Earlier this week I posted an interview with Mary Jo Reutter who won the TAGIE award for Excellence in Game Design in November of 2010 and you can see that article HERE.  But now it’s time to take a peek at some of her games and Mary Jo has AGAIN been nice enough to share some tidbits about how the games changed from her initial prototype – which is something I always find interesting!
First up, Laundry Jumble by Educational Insights.  While this game has roots in the 1967 game Feeley …

Part 1 of this article is a reprint from an article I wrote for Global Toy News; Part 2 reviews the two games.
Every holiday season at some point I end up raiding the game shelves at my father’s house looking for something to play.  I’ll admit that over the years, I’ve “liberated” many of my favorites and they now reside in one of my game cabinets, but there are some that I’ve left for sentimental reasons (and there are others that haven’t made the cross-town journey simply because I’m afraid …

ChiTag was over more than a week ago, and I’ve yet to do a recap but it’s because I have to PLAY the games I found there before I review them to make sure I actually like them.  (duh)  This year there were TONS of games to play and buy at the open-to-the-public fair on Chicago’s Navy Pier and I covered a bunch of them in the preview article and I’ve also written articles about many of the games like Word on the Street, Triviathon, Blurt and Backseat Drawing.  But …

I’m impatient.  My father would say that it’s because I’m a girl – but I like to think it’s because I have better things to do than, for example, wait around for other people to take their turn during a long painful game of Scrabble.  While I like the premise of the game, the waiting thing KILLS me.  I also haven’t taken the time to memorize lots of words with odd mixtures of letters, which puts me at a distinct disadvantage when playing against some of my family members.  Thankfully …

It’s officially the first day of fall.  I don’t have any idea where my summer went, but it’s indoor volleyball season again so I’m not too upset.  And for some unknown reason, I play volleyball with a lot of teachers and on numerous occasions I’ve suggested games to use in their classroom.  I try to pick games that I think are fun but have some element of learning in it – but really, I think any game that forces you to think ahead a turn or two can provide an …