Category Archives: Board Games

Codenames and Splendor – Review for Bloggers Board Game

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Codenames Pictures is based from the award-winning original game of the same name and one we enjoyed reviewing and playing earlier in the year. Distributed by Asmodee and suitable for 2-8 players aged 10+ RRP £16.99.

Codenames is a quick game to set up simply choose your team if playing with four or more players. Decide who will be the spymaster for each team. Then the other players become agents for their chosen colour. A key card is chosen at random and the picture cards are shuffled and laid out in a grid format.

The gameplay starts with the team colour indicated on the chosen key card and the spymaster for the team has to give clues that will lead to his teammates to guessing the correct picture card. If they can give clues that lead to more than one card being covered with their correct agent card then it is time to party!

Gameplay continues between the teams with each correct guess, and ends with incorrect guesses, or uncovering a bystander. When the assassin is uncovered that team loose. Spymasters need to be cleaver to lead the team to success by completing all their coloured agents cards and not uncovering the assassin.

There are alternative play games for 2 or 3 players and we have enjoyed the 3 player variation of Codenames. We discovered that the Picture version is a little easier in some ways than the word version. But don’t be fooled as it still takes some thought and quite a bit of discussion! Perfect entertainment for a family get-together.

Splendor is an Asmodee classic game based on trading precious stones to create jewellery that will impress to win. For 2-4 players aged 10+ RRP £25.99.

Splendor game set-up is easy, simply lay out one row of each of the three level development cards. Sort the required number of tokens for the number of players and lay out in a grid. The Nobel cards are added to the top of the rows and play can start.

There are four different moves each player can choose to make. They can take 3 different coloured jem tokens. They can take two of the same colour (provided there are 4 or more left on the pile) You can choose a development card to keep in your hand. Or finally you can choose to purchase a development card.

The aim of Splendor is to add up points from purchasing development cards and maybe even earn a visit from one of the nobles. Each development card has a different value and the harder cards from the grid earn more points. These are the basic rules, and we found them easy to pick up. The winner is the first player to have development cards totalling 15.

Once we started to play we soon discovered that you need to have a plan. The boy and I also worked out that we were trying to gain a visit from the same noble. Splendor is a nice easy fun game that requires some strategy and thought. A cross between a card game and a matching game, it turns out the boy is pretty good at it!

We enjoyed Splendor and as it doesn’t take long to play one game it is great as a quick after school game. I love the quality of the counters and cards they feel like they will last for a long time and many Splendorous years to come.

Disclaimer we were sent these games as part of the Bloggers Board Game club and have not been paid for this post. The opinions remain our own.

Splendor and Codename pictures are available to buy from your favourite high street shops, online or via my affiliate links below.

Cheatwell Games – Review

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Cheatwell Games have a great range of family friendly games, here are some of our favourites.

What’s in the Box is a game for 3 or more players aged 8+ RRP £12.99.

What’s in the box looks simple enough but as discovered even the simplest game can be made harder! The boy chose to play this one while we were in our hotel last weekend. It was easy to play at the table while we waited for our food. Winning or guessing proved harder.

The rules are simple enough think 20 questions. First you choose a box keeper and they choose an item to place in the box. You can play with one of the picture cards included. We found that you can fit large and small items in the box. Having a shake as one of your goes added to the fun. You have two guess cards, which once used you can earn more. The idea is to ask a question, or have a shake then make a guess. It turns out the boy is good at being box keeper and me and Dad Dragon are not that good at guessing.

The first item was a watch and despite working out that it had number, a light, glass was mineral and was useful we were still stumped. We had great fun with this game and it would be perfect entertainment for a big family group or simply like us passing the time while you wait for your food.

Quirky is a game for 3 or more players aged 10+ RRP £10.99

This is a fast question and answer game against the clock (sand timer). Where the answers may not be quite what you think! First select a questioner and an answerer. The answerer rolls the quirky dice. This will give the number of the question to be asked. The timer is turned and you have to answer as many of the questions in the time as possible. Get stuck and you can choose to throw the dice.

The idea of Quirky is to win as many cards as you can, while the other players can challenge your answers. At the end of the round any challenged questions are discussed win and the challenger gets to keep the card. Some questions are observational and others are simple instructions like “touch something brown!”

This game is very speedy and best played where noise doesn’t matter. We found there was lots of family discussion on some of the strange answers given. We love this bright little box and think its a great game for friends and family to play. You can set the length of a game to whatever you like so play can continue all afternoon if you want it too!

