1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 Next » [11]
-
Larry Welborn
United States
Anderson
South Carolina
Way to go, Bubba.
-
Say Anything Family Edition from North Star Games, is the family friendly version of their popular party game, Say Anything. This version accommodates 3 to 6 players, ages 8 and up and plays in 30 minutes or less. Let's take a look at the game.
Components: The game components are sturdy and colorful. Each player gets a dry erase marker, an answer board, and two player tokens in the same color as their board. In addition, there are 60 question cards, with 3 questions on the front and three on the back, for a total of 360 questions. There is also a scoreboard and the ever popular Select-O-Matic 6000. The box itself is well-made and the insert nicely holds all of the components.
Rules: The rules are quite simple. The object of the game is to score the most points over a number of rounds equal to two times the number of players. So, a 4 player game would last 8 rounds. Each player will be the judge for exactly 2 rounds. As judge, a player will draw a card, select one of the 3 questions on the side of the card being used, and read it aloud. Each other player will then write down an answer to the question. The judge will then secretly select the "best" answer. The other players will then use their two tokens to bet on the answer they believe has been chosen by the judge. Players are not required to bet on their answer and can put both bets on one answer or split them among two. Once everyone has bet, the judge reveals his answer. The player whose answer was chosen receives one point and everyone who correctly chose that answer also receives a point for each token placed. Finally, the judge receives 1 point for every token on the correct answer, up to a maximum of 3. The Select-O-Matic is then passed to the next player who becomes judge. She draws a new card and play proceeds. After the final round, points are tallied and the winner is the person with the most points.
I have played the game several times with my wife, Melissa, and our two children, ages 10 and 9. This game has become a big hit for my family, especially the kids. Here is why.
Simplicity: The rules are exceeding easy to explain and even children will completely understand the game within a couple of minutes. The actual game play is also simple. As a player you simply write down what you think is a good answer and then, after reading all of the other answers, put your token on the one or two that you feel is most likely to be chosen. As the judge, you simply read a question then choose the answer you like the most.
Replayability: With 360 questions available, it will take several games before you run through all the cards. In addition, if a different player asks the question or if different players are playing the game, then it is likely that the "best" answer will be different.
The only thing you need to know is the other players: Trivia games suffer when one player is more knowledgeable on the subject than the others. Trivial Pursuit is not fun to play with the children, as they have no chance to compete on equal footing. But in this game, all you really need to know is the judge. For example, using the above question "What would I most want for my next birthday", the "best" answer for me is far different than for my son. (For my son it is Legos, btw.)
Minimal Downtime: There is almost no downtime in the game as every player is active in every round. The only delay is when the judge is deciding which question to ask and picking the best answer, but neither should take longer than 10 or 15 seconds.
Fast Playing: The entire game can be played in less than 30 minutes, which is a bonus when playing with children and non-gamer adults.
Fun Factor: This game has a high fun factor for us as there is usually yelling, cheers, groans and much laughter at the answers. We did have to institute the "no poo" rule as my daughter decided that the correct answer for most questions involved "poo", which resulted in gales of laughter from both kids. "What is the worst pizza topping? Poo." Etc. Your mileage may vary.
Quotes from the family: My daughter, age 9: "It is really fun and addictive because you can say anything and you learn a lot about your family and friends." My Son, age 10: "It is awesome because there is almost an endless combination of questions so you don't see the same questions over and over, which would be boring."
My wife, Melissa: "I like the game because it forces you to think through the eyes of your child."
Conclusion: Obviously, as with most party games, the game itself is more important than who wins. If you like a "G" or "PG" rated game that you wouldn't mind playing with your kids or your grandma, that is fast playing with lots of laughter, you owe it to yourself to give Say Anything Family Edition a try.
Mon May 21, 2012 12:51 am
-
Larry Welborn
United States
Anderson
South Carolina
Way to go, Bubba.
-
No gaming early in the week for the Welborn family but we finally got back to a Friday Family Game Night.
I decided to pull out a game we hadn't played in a while: Jamaica.
My daughter jumped out to an early lead, speeding ahead of the rest of us. My son and I kept fighting each other, trading treasures back and forth while Melissa trailed far behind. As the game proceeded, the ships began to tighten up and Melissa pulled into first. Unfortunately. she expended most of her resources, and fell back off the pace. After languishing for a bit, Daughter sped off again and crossed the finish line far ahead of the rest of us. It was then time to add up the scores and daughter's huge lead proved too much for the rest of us.
