Winner Winner Chicken Dinner!

If you have ever been to board game night at our house, you know that the first thing Kenneth does is tell everyone that "Wendy's plays ruthlless, so don't trade, ally or listen to her..". and if you have a question or need clarification on rules to ask him. OK, so I don't mind him being the rules guy, who wants to read those booklets to figure out how to get a new game started. And yes, he is always a fair judge... but he does he realy have to give up my dumb blonde persona before we even get started? After all these years I have decided this is part of his strategy because he knows he is easily distracted by conversation and doesn't usually win against me!

A few years ago Kenneth was really excited about a new game titled Pandemic. The object of the game is to cure disease before pandemic breaks out. Players work together to build research centers and find a cure. This is an everyone wins or everyone looses type of thing. From the getgo I just hated this game. Although you aren't supposed to play your cards face up and reveal your assests, players end up hinting with more than obvious clues to their fellow players. And by that time it's sort of just a going through the motions type of thing.

I guess I am just not a teamplayer... I want a winner! And that winner better be me! I just couldn't figure out why people loved this game. My own brother, on a visit during the years he lived in Africa, loved it. The first printing sold out and it was impossible to get a copy. I hated this game so much I almost snuck it in my brother's luggage and sent it with him back to Africa! Though Kenneth begs all the time to play Pandemic, to this day we haven't broken the game out again.

Kenneth came across this cartoon...

Sums up my feeling exactly! I play to win! Winner takes all.... Winner, Winner, Chicken Dinner!

I realized it may be because of my dislike for Pandemic that I have been avoiding learning a new game Kenneth bought ages ago, Agricola. In recent months and years the new games stack up. I don't know why I am so resistant to them. I guess because I know I can beat him at every game we already own.  I really owe Kenneth and apology and a game night!

What new games have you played recently?  What games can you not stand to play?

Killer UNO RULES!

Coming up on 16 years and here's another piece to The Love Story. You could say that if it wasn't for Killer UNO! I wouldn't have married Kenneth.  I always loved to play games, but after the preteen years I just didn't play games very often.  I had gone out with Kenneth a couple times 'just because' and one lazy Sunday afternoon while a friend and I were visiting Kenneth called and invited us over for Game Night, which was a weekly Sunday occasion at the Hardy house.  "No way," I protested to my friend... "He is such a NERD!"  But my friend thought it would be fun to see Kenneth's brother Greg, and it wasn't like we had much else to do.... And that's the beginning of my metamorphose into a Board Game Geek.

After 16 years we have decided these are the most balanced rules...

UNO! Awsumb-Hardy House Rules

1. Dealing- Begin with 2 UNO decks. Dealer chooses how many cards are dealt. (1-?) (Wendy is known for dealing only one card, leaving all players scrambling to quickly turn over their cards and scream UNO! Often a game will end there, other times a one card deal leads to a very long game- it just depends on the cards in the deck!)

2. Play- Play starts with the player to the left of the dealer and continues clockwise until reversed. Play begins the second the dealer flips the first card. (You may flip the top card before all players are ready, or make sure your own cards are in order first! This can be used as strategy because matches may be played immediately after the play begins.  Kenneth is known for not sorting his cards as strategy to mix up the person who may receive them later in the game.)

3. Draw 'til you play. If a player has no legal card to play, the play must continue to draw from the pile until a playable card is drawn. Shuffle as needed. If you draw Wild cards, you don't have to play them but you must play the first matching color card you draw.

4. Matching- Any player can play out of turn if you can make an exact match to the current card. Play then continues from that person on, skipping the players in between the last played card and the match. If you have two identical cards in your hand then you can play both at the same time. This is particularly good when it is 2 (identical) draw-cards, or 2 (identical) reverse cards, etc. (2 Reverse= no change. 2 Skip = skip 2 players)

5. Match and play- A variation of the matching rule is to allow the person who matched to match and then play a legal card from their hand, giving them an extra turn. (This rule is controversial, so it is optional.)

6. Draw Stacks- Any Draw card starts a draw stack. Instead of drawing the appropriate cards, a player may “fight” with another draw card, ADDING to the draw effects and sending it on to the next player. You can “fight” a draw with any Draw Two, Reverse, Skip or a Wild Draw Four. Normal color rules apply. The number cards and the standard Wild card cannot be played in the draw stack. (Skip cards may also be stacked, sending the skip around the table)

7. Wild Cards- In normal play, you can play a Wild Draw Four, even if you have any of the appropriate color available. When playing any Wild card, in normal play or in the stack, you must still declare the new color and cannot use the same color.