 

Baffled is a game for 2-4 players aged 8+

Baffled is a memory board game where you compete to be the player to remember the positions of 12 hidden symbols. These more around the board so be prepared to be baffled. The object of the game is to stay in play longer than the other players.

Start by deciding how many lives you will each have up to the maximum of 7. Then choose your coloured elephant counter. Each symbol tile is placed in the middle and covered. These are then shuffled and placed on a labelled letter on the board. The covers are removed for 60 seconds so you can memorize then replaced.

Players roll the dice moving their elephant counter around the board. Follow each of the instructions on the place you land on. Uncovering the correct tiles and remembering where they are will keep you in the game. Fail to find the correct tile and you will lose a life. This is a great memory game that may seem simple to play but will definitely test all your skills. The winner is the last player on the board. Working out connections between pictures and their locations is key to winning.

Would you like the chance to win and play What’s in the box? Then here is your chance simply enter with my Gleam app below.

What’s in the Box?

 

Disclaimer we were sent a selection of Cheatwell family games to try and have not been paid for this review.

 

#baffled #whatsinthebox #quirky

Dixit – Review with Bloggers Board Games Club

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Dixit is one of Asmodee’s classic games for 2018, for 3 – 6 players aged 8+ RRP £29.99

Dixit is a word game, or maybe better described as a storytelling game. With many awards already to its name I was keen to see what the Dragon family made of it. Dixit can have from 3 – 6 players which is great for our small family. The rules and play are slightly adjusted for 3 players. To set up you choose your coloured rabbit marker and place on the 0 on the board. Next the 84 image cards are shuffled and dealt. With 7 cards to each player in a 3 player game. The remaining cards are set aside in a pile.

The storyteller is then chosen from the first person to describe a card from their hand out loud. This person then looks at their cards and without showing the others makes up a sentence, word or noise to describe the chosen card. The other players then look at their pictured Dixit cards and decide which they think would best match the storytellers card. In a 3 player game each player chooses 2 cards except the storyteller so 5 are shuffled and placed face up on the table.

The next stage of Dixit is to use your numbered tokens to choose the number of the card you think belongs to the storyteller. Points are awarded to those that can guess correctly. There are 3 points for the player and storyteller if they guess correctly. one point for a player where they have a vote on their picture card. Two points to each player if know one guesses the storytellers card. Points totalled the rabbit counter is moved along the board.

The game of Dixit ends when the cards run out and the player with the highest score is declared the winner. The trick to this game is not to be to obvious with your description that everyone guesses. While being to hidden with your meaning will result in no points for you. Dixit may look easy enough but as we found is a game which needs balance.

We like games that are played easily with three players and Dixit hasn’t disappointed. The rules were easy to understand and after a couple of goes the scoring became second nature. I can see why Dixit has already won awards as it seems so simple but is a great game for an active imagination. Especially good for those who are good with words like the boy who found the descriptions second nature.

I love the styling of Dixit and the way it stores in the box. This is a great quality game and one I think we will enjoy trying out with family when we next get together. You can buy Dixit from toy stores as well as online via my Amazon link below.

 

Disclaimer: we have been sent this game as part of the Bloggers Board Game Club with Asmodee Games and have not been paid for this review. #BoardGameClub

Pandemonio from Drumond Park – Review

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Pandemonio from Drumond Park is a game for 2-8 players aged 8+ RRP £19.99. Pandemonio is a fast family party game with easy to learn rules. Contents include a board, 8 playing pieces with rings, 64 cards and Colin the cup timer.

Pandemonio is one of the newest games from Drumond park and came out towards the end of 2017. It is a fast card swapping game that is very easy to learn but mastery and being a winner make take some practice.

Game play starts with each player choosing a coloured playing piece and placing this on a picture on the starting line of the board. Cards are chosen for the number of players and shuffled. Each player then starts with a hand of eight cards. Colin is wound up and set off on his track down the board.

Pandemonio as the name would suggest is a frantic game as players attempt to swap their cards to get as many of the cards their playing piece currently sits on before Colin reaches the end of the board. We found game play frantic and loud even with just the three of us, as you barter market style to get the cards you need.

At the end of the Pandemonio round you count up the number of matching cards you have and move this number up the board. Collecting a ring at the top and returning down the board the winner is the first to cross the starting line.