Final Scores: Daughter 34, Larry 24, Melissa 5, Son 4.
We had time for another game so we pulled out our current favorite, Can't Stop.
The game was pretty tight early on as we all had one column completed quickly. Melissa then went on a good run, first completing the 2 column. Not satisfied, she couldn't stop and kept rolling. A few rolls later she completed the 9 column for the win.
Final Scores: Melissa winner, everyone else 1 column completed.
On Saturday we got the chance to try out a new game for us: Say Anything Family Edition.
Dominic graciously sent us a copy of the game after I sort of begged for one last week. It proved to be a huge hit for the family. We played three games and there was tons of laughs, and a few groans as well. Exactly what you are looking for in a party game. I will post a review of the game in a few days, but I will briefly say that I find this a nice combination of Wits & Wagers and Apples to Apples.
Winning is not really the point to the game, so I will just state that everyone won.
Sunday afternoon saw a 4 player game of The Settlers of Catan.
Melissa got pinned in early so went for a city/vp point strategy. Daughter had the longest road early, but was unable to expand further so she soon lost the bonus. After that, my son and I fought for the longest road bonus, trading it back and forth.
It finally came down to what appeared would be the final turn. Melissa was one point short. She bought several development cards but was unable to get her 10th VP. I was poised to build 2 road segments and claim the longest road bonus back, which would give me the win. My son played first however and was able to build a city for the victory.
Final scores: Son 10, Melissa 9, Larry 8, daughter 5.
Sun Apr 15, 2012 10:34 pm
-
Larry Welborn
United States
Anderson
South Carolina
Way to go, Bubba.
-
Very little gaming with the Welborn family the past two weeks. The children had spring break and we took a week long vacation to Disney World. We had a great time, but it didn't leave much time for gaming.
While on vacation we did play a couple of games. First up was Apples to Apples.
We only had four players and this is not something I would normally choose for such a small group, but my daughter played it at a party recently and had been begging to play it. As I had assumed, the game wasn't that much fun with only 4 and the kids often missed the references. Example: "Who's Marilyn Monroe?" I ended up "winning".
We also got a chance to play one of our favorite games: Liar's Dice.
The family played along with friend Tony. He wasn't familiar with the game but quickly picked it up. Melissa was quickly eliminated, followed by my daughter. It was down to three of us: Tony, Me and my son. Tony had the advantage in dice but was knocked out first. At this point, both my son and I had 3 dice left. He took a 3-2 advantage but I won the next three rounds to win the game.
Our third and final game of the last two weeks was Igel Ärgern.
My cousin Barbara joined us for Church on Easter. The kids sang in the choir and did a great job. Afterwards Melissa cooked a traditional Easter Dinner which was enjoyed by all. We then had a 5 player game of Igel Argern. Barbara had never played but it was simple to explain. My son jumped out to an early lead, quickly getting one of his pieces across the finish line. My daughter and I had early troubles, getting trapped in the tar pits. It soon became a two player race as Melissa and my son each got two pieces across the finish line before the rest of us had one. I finally got a piece across as did Barbara. Daughter continued to struggle as she had multiple pieces in the tar pits for most of the game. I finally got a 2nd piece home as did Barbara, but in doing so, it freed up my son's piece and he was able to win on the following turn.
-
Larry Welborn
United States
Anderson
South Carolina
Way to go, Bubba.
-
This is a two week round-up as there hasn't been as much family gaming lately.
March 11: After I had written my last Round-up, the family got in a game of Primordial Soup. Usually our games are close, but this time I got a good engine going and pulled away from the pack. Final Scores: Larry 46, Melissa 34, Son 31, Daughter 27.
March 16: We brought out Mamma Mia! for some pizza making fun. Melissa jumped out to an early lead and was up 5 pizzas to 3 for my daughter and me going into the final round. My son had only 1. The final round proved a killer for Melissa though, as she failed to complete even a single pizza. Final Scores: Larry 6, Melissa and Daughter 5, Son 2.
