial can help. If you want some help finding solid footing underneath you, or help finding the right step to leap to the next level, head to firstmovefinancial.com/familygamers to schedule a quick phone call and see how First Move can help.

What We’ve Been Playing

Echidna Shuffle
Get Bit! – The new bath-toy theme is cute. Andrew suggests we play this using gingerbread men for the swimmers.
ArcheOlogic
Ecosystem: Savanna (our review)
First in Flight
Mycelia (don’t mistake this for any other mushroom-themed games! It’s pink and adorable. Listen to the interview from PAX Unplugged.)
Chicken!
Redwood – “if Tang Garden and Photosynthesis had a baby, and gave it a photography theme”
Picky Pixie – a competitive clue-giving game from Elizabeth Hargrave & Button Shy. Reminds us a little of Visitor in Blackwood Grove.
D&D Dungeon Scrawlers: Heroes of Waterdeep (review coming soon!)
Holiday Hijinks: The Turkey Trial – the most approachable Holiday Hijinks yet, in our opinion. (The Birthday Burglary is also very good with kids.)
Unmatched: Sun’s Origins

Monthly Report – January

Andrew: 20 plays of 11 unique games. H-index 2 – Pocket Paragons (5 plays), Trio (4 plays)

Anitra: 49 plays of 20 unique games. H-index 4 – Pocket Paragons (10 plays), Calypso (9 times), At the Helm, Trio

SNAP Review – Pocket Paragons

Elliot and Anitra talk about this very quick two player duel. We think it’s a great choice for a portable and fast game.

See the video or read the transcript for our Pocket Paragons review.

Jeremy Pike and Tantrum Con

How did Jeremy get involved with The Family Gamers?

Jeremy found TFG because of his son, Zach, Family Gamers super-fan. From helping Zach write an email to receiving a T-shirt to Tantrum Con 2023, to writer!

What about Tantrum Con?

Tantrum Con is the yearly convention thrown by Tantrum House. And it’s the most kid-friendly convention we’ve ever seen. With a larger location, they stepped up everything this year, including the kids section! They hired a group called “Living Rooms and Lizards” to run D&D style storytelling games for kids.

Everything was bigger – Exhibitor hall, Demo area for pre-release games, etc.

New game highlights at Tantrum Con

Run Run Run! – and the rest of the “2024 Import collection” from 25th Century. (look at that Kickstarter!)

Corps of Discovery: A Game Set in the World of Manifest Destiny – “Lewis & Clark and monsters”

Gems of Iridescia

What else is special about Tantrum Con?

Table-flipping face-offs

Tournameals – learn a game while having a meal together (plus giveaways)

VIP gaming area – for content creators and/or designers to teach games

Play to Win – a lot of cons have this, but it’s always great. There’s a huge variety of games in Play to Win at Tantrum Con.

And the people who are there playing games are just very kind and nice.

You get a goodie bag when you arrive – and kids get kid games in their bag! We love how much respect is shown towards kids, that they can be gamers too.

Find Jeremy Online:

thefamilygamers.com/tag/jeremy
Instagram @jeremypikebackyardbbq

Find Us Online:

Facebook: @familygamersaa and thefamilygamers.com/community
Twitter (X): @familygamersaa
Threads: @familygamersaa
Instagram: @familygamersaa
TikTok: @familygamersaa
Youtube: TheFamilyGamers

or join the Family Tabletop Community on Discord! thefamilygamers.com/discord

Or, for the most direct method, email us! [email protected] and [email protected].

Check out our new Family Gamers and Play Games with Your Kids merchandise – T-shirts, hoodies, and mugs – at thefamilygamers.com/merch.

PLEASE don’t forget to subscribe to the show, tell your friends about the show, and leave us a review at Apple Podcast or whatever your podcast subscription source is. We’re also on Amazon Music, TuneIn, and Spotify.

The Family Gamers is sponsored by First Move Financial. Go to FirstMoveFinancial.com/familygamers to learn how the team at First Move Financial can help you pile up the victory points.

The post Episode 365 – Tantrum Con with Jeremy Pike appeared first on The Family Gamers.

We often talk about new games. But let’s look back a little bit. We were excited for a lot of new games at the beginning of 2023 – how did they fare? Were all of them as great as we hoped?

364 fact

Guinness World Record: 364 people simultaneously playing Rock-Paper-Scissors online.

Sponsor message

Have you heard of the fun ratio? This idea comes from The Opposite of Spoiled by Ron Lieber, if you want to talk about other ways to equip your children for their future, go to firstmovefinancial.com/familygamers to schedule a time to talk to First Move today.

