In getting ready to write my 2021 Year in Review, I realized that I never posted a 2020 Year in Review.
Maybe that’s because 2020 felt like a gap year for everybody – and many things just didn’t happen.
Well, that gives me a better chance to take a look at both years and compare how they’ve shaken out for family board game playing time.
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It’s that time of year again when so many of us want to have a great game to play at gatherings of family and friends for the holidays.
We’d all love a game that’s quick to explain, simple to play, can accommodate many players, and can be played over and over. It’s also nice to have a game that doesn’t take so much concentration that you can’t enjoy having conversations while playing the game.
Oh, and of course it’s got to be fun!
Well, we’ve got just the game for you and it’s called, Just One!
We bought a copy last year and have had a lot of fun playing it ever since.
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If you’re looking for some great game ideas for friends and family, you’ve come to the right place!
This marks our 11th annual Board Game Gift Guide and we love sharing great gift ideas!
And this year we’re sharing another 40 game ideas!
Since there’s a wide range of people (ages & interests) you may be considering, we break down this game guide into various categories and share a handful of game ideas in each category.
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“Back in the Game”
That was the bold statement on the winning t-shirt design for SaltCon End of Summer 2021. And it couldn’t have been more appropriate!
It was awesome to be back at SaltCon this past weekend playing game after game for a couple of days straight.
SaltCon is the big board game convention in Utah, USA and it’s packed with gaming goodness. The event is typically held for 4 days in March each year, so I was sad when it was announced last Fall that the March event would be canceled. But, the news a few months ago that they’d hold an “End of Summer” SaltCon for 3 days at the end of July got me excited again.
Let’s dive in!
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The best board games, card games, dice games, family games, and party games of 2020 have been awarded!
The Dice Tower recently announced the winners of The Dice Tower Awards — the annual crowing of the best board games published last year.
With thousands of new games published every year, there’s never a shortage of great new board games to play.
Top board game reviewers, podcasters, and industry contributors from around the world participated in the nomination and voting process.
Now, let’s see The Dice Tower Award Winners for 2020:
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Ah, the lazy days of summer!
Time to sit outside and enjoy the fresh air. Or time to play some lawn games with your family like cornhole, bocce ball, ladder toss, horseshoes, or spikeball to name a few.
Well, now there’s a new lawn game on the scene that brings in some board game type fun to the mix – Kingdoms Lawn Game!
It’s a fantasy themed lawn game for the entire family.
Individuals or teams join mystical factions bent on taking down their enemies. Players throw balls (armies) underhand at their opponents lawn pawns (castles). The last team with a castle standing, wins!!!
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In 2012 we reviewed one of the hot new board games that year, King of Tokyo.
King of Tokyo is a push-your-luck board game where you get to play “king of the hill” using dice, special ability power cards, and cool monsters.
It’s no wonder why it jumped to “hot game” status because it’s easy to play and a lot of fun for up to 6 players.
iello quickly published an expansion for the game, King of Tokyo: Power Up. And a couple of year later released King of New York.
Last year, they published a collector’s edition of the game called King of Tokyo: Dark Edition and we’re excited to share our thoughts about it.
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“These are the times that try men’s souls.”
I’m sure many people may have uttered that phrase this past year. But we’re not here to talk about last year. Instead, we’re looking back to 1776 when Thomas Paine penned those words in The American Crisis.
Of course, we’re not here for a book report either, but instead to look at a social deduction card game set during the American Revolutionary War — Patriots & Redcoats by Green Feet Games.
In the game, players take on the roles of the Americans fighting to win independence and the British fighting to stop the rebellion. And like in typical social deduction type games, players are secretly assigned which side they’re on and must figure out who to eliminate to win.
But, be careful because players may also change loyalty along the way!
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I really don’t like trivia games.
At least, the trivia game most people are familiar with — Trivial Pursuit. And I’ve tried to like it. But to no avail. It’s just not for me.
That’s why I was a bit wary when we got a copy of Smart10 from Bananagrams.
Yet, once we pulled it out and played it, Smart10 became the hit group game this holiday break!
And I’m happy to tell you why.
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It’s that awesome time of year again when we look for great fun ideas for gifts for family and friends.
With this crazy year, we know many families have already been grabbing a lot more board games to pass the time together throughout the year.
But it’s always nice to get some ideas for fresh games to play too.
This marks our 10th annual Board Game Gift Guide and we love sharing great gift ideas!
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