Pandemonio also comes with a super version with slight alterations to scoring where you get to move extra moves or maybe choose to move your opponent back a few spaces! This can mean a few tactical moves can come into play for those with a competitive nature like the Dragon Family.

Pandemonio is available now from toy store, online, or click my Amazon affiliate link below

Disclaimer, I was sent Pandemonio in return for a review and have not been paid.

Pandemic – Review for Bloggers Board Game Club

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Pandemic is a cooperative game from Asmodee for 2 -4 players aged 8+ RRP £29.99.

Can you save Humanity?

This is the question Pandemic asks. Pandemic is a cooperative play game so there will never be just one winner, but as we found out this doesn’t make it less challenging. In order to save the world from the deadly diseases you will need to work with your individual skills to cure the 4 diseases before they breakout takes over.

I have come to expect well made and packaged games from Asmodee, and Pandemic doesn’t disappoint. The playing pieces have a lovely weight and feel and each part comes with its own zip lock bag so there is very little additional plastic packaging. The box and board a are a very good long-lasting card. The player cards also have a good long-lasting feel.

Game set up is fairly straight forward and is set out well in the instructions. Cards are dealt in relation to the number of players, and roles are also chosen at random. We have enjoyed playing this game as after our first try an average game lasts about 3/4 of an hour. The rules were also pretty easy to pick up and we only missed one which helped greatly on subsequent games.

Play follows three parts with the first being 4 actions, moving your and other players pieces around the Pandemic board. This can be setting up research stations of helping fellow players to cure the diseases before they spread too far. Players draw more cards and then infect cities. Play continues until you either cure-all four diseases, or you run out of players cards.

We discovered that we could save the world on our first attempt of playing the game, and then have failed on our last two pandemic games. It turn out I think it was beginners luck. Pandemic has been a refreshing change to the games we usually play which can be very competitive. It is great for encouraging conversation and co-operation. It is also not as disturbing as the name mas suggest.

Pandemic has won many awards and will also be featuring in the Asmodee Classic games promotion for 2018. This classic version of the game is a great start, and if you enjoy it then there are other variants of the game. Pandemic Legacy looks like a great with slightly different game play as well as various expansion packs.

Pandemic is available now from your local games store, online and via my Amazon affiliate link below.

Disclaimer: we have been sent this game as part of the Bloggers Board Game Club with Asmodee Games and have not been paid for this review. #BoardGameClub

Who’s The Dude – Review and giveaway

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Who’s the Dude is just one of the new games this year from Drumond Park. Best suited to ages 16+ 3-8 players £24.99. Who’s the Dude brings the game of Charades into the 21st century!

Who’s the dude is based of the old game of charades. But now you have the ‘Dude’ to help you act out your words. The box contains a full size inflatable figure and 110 scenario cards as well as a scoring pad. Players can play alone or as teams and rules are simple. Download the Dude app for a handy timer and fun extras.

The first thing is to inflate the Who’s the dude figure. Be careful not to over inflate him so that you can still move his arms and legs easily. Shuffle the cards and starting with the youngest player choose a card. Act out as many of the options on the card in 45 seconds. Players score a point for each correct guess and the actor scores one point for each successful charade.

There are 4 rounds with round four being a double up round. The winner is the person with the highest score. Team play is similar with the winners having the highest score at the end of four rounds.

Who’s the dude is going to be our Christmas party game, and is best played with adults as some of the charades may appear a little risqué. I love that this game is such a simple concept, so know it will be perfect for the festive party. Acting out being a fitness instructor, or dancing on the ceiling. Or even what famous couple are we? Torville & Dean. Even the thought of these makes me smile.

Who’s the dude is available online and in high street stores now or use my amazon affiliate link below.

Would you like the chance to act out a charade with your own Who’s the Dude? enter my giveaway below:
Who’s the Dude

Terms & Conditions:
The giveaway is open to the UK only
It is mandatory to leave a comment in the post comment section answering the question specified. Other tasks completed will gain additional entries. The winner will be checked to make sure they have both left a comment and completed the task for the winning entry.
Winner will be drawn randomly after the competition closes at 23:59 on Tuesday 5th December 2017. 
The winner will be sent an  e-mail to the e-mail address left at time of entry. The winner will need to reply to the e-mail within 7 days of the notification. Every effort will be made to contact the winner, but if no response is made within the 7 days a new winner will be chosen.
The prize details are stated at the top of the giveaway, and may be subject to change if they become unavailable.
The prize will be posted by the promoter, unfortunately I cannot be held responsible or replace missing parcels. Please contact me if there is a problem.
Please allow 28 days from notification for your prize to be sent out.
This competition is listed at: Win competitions at ThePrizeFinder.com and SuperLucky

 

Catan – Review for Bloggers Board Game Club

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Catan is a game for 3-4 players aged 10+ RRP £44.99, find Catan from Esdevium at your local toy store by searching here.

