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 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 …

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 …

Regardless of how you pronounce the name Rummy-CUBE, Roomi-CUBE, Rummy –CUB, if you’ve played it you probably like it.
Rummikub has to be my favorite two-player game and I’ll admit it took me a long, LONG time to learn to play it.  Wait…let me rephrase, I got it pretty quickly once I read the directions but back when I was young my sister got a copy for Christmas we never bothered learning to play it.  Why?  It’s filled with numbers and it looked like math was involved and after summers and …

I recently got asked for a suggestion for a “simple fun kids game” – you know, something for the very young soon-to-be-game lover.  There are a ton of these games out there that cover memory, matching, follow the path, counting, gross motor skills, etc.  And in my eyes the true test on whether these games are good or not is if the parents have fun (or at least a decent time) playing them.  As kids reach 7-10 years they’re fine playing most games on their own, but when they’re only …

I find it only fitting that after returning from a nice vacation in France I review a game based on the gory French Revolution.  Nothing says fun like lobbing off the heads of tax collectors, wealthy priests, bad nuns, palace guards and a variety of evil nobles!  Vive la France!
In the card game Guillotine, players represent rival guillotine operators vying to behead the most prestigious nobles, clergy, civic leaders and famous historic characters like Robespierre in order to earn points and gain popularity with the bloodthirsty crowd.  Marie Antoinette and …

There’s just something addictive about throwing dice.  It’s the mixture of calculated odds and luck that makes you want to pick up a handful and get playing.  The best thing is there are lots of games beyond Yahtzee that are based around a handful – or cupful – of dice.  A good one is Easy Come, Easy Go.  It combines throwing four dice with collecting and stealing fantastic prize cards.  The game includes nine cards that can be earned (or stolen) by rolling a particular combination like “exactly 13” or …

I love dice games, really love dice games. Every time I pick up a handful of dice there’s something about the shake and the throw that makes me feel lucky. Fortunately, this passion doesn’t extend into the world of craps; gambling just isn’t my thing, but I digress.
Thankfully, it’s not just me; I think my entire family has a weakness for dice games. Every one of us has at least one well-loved copy of Yahtzee and if you asked, I’d say we probably all have a copy …

I love clever ideas; they just make me happy.  (And sometimes envious that I didn’t think of them myself!)
This past February when I was roaming around Javits during New York Toy Fair I saw the cleverest feature in the Winning Moves product King Me.  It’s such a simple “duh” idea that I am still smitten with it.  You know what it is?  Self-crowning checkers.  Yup, that’s right, the crowns rise up from each checker when you twist them.  How cool is that?!
There have been thousands of versions of checkers including …

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 …