little humans, BIG GAMES

I've got another game review to post, but have decided to start a thread to share some general tips on how to grow better gamers.  Please feel free to comment with your suggestions, and I'll add them to the list.   Isaiah was obviously having a great time. Play for fun, not to win!  If there is a cooperative option for your game, play it often.  This helps younger players learn game mechanics and strategies.  If you're playing a competitive game, be a gracious winner and a grateful loser.  Be humble! Take turns.  One of the most important things playing games can teach is how to wait for your turn.  Let your gaming group (especially children) take turns when choosing which game to play.  Try to express the importance of everyone getting to play the game they want to play, and be sure to get excited when its their turn to choose. Help kids make decisions.  Sometimes children don't see all of the options that are availa...

I've always loved tabletop games. My dad and I played a lot of checkers when I was a child, and I joined the chess club at school in 4th grade. My grandparents had a excellent selection of games that were generally above my level of comprehension, but they would always help me learn the rules. My interest in gaming was renewed when I found out about Tabletop on Geek & Sundry. I'd been playing some Settlers of Catan with a group of friends, but not as often as I'd have liked. The boys were probably about 3 and 5 years old, and not quite ready to play advanced games, but we got started with Memory, Candyland, and Go Fish. In the meantime, I started building my collection of tabletop games that mostly collected dust on the shelves of my home office. Steve Jackson Games' Munchkin was the first game that I purchased after seeing it played on Tabletop. Although it sat on the shelf for a couple of years, it has become one of the boys' favorite games in our c...

It has finally happened!  Gaming has returned to the Paduganan household.  In between dental appointments, dinner, and taking new passport photos, we managed to squeeze in a little family tabletop time yesterday evening.  We chose to continue our Dice Throne mini-tournament, as it is a fairly quick game that doesn't require much setup.  Way back on Monday (TGIF, by the way), Benjamin and I broke out Dice Throne: Season Two to try our some of the new heroes.  Benji chose the Samurai, while I played the Seraph (because my name is Gabriel).  If you haven't checked out Roxley Games' Dice Throne...what are you doing with your life?  Players choose one of the heroes (six from each season), and battle for supremacy through rolling dice to activate abilities.  Essentially, it is Yahtzee/Farkle meets Magic: The Gathering/Pokémon CCG.  Each hero has a "complexity level" ranging from 1 to 6, which helps the young'uns choose which charact...

Greetings, dear readers!  My New Year's resolution was to play a game each day this year.  So far, I've fallen quite short of that goal.  The good news is that there are plenty of days left on the calendar to make improvements.  This week has been full of schedule-clogging activities: gymnastics, applying for passports, being told we need better passport photos, reapplying for passports, dental cleanings....  Benjamin and I started a mini-tournament of Dice Throne: Season Two, but we haven't been able to complete round one, due to homework and other responsibilities.  I'm hopeful that we can get back to gaming soon.  I almost started playing solo boardgames last night out of desperation! 

At long last (about a week later than expected), we have played The Grimm Forest ! If you've kept up with us on Twitter , you already know that this week has been a whirlwind of sorts.  The kids are back in school, Benji is in gymnastics, we went to a birthday party for a sibling group of quadruplets, and more. Tonight, we game. The Grimm Forest was one of the first tabletop games I backed on Kickstarter.  I was immediately drawn in by the production value invested in it, both by the amazing artwork and the detailed tokens and miniatures.  Plus, it didn't hurt that Druid City Games' James Hudson is a fellow Alabama-ian.  James has since joined Skybound as their Senior Director of Tabletop Games, and continues to release games under the Druid City label. ***Note: Druid City/Skybound recently completed another Kickstarter with The Grimm Forest's creator Tim Eisner... Tidal Blades - Heroes of the Reef .  There's still time to join the project and get all of...

This week has been quite the whirlwind.  Now that the boys are back in school, they've returned to daily homework and AR books, which hasn't allowed for as much game time before dinner and being dropped off at their mom's house.  Last night, we attempted to play The Grimm Forest, which began quite well.  Genevieve decided that she'd join us, and then decided that she wanted to play on her own with the game pieces.  As it was close to bedtime, the boys and I decided that we'd let her go ahead and build a small village, and postponed the game for Saturday morning.  Unfortunately, that seems to have set a precedent for Genevieve playing civil engineer whenever The Grimm Forest box is opened.  I need to figure out how to monetize these skills, somehow. This morning, we attempted to play The Grimm Forest once again, but our plans were thwarted by Genevieve's pig city planning.  I don't always give in to her whims, but I know better than to argue wi...

This morning, I put up a Twitter poll asking which game we should play this evening.  Benjamin and Isaiah are going back to school tomorrow morning from Winter break, and I wanted to make sure we got some solid game time in before they have to hit the books.  The options I gave were Settlers of Catan, Grimm Forest, and Dice Throne.  We don't have very many followers on Twitter yet (follow us!), so there weren't very many votes, but Settlers was chosen by democratic process.  Many thanks to those who voted; we'll be playing the other two games tomorrow night. Early in the game...when I still had a chance. Settlers of Catan really doesn't need an introduction.  It is probably one of the best known games among tabletop hobbyists.  The general population are aware of Monopoly, Life, and Sorry, but we gamers look to Catan as one of the foundational games of our pastime.  BoardGameGeek.com  lists more than 80 thousand reviews at an average of 7...

Guten Morgen, The kiddos are with their mom today, so we won't be playing any games.  I suppose our New Year's resolution to play everyday was doomed from the start due to our parenting schedule, but the kids and I have a plan to remedy the situation.  We're going to do our best to play multiple games on weekends and spread the posts out so that there will be (almost) daily updates on the blog.  Isaiah, being the writer of the bunch, is very excited about sharing his experiences.  Don't be surprised if he gets his own "Isaiah-thoughts" page in the near future.  In absence of a game review post, we've updated our Meet the Gamers page so that we can share a bit about ourselves.  Keep in mind that it is a living document, as children's likes and dislikes change like the tides.  Also, please be aware that I do NOT feed my children Mac and Cheese EVERY day. 

It's New Year's Day, and we're getting the year started right with Ravine by Mathew Sisson and Stellar Factory. I backed Ravine on Kickstarter because of our love for cooperative games, and it has become one of our favorites over the past couple of months.  It is a quick and satisfying game for 3-6 players, or more with the 6-9 player expansion.  The suggested age is 10+, although Benjamin (6) and Isaiah (7, but likes to say that he's 8) have no problems playing without assistance. The directions are relatively easy to understand, but if you don't like to read or are a visual learner, there are how-to-play videos available online through the publisher and various websites. Layout - the boys were both pretty with their heart "rolls" You and your compatriots were passengers on a commercial airliner that has crash-landed on an island.  In order to survive, you will have to work together to gather food and resources, build tools and shelter, ...