This month the Bloggers Board Game club sent us Catan to have a look at. I knew as soon as I saw the front of the box that the boy would enjoy this one. Catan is a trade, build, settle game and that is exactly what you have to do. The box contains terrain hexes with a frame border. Tokens, resource cards, dice and playing pieces including the robber.

The Catan rule book looks daunting, but this games comes with an alternative way to learn how to play. There is a handy game assistant which you can download onto you phone or tablet. This runs you through all the basic play and I found was a great way to get the game started. The Tutorial helps you to set up a basic three or four player game. It covers how to lay out the hexes, settlements and roads. It then takes you through basic turn taking, trading and building.

We very quickly found we were playing the game without the apps help. The rules at first look complex but we found easy to learn. Catan progresses as each player trades to enable them to build up their settlements upgrading and gaining victory points. The games winner is the first to 10 victory points. These can be gained for different achievements such as longest road or most battles won.

Play progresses with a throw of the dice, and then collecting your resources. Trading these with other players and then using them to build up your roads and settlements. Trading can be fun and a little frantic if there is a particular card you need. We found there was a little ganging up on the player in the lead to try and stop their progress. This just added to the fun of the game.

Catan is a game I can see we will be playing lots over the winter as it is very well suited to three players. Catan also offers the possibility of changing up the board and moving from the beginners set up to the more tricky variable set up. We haven’t quite braved this as we are getting used to where the beginners board takes us. There are also a range of Catan extension packs available so the play-ability of this game is endless.

Disclaimer: we have been sent Catan as part of the Bloggers Board Game Club with Esdevium Games and have not been paid for this review. #BoardGameClub

 

 

Mysterium – review and giveaway

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Mysterium is a game from Esdevium for 2 -7 players ages 10+ RRP £34.99

We have had Mysterium for some time now and I had been a little put off by the lengthy rules. The boy decided that we should give it a go as we have been playing lots of board games this week. Our favourite of the moment being Colt Express. I would suggest that you have a good read through the rules of Mysterium. Familiarise yourself with the set up and this will make the game much easier to play the first time.

Mysterium is not a traditional board based game and comes with a mixture of cards and standing elements. There is a great page to explain the set up but we found that setting a pretend game up was the best way to work out what each part is used for. Whilst our first time of setting up took some time, subsequent times it has been less than five minutes.

Mysterium is a co-operative game, so rather than battling against each other it is about the ghost and psychics working to help each other to discover the identity of the ghosts killer. There are two phases to the game the first you need to work out the different killers. The second you work out the poor departed persons murderer. Each part is good fun, and at first seemed complicated but as we discovered how each person thought the play became easier.

There are two roles in Mysterium, the Ghost the one player who can see who the potential killers are, where the event happened and the weapon. And the rest of the players are the Psychics trying to work out what happened. I can see some comparisons with Cludo, but I love Mysterium and have always disliked Cludo! I have no plans to write out every rule for Mysterium as the rule book covers that. I loved the additional rules for larger groups of seeing who is the better guesser. It is great that there are different levels of play too. We started on easy as the game suggests, and moved onto medium when we were confident we had all the rules correct.

For a more atmospheric game you can download a spooky soundtrack from the makers website, or simply just play at Halloween when its dark outside. I loved playing the ghost and not having to speak at all, teasing the psychics if their guesses were correct of not. It turns out that the boy thinks more along the lines which I do, with my clues to my killer and out of the half-dozen games we played over the weekend was usually the first to guess the correct answers to each part of the Mysterium puzzle.

As for winners, depending on the number of players you can all win. Finding the killer means the ghost is freed. I have to say we all took turns as ghosts and we all failed at some point! I would recommend Mysterium for family’s that love to play together. You can make it as spooky as you like and would be the perfect fun party game for Halloween.

Mysterium is available now from toy stores, use the handy store finder here.

For your chance to win this great family fun game enter via my gleam app below:

Mysterium

Disclaimer: we were sent this game in exchange for an honest review and have not been paid.