8. Sixes & Nines- Sixes and nines may be played interchangeably. Beware, if you are caught you must draw six or nine!

9. Pass on Zero- When any one of the "0" cards are played everyone must pass their hand to the adjacent person in the direction of play. Only after a swap or draw stack has completed is a final winner determined… and it may NOT be the person who originally “played their last card.”

10. Switch on Zero- A variation for the “0” card is to allow the player who plays the “0” the option of switching hands with another player.

11. Going Out- Be cautious of playing a draw card or a “0” as your final card, it will trigger additional action! The hand does not end until play is resolved and, if you end up drawing cards, play will continue.

12. Scoring- The winner is the one who gets rid of all their cards first, and then everyone "counts" their remaining cards (as in the usual game- remaining numbers are added together, Draw Two, Reverse, Skip or Wild - 20 points; Wild Draw Four- 50 points). The game stops when the first player gets to 500, and the one with the lowest score wins!

13. Pirates- In honor of Little Awsumb (Optional) Players must cheat – Suggested methods include, but are not limited to…

looking at other players' hands, playing two or more cards at once to get rid of them faster,

hiding cards anywhere you can (up sleeves, under the table or back on the deck),

playing the wrong card when no one is looking (if caught player draw that # of cards),

passing and not playing cards you may want to keep for a future draw stack…

Players must use pirate voices and say "arggh" a lot (adds to the atmosphere)

Killer UNO servers as a really good 'gateway game' to introduce new friends to our board game nights and our ever growing collection of good quality strategy board games.

What are your House Rule variations?

Game Night!

The holiday season has afforded us much needed family game nights to learn some fun new games.  Check out these fun new titles...

The Magic Labyrinth

High powered magnets seem to be the new game gimmick of late and are the secret behind The Magic Labyrinth.  Game set up involves moving the walls aroud to create a maze. This is then covered and the board is spun around a number of times before play.  Place the magnetic Magician Apprentices in the corners attach a steal ball under each one.  

To begin play draw a lost object from the bag and place on matching symbol on the board. Roll the dice to determine the number of moves, using your memory to find our way around the maze  to the lost objects. The first person with 5 lost objects wins.  Tons of fun a different game every time.  Sound effects reccomeded for more joyful play!

Scribblish

Password Pictionary anyone?  By the creators of Cranium I saw the cheesey commericals for this and begged for it for Christmas. Kenneth gave in and it's really not a bad game.  How else can a bike ride to Saturn turn into a camping trip with a dragon?  Or the Three Blind Mice into a musical saddle?  Best to play with your wittiest friends!

Dixit

You will fall in love with this game for the artwork alone!  After dealing a handful of cards to each player, the first one selects a card and shares a short phrase to describe a  story or theme. The other players secretly select their own cards which match the description. All selected cards are shuffled and laid out on the table.  Players vote on which one was card was the origional inspiration for the theme.

Each correct answer gives points to the guesser and the active player. Each incorrect answer gives points to the player who submitted the guessed card. However, if all of the guesses are correct -- or none of them are -- then the active player gets no points and all the other players get points.  The game ends when the deck is empty. The greatest total wins the game.

Rory's Story Cubes

Simply a box of dice with pictures.  Roll and tell a story.  The players make up the rules.  Awsumb has been spending a lot of time writing his own little stories and of course LOVES make-believe.  He picked these up with his own money the other day and has been carrying them around all weekend. The cubes come in their own cute little box with magnetic closure.  This is a great activity for children of all ages. An expansion set of Story Cubes with Action words is also availabe.  Click here to read more about Rory's Story Cubes.

Dixit is a little pricey and the expansion set of cards is just about as pricey as the original.  But, can you imagine the possiblities of the cards from Dixit combined with the Story Cubes?

This is your life...

I have been married to Kenneth for 15 years and I don't know what his birthday is. Yes, I know, I have it written down in my old fashioned Franklin Day Planner and often have to flip to it in a panic on the odd phone call with the cable or credit card companies as I try to verify that I know his birthday and social security number.  It's not that I'm stuck up (O.K. I am just a little bit) and don't care about when his birthday is. It's that we always celebrate it the Sunday after Thanksgiving.  And his brother has a birthday the day before or after or something... so I just always get confused whether Kenneth is the 27th or 31st or even if the month of November has a 31st  (I'm also a little bit blonde!).

