For a month or so now, I’ve wanted to write an article about “house rules” because in my family we have house rules for a slew of our favorite games.  In Boggle only 4-letter words count, in the Game of Life if you don’t like your occupation you can start over and try for a new one, and so on.  It’s not that we don’t like the rules as they are; we’ve just tailored them to fit our family.   And we’re not the only ones that do it.  Free Parking …

This is going to be a review for Gamewright’s new game Order’s Up which came in a box of goodies from them last week, but before I get into the review I’m going to hop up on my soapbox for a second and talk about game play essentials.  I believe that there are a couple game elements that are crucial for a game to be good and one of them is having a “catch up factor.”  Granted there are games out there where you don’t need – and can’t really …

Recently I was on the ThinkFun website and saw the big ad for the iPad and iPhone Rush Hour apps saying “Now even more ways to play in traffic!” This made me chuckle. Why? Because I live in Chicago, where despite a state-wide ban, 80% of drivers are txting, emailing or talking on their cell phones while driving so really we don’t need more ways to “play in traffic.”

This review of Word on the Street is SERIOUSLY over due and it’s all because one of my favorite playtesters doesn’t like the game.  Why?  Because I always annihilate him when the two of us play.  Heh heh heh.  Seriously though, Word on the Street is a great game for word game geeks.  In fact, it just won a Mensa award this year!  (congrats!)

The game is essentially a “tug of war” with letters.  There are 17 consonant tiles placed in a line down the center of the board, which is the “median” of …

Not far from my house there is a dive bar, with scary red lighting that hosts bingo on Monday nights.  It’s really not all that exciting; you win a brown paper lunch bag filled with random odd items.  I was lucky enough to win the first round Monday night and my winnings included some Cheez-It snacks, baby food, a bunny sucker and Chicklets.  By the end of the night our table had a skull candle, a bible card game and three colors of “fun dough.”  But before the bingo festivities …