I can’t believe it’s been almost a month since Toy Fair!  I feel like I just got back, but that’s probably since I’m still wallowing in follow up work!  Anyway, the first game sample I got while at the show was given to me by the wonderful people at Educational Insights (I was at their booth visiting Tim Walsh who was signing his hit game BLURT: read review here).  They were so excited about Stix & Stones that they gave me a copy, along with the biggest tote bag I’ve …

There are times that you just know fate has a hand in things.  Like I swear fate pushed the toy/game industry on me.  There’s no way I would have pursued it on my own, and yet due to some events beyond my control here I am writing game reviews while taking a break from game inventing!
From the sound of it, the game In A Pickle ended up being invented as a result from a little push by fate too.  As told by one of the inventors, Colleen McCarthy-Evans, this is …

I know it’s my first review since Toy Fair and you’re all dying to hear about something new and exciting, but I have to have some time to play the games!  So instead I’m doing a “throwback” review of my favorite old game – backgammon!   So why a review a game that predates modern civilization? Because I’m guessing far more than half of my readers have never played it (and it’s got some cool history!)
Like I said, backgammon is old.  Some estimate that it’s has been around close to 5000 …

On the very edge of the Chicago suburbs, right at the last exit that divides the bustling commuters from the nothingness that spans to westward to the Rockford oasis there is a Cabela’s store.  It outfits hikers, hunters and other people looking to venture away from the city.  This weekend I made the trek from Chicago proper to this oversized log cabin to return an ill-fitting Christmas gift.  As I wandered through the maze of camo and fishing gear, I spotted a game I knew, Find It.  It’s a charmingly …

A while back I wrote an article about taking games with you when you travel (see here) and Nate Scheidler, Organizer of Chicago Boardgames Meetup Group, said that he packs a game called Pickomino.  Well, at the time I’d never played Pickomino and although I’d heard of it, I hadn’t heard anything about it.  This is really the reason I started The Game Aisle; I know how hard it is to decide which game to purchase when all you’ve got to go on is the box art.  So when a …

Ever have one of those Christmases where someone gives you something you don’t want – like a terrible cold?  That was my Christmas this year.  I spend a chunk of time on my couch trying to get into the holiday spirit but really I just kept the tissue companies in business.  One good thing came out of all of this – I got to play a lot of ThinkFun’s Rush Hour.  Now I know in the past I’ve said that one-player products aren’t games and this is a game review …

Since Black Friday is right round the corner and present buying is starting to trickle into everybody’s mind, this seems like the perfect time to review the game that is all about gift giving, GiftTRAP.  Its inventor, Nick Kellet, sent this game to me a couple months ago because he saw that I love party games.  So into the game night mix it went.  Unfortunately it didn’t play so well the first time – why?  Because some of the people didn’t know each other and had just met that night.  …

I like word games, but only specific word games.  You will probably never see me review Scrabble on this site because I think it takes far too long to play and I find waiting for slower players to take their turn agonizing.  I also refuse to memorize the Scrabble dictionary, which I feel that you need to do to gain a solid win against the stronger players.  Boggle, however, I love.  It’s “the 3-minute word search game” that everybody plays at the same time.  And for those of you who …

Continuing the theme from my last article (travel games) this game may not be the easiest one to find, but if you do, it will make any road trip feel like a party.  ReFraze is a trivia game that takes movie, song and TV show titles and changes them (using synonyms) so you have to decipher what the names actually are.
Want to try one?  It’s a TV show:  “Carpet Mice”  Do you know what it is?  If not, there is one clue each card – for this it gives the …

Earlier this month I was at Richard Gottlieb’s “Future of the Industry” conference and someone brought up the issue of packaging.  Given that “green” is a trend; the absence of throwaway packaging is definitely an a-peel-ing part of Bananagrams.  (Couldn’t resist a good pun!)  While this game feels familiar to other crossword games like Pick Two, we all agreed that the adorable zippered banana sack and the hanging merchandiser helped make this item a standout.
The game itself?  I think it’s great!  (FYI – I really like quick word games.)  The …