What We’ve Been Playing

Calypso – because it’s so fast, Andrew accuses Anitra of using it to boost her game playing stats.
Villainous – Anitra compares this to Disney: Animated because of the way it siloes each movie universe.
Royal Visit
Dice Cards
Maul Peak
Suspend – a dexterity game we recommend. (Get the Jr version for kids under 10.)
10 Days in the USA
Monopoly Deal

FOR SCIENCE!

Is this cheating? There’s no possibility that this is gross: our options are “delicious” or “really delicious”.

Send us more weird food FOR SCIENCE! :
The Family Gamers
60 Auburn St. #528
Auburn, MA 01501

SNAP Review – Smug Owls

Stretch your brain by answering riddles. The catch? These riddles are generated by decks of cards.

Read the transcript or watch the video.

Facebook Community Welcome

We have a lot of new members! Stop on in and say hi.

Revisiting the 2023 Hotness

We were really excited for a lot of games at the beginning of 2023, and we talked about them in episode 327.

Flashback: Zombie Kidz – Mildly disappointing. Pretty good, but not quite what we were hoping for. Our review. (Turbo Kidz was a surprise in the other direction – so much better than we expected!)

Fit to Print – Still haven’t played. Anitra has warmed to it, hopefully we’ll play it sometime this year.

Thunder Road: Vendetta – We haven’t played it, but Nick (who put it on the list) has been very happy with it. “The game is exactly what it said it was going to be.”

Qawale – Gorgeous abstract game from Gigamic. We reviewed this one too. Anitra: likes it a lot, but not as much as she thought she would.

Steam Up – Haven’t played it in 2023, but we’re excited to see it on store shelves.

Sauscharf – In the US, it was renamed Pick-a-Pepper. We got a chance to play this in February and really liked it. We will look for it again!

Miller Zoo – A very nice cooperative game. Not a hit with our kids, because it had less depth than we expected. But it’s a great entry-level cooperative game, without much tension and nothing scary.

Stampfarm – Exactly what it wants to be. A roll-and-write for very young children that uses stamps instead of writing. See more in our review.

Marvel Unmatched sets – We played (and reviewed) Unmatched: Teen Spirit, and loved it. We did not get to try Unmatched: For King and Country.

Bonsai – This game was in high demand, and we totally understand why. Anitra was surprised by this one, and how it kept a strategic tension (there are more things you want to do) while staying pretty calm. See more in our review.

What surprised us in 2023?

Junk Drawer! “Blindsided me in the best possible way.” Anitra was not interested in this game and found out she loves it! See our review.

Seikatsu: A Pet’s Life – exciting to FIND this re-theme of Seikatsu that has been out of print for a few years. (We are also excited for the re-print / new version that will be coming from Grand Gamers Guild.)

Giveaway

Anitra created a how-to-play video for Underdog Games’ National Geographic Secret Clue: Animals and we have an extra copy to share with one of you.

Enter the giveaway!

Find Us Online:

Facebook: @familygamersaa and thefamilygamers.com/community
Twitter (X): @familygamersaa
Threads: @familygamersaa
Instagram: @familygamersaa
TikTok: @familygamersaa
Youtube: TheFamilyGamers

or join the Family Tabletop Community on Discord! thefamilygamers.com/discord

Or, for the most direct method, email us! [email protected] and [email protected].

Check out our new Family Gamers and Play Games with Your Kids merchandise – T-shirts, hoodies, and mugs – at thefamilygamers.com/merch.

PLEASE don’t forget to subscribe to the show, tell your friends about the show, and leave us a review at Apple Podcast or whatever your podcast subscription source is. We’re also on Amazon Music, TuneIn, and Spotify.

The Family Gamers is sponsored by First Move Financial. Go to FirstMoveFinancial.com/familygamers to learn how the team at First Move Financial can help you pile up the victory points.

The post Episode 364 – Look Back: How Did 2023 Predictions Fare? appeared first on The Family Gamers.

Episode 363
Happy Camper Games
with Jason Schneider

This week, we are joined by the “Head Camper” at Happy Camper Games – Jason Schneider!

363 Fact

Do you like Wingspan? The largest wingspan for a bird species is 3.63 meters, measured on a Wandering Albatross.

Sponsor message

How do you know if you’re ready to retire?

If you want help reviewing the financial part of preparing for retirement set up a time to talk to First Move by going to firstmovefinancial.com/familygamers today.

What We’ve Been Playing

Green Team Wins (a Family Gamers favorite)
Mah-jong
Trio
Pocket Paragons
Camel Up
Skyrockets
Smug Owls (our review)

SNAP Review – Sherlock 13

Can you ask clever questions and deduce the identity of the hidden Criminal?

Sherlock 13 is a deduction game with just 13 cards and paper sheets to record information.

