Family Games (Ages 8 and up)

Go Nuts for Donuts!: Such a yummy game

I love donuts. I know they’ve got zero nutritional value, but there’s nothing quite like a well-made old fashioned donut with a great cup..

2017 Target Exclusives: 3 From Big G Creative!

There’s a part of me that’s really enjoying this time of year – the time when they release the Target Exclusives!

Dr. Beaker – Fun follow up to Dr. Eureka

I really love Dr. Eureka from Blue Orange! Quick overview of the game (if you haven’t been lucky to play it yet!) is that you have to get..

Whim and Akin: 2 new word games from Funnybone

I’m sure most of you know Funnybone Toys for their amazingly beautiful games — but if you don’t you should check out their nice selection..

Utter Nonsense FAMILY — won’t offend the older adults!

I hate reading articles about games that aren’t out yet. I get all excited about something new (like the Splendor expansion) but then I h..

Avenue: Path-making fun for 1-10+ players!

I’m a fan of puzzle-y games like Rolling America where you feel like it’s a puzzle you’ll never quite win but doing “mildly decent” is a v..

Kingdomino: Added to my list of favorites!!

Kingdomino was pitched to me as a “family light strategy game that plays in 15 minutes” — sounds great, right? And it totally is! It ca..

Fill Those Easter Baskets with Some GAMES!

I don’t have a super sweet tooth so gobs and gobs of Easter candy just isn’t my thing. However, if the Easter Bunny filled my basket with..

Dream Home: Do you want a game room? a sauna? a treehouse?

Only a few people out there know that I started off as an architecture major in college but I quickly switched to industrial design. Deep..

Karuba: Lush green tile-placement fun!

The Toy Fair Trends articles are done (whew!) and before I hop into my Easter Basket games article, I thought I’d review a game I’ve not h..

2016 Holiday Picks

Here are some of the games I thought were stand-outs this year. They may not have exactly come out this year (although many did), they cam..

Ghost Hunters: Because Halloween is right around the corner!

Halloween is ONE week from today – can you believe we’re that far into 2016?! I can’t. Since Halloween is right around the corner, I thoug..

Rubik’s Race: Two-Player Speed-Puzzle Classic!

Remember Rubik’s Race? This classic Rubik’s spin-off game is back on the market with University Games, and it’s still a quick to learn, fu..

Qwixx Deluxe: Is the “Deluxe” version worth it?

I recently purchased Qwixx Deluxe and I’m NOT going to review the basic game of Qwixx – if you want to read that, please click HERE. I’m g..

Loony Quest: Hilarious drawing fun!

When Loony Quest arrived in the mail my inner child squealed with glee! Yeah, I say stuff like that a lot, but I really wanted to give thi..

Fish Frenzy: Yummy seagulls snacks set collecting!

Well.. the Olympics are over so I guess that means I can go back to my regularly scheduled gaming! (I really do watch quite a bit of Olymp..

Marrakech: Finally trying out my rug selling skills!

Every gamer I know – both hardcore gamers and casual gamers – have a “bucket list” of games they’d like to try/buy. Marrakech has been on ..

Sushi Go! Party: Top notch expanded edition you MUST own!

I love Sushi Go! You can read my review of the original game, “Sushi Go!: Fun little drafting game for those who have no idea what draftin..

Anaxi: Venn diagram word game fun!

I had a love-hate relationship with grammar school when I was growing up. I hated school but loved going on the days I went to “challenge”..

Qwirkle: It’s turning 10!

This year Qwirkle is celebrating its 10th Anniversary, so big CONGRATS to MindWare and Susan McKinley Ross! In honor of the milestone they..

Zany Penguins: The PERFECT game to Celebrate World Penguin Day!

A week from today, April 25th, is World Penguin Day. Yes, it’s a thing, so consider this your advance warning! Now you have plenty of tim..

Patchwork: I LOVE this 2-player game

I’ve been meaning to write this post since January, but honestly Toy Fair and other stuff got in the way. I got Patchwork as a gift for C..

The Easter Bunny Is Bringing Games!

The Easter Bunny is coming (and sooner than usual), but that means it’s time for my annual article on what GAMES the Easter Bunny should b..

Wonky: Card game meets stacking game for some fun, strategic play!

I received a copy of Wonky from USAOPOLY to try out over the holidays and I think the biggest surprise to all of my players is that it’s a..

2015 Holiday Picks

I really enjoyed all of these games this year (yes, some aren’t 2015 releases but I didn’t get to them until this year). Thanks for readi..

Rolling America: Fun playing solo OR with a group!

Earlier year, Qwixx from Gamewright quickly rose to a spot in my top 3 dice games. I’m still a big fan of Yahtzee (mostly for nostalgic re..

2015 ChiTAG Games Recap

Finally! My ChiTAG games recap talking about some of the cool games I saw/played at the Chicago Toy and Game Fair! Granted I will say that..

New York 1901: Great New “Gateway” Game!!

I bought New York 1901 for myself for one big reason: I was really interested in seeing what kind of more complex strategy game was going ..

Chef Showdown: Why this game is my FAVORITE to demo

This article is going to be shameless self-promotion (don’t stop reading!), and I should have written it a while ago but admittedly, self-..

Leaps and Ledges: Did someone make a better SORRY!? They did.

Recently I was asked to give the game Leaps and Ledges from MindWare a try. I had seen the game at Toy Fair but didn’t have much time at t..

Qwixx: My New Dice Game Obsession

I think I’m in love with Qwixx. No really, this has quickly moved to the tip-top of my list of favorite dice games (and I really like dic..

Scrabble Boggle: Better update my Boggle post…

Way back in 2009 I wrote about one of my all-time favorite word games, Boggle. Funny enough I said you’d never see me write an article ab..

5 Card Games That Can Be Played In the Car (or at Airport)

Almost everyone has a cell phone these days but when you’re driving a few thousand (or even just a few hundred miles) you’re going to burn..

Sushi Go!: Fun little drafting game for those who have no idea what drafting is

Earlier this summer I completely flaked on the fact that I said I was going to bring this new game that I wanted to try out to dinner ..

Hex Hive: A Math Game In Remembrance of My Mother

It was Bastille Day on Monday and (more important to this blog post) it was also my mother’s birthday. Sadly she’s been gone for more tha..

Quartex: Tile game with a scoring TWIST that makes it worth a look

I was at the Discover Games booth at New York Toy Fair when I got the 30-second Quartex pitch. I’ll be honest, it had to be a quick sel..

Carcassonne: One of my FAVORITE 2-Player Games

Carcassonne is an interesting game in my collection because I bought the app before I purchased the physical game. And I’ll admit that I ..

Timeline: Time to get an edition or two of this game

It’s about time that I got the game Timeline and I managed to snag a copy of the Inventions edition at almost half price right before Chri..

Holiday 2013: Stocking Stuffers – or just games that are a bit smaller in size

In this shortened holiday season I feel like time is flying past and I’ve barely finished half of my holiday shopping and I just realized ..

Tapple: Love that satisfying centerpiece!

I love word games – Jeez I’ve even invented one! (shameless plug: see Scattergories Cateogories) And because word games are almost a dim..

Clubs: Following in the footsteps of Hearts and Spades, this is a classic!

If your childhood was anything like mine you probably played quite a bit of hearts and spades. I even played a little bridge, but I don..