I saw the game Concept at Asmodee’s booth during Toy Fair and I was definitely intrigued. I can’t compare it to anything out there, but it seemed like a game that was easy enough for my non-gamer friends to enjoy but different enough that my as my gamer friends wouldn’t mind playing (or at least it would be a welcome change to Cards Against Humanity and Apples to Apples which seem to be overly requested.) So I bought myself a copy and got some friends to try it out.
The game …
Despite a Fast Company article that refers to April 1st as “the worst” day on the internet and calls for brands to “opt out,” I rather enjoy the fake products we see on April Fools day! It’s one day a year that we can take a break from our regular seriousness and pushing product on social media to show our sense of humor. Our industry is supposed to be clever and funny and so it seems that April Fools is a holiday we OWN. I know I slacked a bit …
I was at the Discover Games booth at New York Toy Fair when I got the 30-second Quartex pitch. I’ll be honest, it had to be a quick sell because I’ve seen games like this before and I wasn’t really in the mood to hear about a game that I felt I’d seen a few times before – but this was worth it as its got a great twist. CSE Games sent me a sample and the same thing happened when I introduced Quartex to my play testers; they moaned …
It’s been a little bit since I’ve posted and that’s because I chugged through the Toy Fair trends articles and then had to focus on my Toy Fair follow up work. I also write for Games for Educators and whipped up an article for their newsletter (which is great if you’re an educator!) Anyway, this morning when I should have been writing for The Game Aisle I felt compelled to write this post for Global Toy News. If you are a regular reader of my articles you’d know that I …
This is part 3 in a 3 part article (whew!). Read part 1 HERE and part 2 HERE.
2013 TREND: Games Are Getting Younger
2014 UPDATE: Super Young Games Weren’t A Big Deal.
So much for the games for 18 months to 3 year olds. I’m guessing we will see activity again in this area because of age compression and the learning aspect involved in playing games, but it didn’t seem like there was any sort of big push in this area this year. Two new titles that did stick out: Sunny Day Pond …
This is part 2 of a three part series. Read part 1 HERE and part 3 HERE.
2013 TREND: Party Games
2014 Update: Party Games Are Still Chugging Along But Not HUGE Like Last Year
Not a big push in the part game area this year – yes, there were new ones but not quite as many as last year. Still it felt like most companies I saw had at least one new one. Here’s a nice mix:
Top to Bottom: Spot It! FREEZE Concept – Blue Orange, Concept- Asmodee, i KNOW! – Tactic, Say the Word - Peaceable …
This is part 1 in a three part series. See part 2 HERE and part 3 HERE.
2014: The Year of Continued Status Quo?!
Since I started The Game Aisle in 2009 I’ve written a “Toy Fair Trends” every single year… and for the first time I can’t say that I felt like I saw new “trends.” Instead, it felt like more of the same from the last couple years (and I’m not saying that’s a bad thing). There wasn’t a hot packaging trend, there wasn’t a new theme or game-style that was …
Carcassonne is an interesting game in my collection because I bought the app before I purchased the physical game. And I’ll admit that I like the app version a bit better simply for the scoring (because it takes care of it for you). Regardless, I think this is a great tabletop game for two players. (And yes, you can play it with up to 5 players but I’m rather impatient when it comes to waiting to take my turn.)
Carcassonne is named after the walled city in Southern France. In the …
