A couple months ago my inventor pal Gina Manola asked if I would take a look at her new game when it came out.  While I don’t really fit into the target age demographic (kids 3-6), I am a sucker for cute and funny.  Her new game is called Feed the Woozle manufactured by Peaceable Kingdom Press and yep, you guessed it — it’s about feeding a Woozle!  The game is pretty simple and it all revolves around using a spoon to feed the charming monster a series of disgusting …

If you live here in the US, Memorial Day is this weekend; which means the kids will all have a truckload of extra energy – you know, the kind that comes from knowing that they don’t have school on Monday.  I don’t know why this occurs, but whether they’re your own children, your relatives, neighborhood kids or ones of questionable ownership that show up just in time to snag a hot dog fresh-off the grill, you’re going to need to find something to keep their salty potato-chip fingers off your …

I’ve always believed that every board game is in some way, shape or form educational.  One of the biggest things I think EVERYONE can learn from playing games is how to be a good winner or how to accept defeat gracefully.  And now there is this new category of games cropping up in which players either win or lose together as a group.  There’s no one winner nor is there one loser – and players compete TOGETHER against the game itself.  So maybe these games won’t teach you to be …

I mentioned the ThinkFun game Solitaire Chess in my 2010 Picks article and said I needed to play it some more.  Well I got to play it some more during the holidays and I really enjoy it….to the point I leave it on my desk in case I have some down time.  (which I don’t ever, but it motivates me to try to make some!)  Before I tell you about Solitaire Chess, we’re going to do a little flashback to the late 1980s…
When I was in grammar school I was …

I’d bet that if you were in a room with a million people and asked “does anyone like reading directions?” not a single person would raise their hand.  Okay so no one in their right mind would take that bet, it would be like trying to win a raffle when you didn’t bother to buy a ticket.   Seriously though, directions are the necessary evil that comes before the fun.  Whether you’re learning how to use your new super-complex digital camera or learning the commands for your cool new Robosapien so …