As many of my regular readers know, I’m not really a fan of abstract strategy games.  They’re just not my thing, but every once in a while I come across one that I can’t help but love.  I first played Stomple at the 2010 Chicago Toy and Game Fair and included it in my “ChiTAG picks” article (See HERE).  And now that I’ve had a chance to subject some of my play testers to it, I think it deserves it’s own article complete with great inventor story!
To remind you quickly …

 
Is it me or is Easter REALLY close to Mother’s Day this year?  And because they’re so close you really can’t get your mother flowers and candy since the Easter Bunny delivered those two weeks ago.  So what are you going to do?!  Sounds like the perfect time to give Think Fun’s Chocolate Fix!
I know – a lot of you out there don’t consider 1-player puzzle things “games” but we’re going to ignore that just like we did for the Rush Hour and Solitaire Chess reviews.
Chocolate Fix has been out …

In a weirdly satisfying way, the game Saddle Up! is the essentially the reverse of previously reviewed game Aquarius.  (See HERE)  Instead of looking for places where your cards match, in Saddle Up! you’re looking for where a card doesn’t match.  And that pretty much sums up the game….right here in the introduction.
Now because I don’t want this article to be one paragraph – it kind of doesn’t do the game justice – I’ll delve a little deeper into the game play.  The setup is simple, mix up the deck …

To write about or not to write about – sometimes that’s the question.  Games come across my desk all the time and we play them and typically it’s love at first play or not so much (yet I still give them a second chance).  But once in a while there’s a game that didn’t go well in the first play but I have a feeling it was just with the wrong group of people.  You’ve Been Sentenced completely fits into that category.
For those of you who aren’t familiar with this …

There’s something about those old school, hotel desk bells that is just awesome.  One of my all time favorite games – Pit – has that style bell.  The quick, frenzied game Halli Galli that I’m reviewing here also has that bell. Seriously, who can resist like a game that you have to hit a bell?!

I briefly mentioned Halli Galli in a holiday posting a couple years ago, but really the game deserves it’s own review.  But since I’ve already touched on it once, I’ll keep it short and sweet – …