Tic Tac Toe – I don’t think there isn’t a person out there who didn’t spend quality childhood time trying to dominate an adversary but instead ended up with a very unsatisfactory “cats” game.  As I recall, tic-tac-toe wasn’t very fun.  So why then do I feel like there is a sudden deluge of new tic-tac-toe inspired games?
Sure, I will freely admit that there are a few classic tic-tac-toe games that are quite enjoyable.  Actually, the only one that really comes to mind is right now is Toss Across, introduced …

This past weekend was my one-year anniversary and for our honeymoon we went to Puerto Rico and Dominica for ten days.  So how odd is it that the game I’m reviewing this week happens to be 10 Days in the Americas by Out of the Box?  It is totally a coincidence, but makes for a great opening paragraph don’t you think?
10 Days in the Americas is the latest in a line of map-themed games invented by Alan Moon and Aaron Weissblum.  The series already includes: 10 Days in Africa (2003), …

Earlier this summer Brian Turtle of Endless Games emailed me after I posted my backgammon review (see here) and wanted to know if I had ever played their kid’s game Quackgammon.  I’ll admit, I’d walked passed it at Toy Fair but I didn’t stop to play.  Maybe it was because their booth was so busy or because my pal Mary Couzin’s booth was right down the way and I heard a rumor that she was bringing wine or maybe it was because I love backgammon and I wasn’t really sure …

The neighborhood I live in here in Chicago, well let’s just say it’s “up and coming” and it’s been “up and coming” for pretty much the entire 7 years that I’ve lived here.  During those years, it’s definitely been getting better and this year huge strides have been made with great new bars, restaurants and shops going in nearby including an upscale toy store!  The owner of the new toy store *Play, asked for my help picking out games for their target age group (8 and under).  Trying to pick …

Endless Games did a nice job of summing up the game play of their new board game, “Name 5,” in the title so this review was pretty short, but the game’s inventor, Brian Turtle, was nice enough to share how he came up with the game.  Here’s what he said:
“Yes, I thought I was a one-trick-pony after having initial success as an inventor with The Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon and never writing a “sequel”.  But lo and behold, much like the Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon, Name 5 is a parlor …