Watch the video of our review or read the transcript.

Jason Schneider, Happy Camper Games

Jason has been working in the board game industry for a long time. Trio is the debut game for his new company, Happy Camper.

Trio’s US debut was at PAX Unplugged, and Jason almost ran out of the game!

Why “Happy Camper”?

Summer camp played a critical role in Jason’s life, and the idea kept coming back over and over.

Jason wants to publish games FOR FAMILIES, should make you think back to summer camp experiences. Trio exemplifies this – it’s easy to learn and plays fast. “Let’s play again!” and reminds us of the kinds of traditional card games we played as kids.

Jason feels strongly about the role camp can have in a kid’s life: some of the proceeds from Happy Camper games will go to fund summer camp scholarships.

We reminisce about summer camp and camping in general. “All you need to do is put up a hammock…” “… and you’ve got to have s’mores.” So what IS doing the real work in a s’more? Andrew and Jason agree it’s the marshmallow. No gatekeeping on what makes a s’more though!

Back to Happy Camper – Jason decided to stick with the name, but keep the branding very simple, no campfire or tent or specific camping item. “Camping is a very personal thing.”

We are thrilled with Happy Camper’s success so far with Trio and hope they’ll keep doing just as well. They’ll be at PAX East, so you will be able to check them out there!

What’s the next game from Happy Camper? “Like Trio, it will have a certain familiarity to it… and it’s a great group game.” And it has a “frenemy” nature to it. That’s all he can tell us, except it will be out before the end of 2024.

Trio is back in stock as of this episode’s date.

Find Happy Camper Games Online:

HappyCamper.games – also a great place to find a local retailer where you could buy Trio!

In person, find them at PAX Unplugged, PAX East, and Gen Con.

Find Us Online:

Facebook: @familygamersaa and thefamilygamers.com/community
Twitter (X): @familygamersaa
Threads: @familygamersaa
Instagram: @familygamersaa
TikTok: @familygamersaa
Youtube: TheFamilyGamers

or join the Family Tabletop Community on Discord! thefamilygamers.com/discord

Or, for the most direct method, email us! [email protected] and [email protected].

Check out our new Family Gamers and Play Games with Your Kids merchandise – T-shirts, hoodies, and mugs – at thefamilygamers.com/merch.

PLEASE don’t forget to subscribe to the show, tell your friends about the show, and leave us a review at Apple Podcast or whatever your podcast subscription source is. We’re also on Amazon Music, TuneIn, and Spotify.

The Family Gamers is sponsored by First Move Financial. Go to FirstMoveFinancial.com/familygamers to learn how the team at First Move Financial can help you pile up the victory points.

The post Episode 363 – Happy Camper Games with Jason Schneider appeared first on The Family Gamers.

362 Fact

According to WikiFanona, there are currently 362 episodes of the incredibly popular television show NCIS. (But it’s still in production, so there will be more.)

Sponsor Message

Learn about the sunk cost fallacy with our sponsor, First Move Financial. If you need a sounding board for your life’s financial decisions, go to firstmovefinancial.com/familygamers and set up a time to talk to First Move Financial.

What We’ve Been Playing

Seven Bridges – a roll-and-write that feels different from any other.
Tesseract (our review)
Smug Owls (review coming soon)
Unmatched: Sun’s Origin (Tomoe Gozen & Oda Nobunaga)
Oh What Fun! (last year’s review)
Motley (review coming)
Trio (review coming – we recommend!)

Monthly Report and Year in Review!

Anitra’s December: 45 plays of 27 unique games. Learned Camel Up on New Year’s Eve! H-index 3: Trio, Skyrockets, Tesseract, Smug Owls.

Andrew’s December: 28 of 17 unique games. H-index 3: Tesseract, Trio, Smug Owls.

Andrew’s 2023: 288 plays of 148 unique games. H-index: 4. Most played: “Unpublished Prototype”, Unmatched, Jekyll vs. Hyde, FORK. 64% of plays at home.

Anitra’s 2023: 564 plays of 210 unique games. H-index: 9 – Calypso, Unmatched, Numbsters, GROVE, Roll to the Top, River Wild, Forage, Wildtails, Turbo Kidz. 2 players is most often: 37% of the time. Next most common is 3 players and solo, which each get 18%. 67% of plays were at home.

Want to tell us about your monthly or yearly stats? Join the Facebook community or the Family Tabletop Community discord.

SNAP Review – Ecosystem: Savanna

This sequel in the Ecosystem series is more family-friendly and fun!

This card-drafting, tableau-building game is a great way to learn or review facts about animals that live in the African savanna.

Watch the video or read the transcript.

