When you have a hallway full of games there are often ones that you know you like but they just never get pulled out and played.  I really have no idea why this happens but I think it’s like certain movies.  You love them but you need to be in the right mood to watch them.  And then when you finally are in that mood you’re like I LOVE THIS MOVIE!  Well, that recently happened with TriBond.  We played a little bit at the bar during the Toy and Game …

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 …

Another free game that landed on my doorstep this spring was a relaunch from the toy/game industry guru, Tim Walsh.  Knowing my affinity for games, Tim sent me a copy of his game BLURT! which arrived just in time for one of my many game nights.  This particular game night was a little different since I had invited a lot of newbies and instead of making the selections myself I let the group choose.  From a table stacked with fifty of my favorite games guests chose a nice mix of …

You know what’s great about being in the game industry?  Free games.
Of course, there are a zillion other reasons I could have given but free games are definitely a perk.  As with anything free you’re stuck with what you get and sometimes I get games I already have but more often it’s a game I don’t own so it requires some further investigation.
Recently, I got really lucky and a couple of free games came my way (this will be a 2 part entry).  One was a fun party game from …

Typically, all it takes to get a game lover interested in a new game is a glowing review from another game junkie – that’s it, they’re sold!  Earlier this year, I raved about Apples to Apples to my sister so she bought a copy and when it came time for her to buy a gift for my party game-loving aunt, she bought her a copy too.  Normally, I would expect excitement since this game was coming to her so highly recommended, but she didn’t seem excited.  Now, maybe it was …