So this year after we were stuffed with a big dinner and a giant chocolate cake (which may have been laced with Rickies!) we all became quite silly. Which led to many jokes about the King of the Nerds that aren't even worth retelling as they didn't even make sense... but we all spent a good hour or so laughing to hard we had belly aches... and finally I Googled to find out what really happened on the day Kenneth was born...

Kenneth D. Hardy

On the day you were born

November 29, 1972

 Nolan Bushnell (co-founder of Atari) releases Pong,
the first commercially successful video game,

in Andy Capp’s Tavern in Sunnyvale, California.

How fitting to know this was the day our little computer nerd was born!

Video Games have come a long way baby... and so have you!

Happy Birthday! 

I love you... well, just a little bit anyway!

WIRED magazine says
Pong is the game any drunk can play!
(To play PONG click here!)

The Laundry Faerie

Look what The Laundry Faerie sent to me!! Who doesn't love getting mysterious packages? And it even came in the middle of the night... just like a true Laundry Fairy, because as we all know Laundry Faries are nocturnal! Click the above link to learn more about my friend who also plays a Laundry Fairy at night!

Now to Pay It Forward. Here's how it works:

The first three people to leave a comment on this post will be my Pay It Forward recipients. You have to be an actual person, not a spambot, and you must have a blog so I can read your postings and learn enough about you to make an informed choice about what to send you. When you receive your package from me, post pictures on your blog of what you received, just as I have done -- then copy and paste this text and wait for three comments on your blog... and the game continues on. Ask me if you have any questions.

This isn't one of those games where we try to outdo each other with spending -- inexpensive but well-chosen and thoughtful little gifts are best.

If you think this sounds like fun, please post a comment to get in on this. (You will be required to send me your address privately).

Give us some flourescent cheese product!

Hallmark features two loud characters, Hoops and Yoyo, on many of their Ecards. Awsumb of course quickly fell in love with these two. Our favorite was a Mother's Day card that features the desperate pair incessantly yelling, "Mom, mom, mom, mom... Give us some fluorescent cheese product!"

While your little rats are enjoying their fluorescent cheese product you may want to check out Chateau Roquefort! Awsumb choose this game with some of his birthday spending money. By Rio Games, this game is for 2-4 players age 6 and up.

Bedsides the ever so important 'cool bits' that make up this game such as little mice and a cool multi layer castle structure this game is easy to play and plays great with 2 players.

Discover the castle by removing roof pieces to view rooms and their contents; the cheese! Use memory and strategy to position your mice on matching pieces of cheese. Beware the labyrinth of moving pieces that reveal dungeons or mouse traps! The first player to collect 4 different kinds of cheese wins!


Awsumb quoted Jimmy Neutron saying, "Now, you gotta admit... THAT is pretty neat!"

While I don't care much for cheese of the fluorescent variety I do love a good brie! What's your favorite kind of cheese?

Bacon, eggs, and cheese...

Awsumb's friends were so generous and he got some really great quality games and toys for his birthday. Today we tried out a new game he picked with spending money at Uncle's, our favorite game store.

RattleSnake comes with 12 high powered magnetic rattlesnake eggs. Simple roll the die and play them one at a time on the board on the color snake determined by the die. Be careful, these high powered magnets begin to react and begin moving the other eggs pretty easily. If they clash or crash together you must take them back into your hand. First player to get rid of all their rattlesnake eggs win!

A simple game with lots of excitement. There was much squealing and cheering! Priced just right, I will be adding this to my gift list!

Check back for a review of...

Chateau Roquefort

Played any new games recently?

Pirate Month!

It's officially National Pirate Month at our house. Here are a few good pirate game reviews... (excuse the IPhone shots)

Piratissimo is a pretty simple child's game. The 'bits' might be the best part of the game. At $44 it'ss over priced and I admit I bought it for the bits! Small wooden pirate ships gather treasure as they sail around the board. Watch out for the 'tornadoes' (something might have been lost in the translation there!). This is easy enough for a child to set up by himself. Awsumb LOVES it!

Pirate's Cove is our new favorite. From Days of Wonder, the makers of Ticket to Ride. While set up first felt daunting, the system was easy to catch onto. Navigate your pirate ship to the islands on the board trying to build up your ships defenses (sails, cannons, crew, hull) to earn fame! If you land on the same island as another pirate you must battle it out. Watch out for the legendary pirates as they can be hard to beat! The pirate with the most fame wins. Again, this has cool bits, beautiful art work, etc.

