Minecraft: Story mode is a point-and-click videogame set in a phenomenally popular brand.  If you haven’t had contact with a child under the age of 15, you may not know about the cultural phenomenon that is Minecraft.  Minecraft is a very popular open-ended exploration and building game based around block-like graphics that give it a bit of a LEGO vibe.  Minecraft: Story Mode is the first game that uses the Minecraft Universe as a setting.  A cross between a point-and-click adventure and a quick-choice response system (think Dragon’s Lair in the arcade if you’re old enough), Minecraft Story Mode manages to deliver a fun, if simple, game that hits the spot for its target audience.
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Tags: Game Reviews

A good kid’s game will involve a bit of actual thinking (looking at you Candyland) and a bit of physical interaction (to help those squirrelly ones.) Fish Fish Squish! has a bit of both, matching cards and smashing play-doh fish as a reward for success. This makes it fun for kids and agreeable to parents playing along.

Fish Fish Squish!
Publisher: Winning Moves
Ages: 5+
Players: 2-4
Time: 20 mins
(Review copy provided by Winning Moves)

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Tags: Unplugged

I like a nice, deep boardgame: something fun to play that would last 60-90 minutes. However, with two young boys and a toddler girl I am always on the lookout for games and toys appropriate for my younger crowd. Patch Products have none of the former, but specializes in games and toys for the younger (or family with younger) crowd. Scoping out things for the holiday season, here are three newer items of note from the company. They aren’t going to collect awards as grown-up games, but all three were a big hit with my kids.

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Like X-Com, Massive Chalice is both a short-term tactical game and a long-term strategy game.  However, rather than managing an organization and individuals as they progress through their careers, Massive Chalice puts you in charge of a kingdom and you manage the royal lines through centuries of development.

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Tags: Game Reviews

Which is larger, a tricerotops or an ankylosaurus?  If you already know, you may be in the target audience of Cardline: Dinosaurs.  The Timeline family of card games challenges players to place cards representing items and events in chronological order.  In Cardline: Dinosaurs, players place their cards in order either by weight or by size.  While similar to the previous games, the dinosaur theme may be more attractive to younger players.

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Tags: Unplugged

Sit down to a boardgame with your friends and enjoy a night of fun. Next week you can play it all again, but what if each time you play the game it is subtly altered so you never play the same game twice? About 4 years ago, Hasbro went out on a limb and released Risk Legacy. It was the Risk game known to many, but this time around every game played physically changed the game. What if the green army wins one game and comes back with advantages the next time around. What if western Australia was nuked, a sticker was placed on the board, and that location will never be accessible again. Risk Legacy was a hit amongst the boardgaming crowd. The idea of a boardgame that evolves and permanently changes was out of the bag and now several new titles are coming down the pipeline.

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Tags: Unplugged

I visited GenCon last week, one of the largest gaming conventions in the U.S. 60,000+ people mobbed downtown Indianapolis for the four days of the event. All types of games were covered including boardgames, roleplaying games, and collectible card games. I have an entire series covering many games in detail over at OpinionatedGamers. I have a rundown of dice games, more complex games, family games, children’s games, and a mix of roleplaying and “everything else.”

However, to save everyone some time, I’ve dug out some of my favorite games of the convention so you don’t necessarily have to wade through all my reports (unless you want to see some of the variety at the convention.)

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Tags: Unplugged

I’m a fan of old school, open ended RPGs from the 80s and early 90s, while others prefer the Japanese-style RPGs rich in story but with few choices to character development.  The newest entry of Etrian Odyssey attempts to cater to both types of fans, and does a pretty good job.
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Tags: Game Reviews

The idea of a deckbuilding game has been around for quite awhile, the idea of making a game solely about building a deck of powerful cards over the course of a single game. Designers have since “riffed” on that basic idea in many ways, and Hyperborea takes as its new twist the idea of bag-building. In Hyperborea, players place and remove colored cubes from their personal bag. The colors drawn dictate a player’s options for that turn. This new(ish) mechanism is used to good effect. Combined with unique player powers and multiple paths to victory, Hyperborea is a fun game that feels something mildly akin to Risk, but Risk where each player (and country) has special powers.

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Tags: Game Reviews, Unplugged

There seems to be an uptick in old-school computer RPGs lately, with Wasteland 2, Pillars of Eternity, and Torment: Tides of Numenera on the horizon. But it doesn’t get much more old-school than good old-fashioned paper and pencil role-playing. The classic Dungeons and Dragons had a recent “reset” with their 5th Edition rules, harkening back to older D&D versions with faster, looser play (less of a tactical boardgame feel.) The big launch last fall has simmered down and it’s time to take a look at the line to see how it’s matured. Both D&D and Pathfinder (the other big player on the market) continue to find ways to cater to less experienced players. We’ll start with new items from Pathfinder and D&D, and finish off with the newest D&D themed co-op boardgame, just released by Wizkids.

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Tags: Unplugged