Terms & Conditions:
The giveaway is open to the UK only
It is mandatory to leave a comment in the post comment section answering the question specified. Other tasks completed will gain additional entries. The winner will be checked to make sure they have both left a comment and completed the task for the winning entry.
Winner will be drawn randomly after the competition closes at 23:59 on Sunday 29th October 2017
The winner will be sent an  e-mail to the e-mail address left at time of entry. The winner will need to reply to the e-mail within 7 days of the notification. Every effort will be made to contact the winner, but if no response is made within the 7 days a new winner will be chosen.
The prize details are stated at the top of the giveaway, and may be subject to change if they become unavailable.
The prize will be posted by the promoter, unfortunately I cannot be held responsible or replace missing parcels. Please contact me if there is a problem.
Please allow 28 days from notification for your prize to be sent out.
This competition is listed at: Win competitions at ThePrizeFinder.com and SuperLucky

Accentuate – Rainbow awards review

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Accentuate is a game for 4+ players ages 16+ RRP £17.99. We were sent this game as part of the Rainbow Awards testing panel and have received no payment.

Accentuate is a team party game and I can remember when it was on Dragons Den! The box contains two sets of cards one has an accent and points and the other a film quote. there is a timer and also special pictorial dice.

Firstly you need to set up your teams and choose who will be the speaker. Team one then rolls the dice which gives you a special instruction such as swap, pass, play and all. Then a black film quotation card followed by a white Accent card. you then have till the end of the 30 second timer to say the quote as many times as you like in your version of the accent. Your team then have one chance to make a guess of the accent, film and year of release.

You score points from the card for the accent, 1 point for the film and 2 for the year. The winning team is the first one to 15 points or you can play to the amount that suits you. Accentuate is such a simple game to play and learn it would be perfect for a party. It was a bit tricky playing with just the three of us so I don’t feel we were able to have the full Accentuate experience. We will have to save that for the festive season.

Accentuate is available now from toy stores, online and via my affiliate link below

Disclaimer we were sent this game as part of the Rainbow Toy Awards testers panel for 2017, and have not been paid for this post.

King Pong – Review

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King Pong is one of the latest games from Drumond Park. Suitable for 2-4 players ages 8+ RRP £24.99. 

The box contains everything you need to set up the King Pong game including 4 sets of 5 coloured balls and the base pyramid with trays. Set up is fairly straightforward, and you will need some space and a waist height table to enjoy playing King Pong. This is defiantly not a sitting down game!

 

I love the simplicity of the rules for King Pong meaning that once you have set up the game it is ready to go. choose how many players and which coloured ball you want to start with. Portions of the cube can be blocked off for 2 or 3 players. Using only one hand the idea is to bounce the balls through holes in the cube walls and into the other players trays.

Game play may be simple and this added to the fun and giggles. King Pong is a game I can see adults getting competitive over and kids just loving. It turns our that Dad Dragon was a bit to good for me, and the boy. The winner is the one to get rid of all their balls from the tray before the other players. We found a typical game lasted less than five minutes. The game is fast and furious and something that you need some space for as there were balls everywhere!

I am sure King Pong will be a great success over Christmas like previous Drumond Park games and I have one to give away to one of my readers. If you would like the chance to win King Pong to play with your family enter with my Gleam app below:

King Pong

King Pong is available now from toy shops online and from Amazon via my affiliate link below.

Disclaimer, we were asked to review this game and have not received payment for this review.

 

Terms & Conditions:
The giveaway is open to the UK only
It is mandatory to leave a comment in the post comment section answering the question specified. Other tasks completed will gain additional entries. The winner will be checked to make sure they have both left a comment and completed the task for the winning entry.
Winner will be drawn randomly after the competition closes at 23:59 on Sunday 22nd October 2017
The winner will be sent an  e-mail to the e-mail address left at time of entry. The winner will need to reply to the e-mail within 7 days of the notification. Every effort will be made to contact the winner, but if no response is made within the 7 days a new winner will be chosen.
The prize details are stated at the top of the giveaway, and may be subject to change if they become unavailable.
The prize will be posted by the promoter, unfortunately I cannot be held responsible or replace missing parcels. Please contact me if there is a problem.
Please allow 28 days from notification for your prize to be sent out.
This competition is listed at: Win competitions at ThePrizeFinder.com and SuperLucky