Dread Pirate We were given a special edition of this game as a gift. The bits are some of the best we have ever seen, metall pirate ships, colored jewels, etc. Move around the grid on the map much like clue (great for kids to add die rolls and count spaces) then battle it out to collect the most treasure... All while fighting to hold the title of the Dread Pirate! Kenneth thinks this is a little long. With kids it's best to play the simple rules version. Awsumb plays this quite often with his friends and afterwards, they love to just play with the cool pieces!

Pirateer is an old one that is simple and quick to learn. Following the direction of the tradewinds, chase after the treasure and try to get it back to your base to win the game... Watch out for the rivals who are now all after you!

And if you need some good tunes to get you in the pirate spirit, check out... Captain Bogg and Salty. Awsumb and Kenneth saw them in concert and just love their little tunes!

One of the best things about playing pirate board games with little kids is that they always opt for a battle... So, don't forget to talk like a pirate!
AAAARGG!!

Played any good pirate games lately?

Monopoly Killer

I don't think I ever played a complete game of Monopoly until a few years ago. We had the missionaries over for dinner one night and as it often does the conversation turned to board games. One of the Elders was a Monopoly fanatic. They begged us to play, and we did. We had purchased a nice copy of the game in a collectors tin yeas ago, but this was the first (and LAST) time we played it. Why? It's depressing! Winner takes all. This is definatley why Settlers has over taken Monopoly. But I did learn that I had never really played the game correctly. Who knew you were supposed to auction off the properties? And to find out there was no Free Parking was a let down. (though Kenneth reminded me that's what made the game drag on, big comebacks) Thus, our nice collectors tin of Monopoly will continue to live in the back of the game closet. I will say that Monopoly does have some great bits! It doesn't get any better than the little shoe!

The article from WIRED that I shared in my last post started me thinking about what really makes a cool game. And while good bits are a huge plus, the game has to be fun to play. In Settler, the trading of rescources promotes interaction and team work. To win Cosmic Encounters a player simply needs five bases on other people's planets. This can only been accomplices with allies.

But one of the things that makes a game great is when the game changes it's own rules. This is why I love Cosmic. Each person draws a random Alien with special powers. These powers change the rules of the game. Making each time you play a totally different game. After all, who wants to play the same exact game over and over again? Settlers has enough variables right from the start with the random placement of resouce hexes and numbers for production die rolls.

Could Monopoly be reworked to provide a different experience everytime? Probably not, because the game itself is one person stompin on everyone else, not to mention the elimination aspect as player go broke one by one. That alone doesn't make it a good social game. There has to be give and take, allies, switching sides, etc. Unless of course you play games with us for the first time and Kenneth leans over and says, "Wendy's ruthless, don't trade with her" and from the beginning everyone gangs up on me!

Yes, Kenneth says this to everyone new person that plays games with us. I have recently relized that this is Kenneth's strategy because he is such a terrible board game player! Or maybe it's because his role to to read the rules and try to figure out how to teach us all these cool new games and he doesn't have time to develop his own strategy. Not to mention when we demand he make us all drinks!

P.S. Monopoly Jr. is a great kids game! Basic addition, counting, etc.

Here's a funny McDonald's commercial featurin Settlers of Catan in place of the annual Monopoly promotion...

Board Game Geek

Yes, I will admit I am a board game geek! I have always loved to play games. When I was 10 my favorite was Careers by Parker Brothers. I guess for me this was my “Settlers of Catan.” Settlers of Catan seems to be the new 'gateway drug' or introduction into cool board games.  Unfortunately beside Monopoly and the other basic Milton Bradley games we didn’t have much to choose from. Then there was those year my mother didn’t allow us to play with face cards (Whatever!)  Needless to say I simply didn’t have much exposure to other “cool” card games and board games.

But I always loved playing games with stategy.  My father did have the coolest miniature Monopoly set that he made during the years before kids and when he still had free time for such projects. It was kept up high in the storage/toy closet where I imagine my father also hid the PONG game and other cool things we were not supposed to play with. That didn’t stop me from sneaking in there look at the tiny board and pieces.  And then there was the cool Pente game my Dad kept in his closet and brought out for special times.

