Gameblog

Tag: family games

  • Two-player Golden Compass

    Golden Compass is an excellent book (and a fairly mediocre movie), and of course it has spawned a bunch of board games. Most of them are based on the movie, but Der goldene Kompass by Kosmos is based on the books. It’s a race game: players try to go through the board as fast as…

  • Zooloretto

    Review of Zooloretto in Finnish. Zooloretto is the latest game in the Coloretto family. This zoo-themed family game is based on a familiar mechanism that works so well in the small card game. This big box board game turned out be another success for Michael Schacht. A simple idea The basic idea is the same:…

  • Just 4 Fun

    Just 4 Fun isn’t the most popular game, despite being a Spiel des Jahres finalist. From description, it sounds terribly inane. The name is horrible to start with. Four-in-a-row, with cards determining where you can play — can it be any more drab? But guess what, it’s a surprisingly good game anyway. Nothing special, that’s…

  • Zooloretto with two

    I got a review copy of Zooloretto, latest entry to the Coloretto family. It’s out now in Finnish (with Swedish, Norwegian and Danish rules included). The box was bigger than I expected, a full Kosmos-size box. Cute panda! The game isn’t a ripoff, but something quite clever. In its heart lies the basic Coloretto system:…

  • Celtica

    Review of Celtica in Finnish Celtica, a game by well-known designer duo Wolfgang Kramer and Michael Kiesling was published recently in Finland. I was curious to try the game; for background, I had read the less-than-favourable comments from the Geek, combined with Bruno Faidutti’s recommendation. The game certainly looks delicious, from the beautiful box cover…

  • Around the World in 80 Days

    Around the World in 80 Days by Michael Rieneck is based on Jules Verne’s book. Players are sent from London to circumnavigate the globe, hoping to make it back to London in 80 days. A race has begun! Race around the world So, it’s a race game. Race games have generally two problems, I think:…

  • Niagara

    Next up in my Finnish review site: Niagara. While Zoch is well-known for games with good presentation, Niagara is an extremely pretty game. From the first pictures I saw from the Essen fair 2004 I knew I had to see this game in action. I was not disappointed: the clever board (go see the pictures…

  • Africa

    A new game review on my website: Africa — again in Finnish, sorry. Here’s what I think about the game: Recently Africa has received some praise from notable members of the Spielfrieks community and I think it deserves it. I think many were disappointed when it turned out that dr. Knizia had designed a light,…