Top Ten Games of 2023

Andrew came up with a way to rank our top games and allow for overlap: we each distributed 10 points among our top 6 games. It worked! We have a top ten.

At one point each, our bottom five:

Unmatched (see our previous reviews)
Her Story (our review)
Tesseract
Smug Owls
Disney Animated (our review)

At two points each:

Junk Drawer (our review)
Roll to the Top: Journeys (our review)
Turbo Kidz (our review)

Our #2 game, with three points:

Illiterati (our review)

Our top game, at a combined FIVE points:

boop. (our review)

Find Us Online:

Facebook: @familygamersaa and thefamilygamers.com/community
Twitter (X): @familygamersaa
Threads: @familygamersaa
Instagram: @familygamersaa
TikTok: @familygamersaa
Youtube: TheFamilyGamers

or join the Family Tabletop Community on Discord! thefamilygamers.com/discord

Or, for the most direct method, email us! [email protected] and [email protected].

Check out our new Family Gamers and Play Games with Your Kids merchandise – T-shirts, hoodies, and mugs – at thefamilygamers.com/merch.

PLEASE don’t forget to subscribe to the show, tell your friends about the show, and leave us a review at Apple Podcast or whatever your podcast subscription source is. We’re also on Amazon Music, TuneIn, and Spotify.

The Family Gamers is sponsored by First Move Financial. Go to FirstMoveFinancial.com/familygamers to learn how the team at First Move Financial can help you pile up the victory points.

The post Episode 362 – Our Top Ten Games of 2023 appeared first on The Family Gamers.

We’re back, with a bonus episode, featuring the rest of our PAX interviews.

361 Fact

Chinese submarine 361, nicknamed “The Great Wall”, is infamous for killing all members on board in 2003.

Sponsor Message

How do you help your kids understand that Christmas isn’t just a “get me more stuff” holiday? Listen to our sponsor message – and make sure you are modeling the behavior you want to be teaching your children. If you’d like to talk about other ideas to help pass on your values to your children schedule a time to talk to First Move by going to firstmovefinancial .com/familygamers today.

What We’ve Been Playing

Santa’s Workshop
Skyrockets
Tesseract
Space Explorers: Age of Ambition (our review)
Ecosystem: Savanna
National Geographic: Secret Clue – Animals

New Community Members – Welcome!

Stop in to the Facebook community and say hi!

SNAP Review – Tokaido Duo

This wasn’t quite the “chill, enjoy the journey” sequel to Tokaido that we expected. But it’s a great game for two players that avoids being confrontational and directly competitive.

Watch the video or read the transcript of this review.

PAX Unplugged Interviews

Want to skip to a particular company? Check out the timestamps.

27:00 Gamey with John

The Tree Trimming Game

Find out more at Gamey

31:20 Catmint Studio with Brian

Sequitur – a word game using balls that slide into a holder

Find out more at Catmint Games

33:00 WizKids with Mitch

Jokkmokk
Marvel Remix
Unboxed

Find out more at WizKids

38:55 Blue Rondo with Rick

Crabs in a Bucket

Find out more at Blue Rondo Games

46:30 Wise Wizard Games with Danielle

Wise Wizard has a new imprint, Wacky Wizard Games, with games intended for kids & families. Coming in 2024:

Star Realms Academy
Caution Signs
Pack the Essentials

Find out more at Wise Wizard Games

49:40 One Day West with Ryan

Maize Craze

Find out more at One Day West Games

52:00 Ravensburger with Lysa

Mycelia

Find out more at Ravensburger

Find Us Online:

Facebook: @familygamersaa and thefamilygamers.com/community
Twitter (X): @familygamersaa
Threads: @familygamersaa
Instagram: @familygamersaa
TikTok: @familygamersaa
Youtube: TheFamilyGamers

or join the Family Tabletop Community on Discord! thefamilygamers.com/discord

Or, for the most direct method, email us! [email protected] and [email protected].

Check out our new Family Gamers and Play Games with Your Kids merchandise – T-shirts, hoodies, and mugs – at thefamilygamers.com/merch.

PLEASE don’t forget to subscribe to the show, tell your friends about the show, and leave us a review at Apple Podcast or whatever your podcast subscription source is. We’re also on Amazon Music, TuneIn, and Spotify.

The Family Gamers is sponsored by First Move Financial. Go to FirstMoveFinancial.com/familygamers to learn how the team at First Move Financial can help you pile up the victory points.

The post Episode 361 – PAX Unplugged 2023 – Days Two & Three appeared first on The Family Gamers.

Interviews from our first day at PAX Unplugged! Part one of a two-part series.

The post Episode 360 – PAX Unplugged 2023 – Day One appeared first on The Family Gamers.