When I started hanging out with Kenneth, one of the things that kept me going back (because remember I already had a boyfriend and though Kenneth was a super nerd) was the games. Sundays nights at the Hardy home meant card games. Nertz and Killer UNO were their favorites. While it was simple fun, what those sticky cards really meant to all the kids who hung at the Hardy house was “welcome home, you are all family here,” I knew there must be something more. And the Nerd Krew was just the group I needed to open a new world to me.

The guy who would mysteriously show up at game nights with a box tucked under his arm was Steve Clauson. He always had something new and each time I HAD to have a copy! My all time favorite is Cosmic Encounters. From then on I was hooked and was just as happy to take a drive to hole in the wall game stores as the mall. And even though I still enjoy an evening of a simple card game like Hand and Foot or Killer UNO it’s strategy games that I really live for. And ever gamer knows German Strategy games are the best.  And the games must have 'cool bits' or pieces.

Here is a fun article I just read in WIRED...

Monopoly Killer - WIRED April 2009 (click to read)

I have included a few favorite places to buy and read about board games under the fun and games section of my blog.

What was your favorite game when you were a kid?
And what and your favorite game nowadays?

Totally Awesome Kid Games!

Here is a short list of some of our favorite kids games. As you will see most of them are not the basic Milton-Bradley you will find at your local dime store. Most of those games won't hold MY attention span long enough to play a game with Awsumb. I do think JR. Clue and JR. Monopoly are pretty well done. Awsumb enjoys playing those very much. But for the most part we prefer other companies like Game Wright, Ravensburger, etc. (see the game links under Fun and Games) Here are some of our favorite KID GAMES...

Hey That's My Fish - strategically move your penguins around to obtain the most files tiles. Be careful not to isolate your penguins on a small ice chunk.

Labyrinth - Draw coins to determine your quest, then rework the maze to get to them. He who collects the most treasures wins!

Numbers League - One of our favorite new finds last summer! Draw cards to build super heroes that add up to a certain number. Great addition practice, planning, etc. There are also advanced rules. Boys LOVE the art!

Zooreka - This one is from the makers of Cranium. We were so excited for it to come out that we drove our local store clerks nuts asking about it. Earn food, shelter and animals to buy habitats for your zoo. This is like a kids version of Settlers.

Blokus - once you get over the fact this is NOT Tetras, Blokus is a great game. As we have a small family good 2 player games for both adults and kids are always popular. This plays just fine with 2 players.

Castle Keep - Draw tiles to build a castle for your knight. Choose to build on your own castle or attack your opponents. Awsumb and his friend LOVE this game. Sometimes it is very short, other times lasts a long time. They usually play multiple times.

Landlock - Strategically place tiles to earn the most points. Try to create islands or ponds and lock your opponent in.

What games do your kids like to play?

Totally Awesome Game Night

Our favorite family night is spent at the ballpark. But when baseball is not in season you can often find us playing board games at home. We have quite the collection and are always on the look out for new games.

Cosmic Encounters - obtain 5 bases on planets other than your own. Your alien powers change the rules of the game. As far as Strategy games go, it all started with this game. Kenneth has this really cool friend that always showed up for game night with new unusual games.

And of course we love basics like Settlers and Carcassonne. Other old standbys include...

Tikal -set up base camps, dig for treasure. This is an easy game to get started. The "bits" are fun to use and usually there isn't to many hard feelings!

EVO - evolve your dinos to keep your species alive through climate change. I LOVE this game. I was just thinking it's a bit relevant to a main topic of conversation lately. It may be out of print.

Power Grid - compete to build the best network of power lines and stations, choosing which cities to supply and what sources of power to use. Another favorite! Though, it took us a few games to figure out set up, rules, etc.

BANG! - A Sheriff, deputies, outlaws and a renegade, what more could you ask for! Everyone we have shared this game with has run to the store for their own copy.

Pandemic - players work as a group to stop four diseases from turning into a pandemic. Kenneth really likes this game, but I just can't get into the team dynamics! LOL! I guess because I can't be the winner!

Dread Pirate - try to collect as many treasures as you can while avoiding the dread pirate. The "bits" to this game are super cool. Once we get the big pirate map spread out and set up our metal ships Awsumb has to run and put a pirate costume on. The game can be played with regular rules or simple rules.

Coleretto - a simple card game of collections. This was a new one for us. Quick to figure out and Awsumb enjoyed it.

I will have to do a separate post on some kids favorites another day. But I guess you know what we'll be doing for family night.

What's your perfect family night like? Or better yet your favorite game?