March 18: My daughter begged to play The Downfall of Pompeii, or as Melissa calls it: "The game Larry always wins, and I never win." Her alternate named proved apt as I won both times we played that night. Final Scores: Game 1: Larry 9, Son 8, Melissa 7, Daughter 6. Game 2: Larry 9, Son 7, Melissa 6, Daughter 5. Yes, we finished in the same order both games.
We followed that up with a game of Qwirkle. Usually the family plays to get a lot of Qwirkles and the scores are high. This game started out much more defensively as several potential Qwirkles were blocked early. The scores started picking up later in the game and I got a couple of late Qwirkles to give me the win. Final Scores: Larry 109, Melissa and Eva 94, Son 90. That concluded gaming until yesterday.
March 24: The children and I got in 4 plays of Clash for a Continent: Battles of the American Revolution and French & Indian War. I wrote a session report that can be found here: 4 plays, same result. The kids really enjoyed it but I don't think the scenario is very balanced. Final Scores: British 4-0.
ADDENDUM: After this write-up, we had a 4 player game of Finca.
This turned out to be our closest game ever. Son captured the first bonus for selling at least one fruit numbered 1-6. He then landed on Lemons, forcing everyone to turn their lemons back in because there was an insufficient number to pay him off. Daughter and I soon captured bonus and closed the gap with him while Melissa languished. My daughter knew the game was close and chose to end the game, correctly thinking that her brother would end it if she didn't. The game was as close as we thought. Final Scores: Son 50, Larry and Daughter 49, Melissa 32. I was happy to see my son win as he has been on a bit of a losing streak. Melissa claims she did poorly because she is still suffering from a sinus infection. I don't believe it, but that is her story and she is sticking with it.
-
Larry Welborn
United States
Anderson
South Carolina
Way to go, Bubba.
-
The first third of March saw a decent amount of gaming in the Welborn family, including some games that haven't been played in a while.
March 1: My son and I played Star Wars: Episode 1; Clash of the Lightsabers, for the first time in a few years. He jumped out to an early lead, only to watch me tie it up at 4-4. The final round saw each of us win one battle, with the 3rd tied, so we went into overtime. This round saw my son win one battle. The other two battles ended in a tie so he claimed a 5-4 victory. Winner: Son.
March 2: We had a 4 player game of 7 Wonders. My daughter went for a strong military strategy. I picked up most of my points in blue and purple. Melissa got stomped by two stronger military civilizations,(Son and Daughter) which she couldn't overcome with scientific advances. Son had a mixed bag of developments. He wasn't particularly strong or weak in anything. When the scores we tallied, I just edged out Daughter. Final Scores: Larry 51, Daughter 49, Son 41, Melissa 35.
After that we played two quick games of Liar's Dice. In the first game, Daughter was eliminated first. I was ousted son after. Melissa and Son battled to the end, but Son proved too good at bluffing. Winner: Son. Son's luck did not carry into the next games as he was the first out. Daughter was the next to go, leaving Melissa and me. It was close but I had a dice advantage which I maintained for the win. Winner: Larry
March 3: This was a big day of gaming. It started out with 3 plays of Dominion with Melissa. Melissa is a good player and we generally split our games but this wasn't her day. I had a good day and swept all three games but the scores of 39-32, 42-29, and 42-22. Winner: Larry
Next, I introduced the kids to Acquire, and proceeded to show them how not to play the game. It was a close game, due primarily to the kids following my poor play. Final Scores: Melissa 39,900. Daughter 37,300. Larry 34,400. Son 34,300. Winner: Melissa.
March 4: Another big gaming day. First up was a rematch of Acquire. I managed to run out of money without controlling any good companies. Daughter really grasped the game and repeatedly made mergers to her favor. The scores weren't close. Daughter 48,900. Melissa 42,800. Son 34,000. Larry 29,100. Winner: Daughter.
Melissa went to do other things, so next up was a 3 player game of 10 Days in the USA. This game turned into a battle between Son and Daughter as I made a mess of my route. Finally, Daughter completed her trip for the win. Her discard would have given Son the win. I was no where near a win. Winner: Daughter.
The three of us next played a 1 lap race of the Portugal track in Formula Dé. I jumped out to a big lead, hit a couple of crucial die rolls and cruised to the victory. Son finished in 2nd, several seconds behind the winner, followed closely by Daughter. Winner: Larry
I still had a stock itch, so I pulled out Union Pacific. Melissa rejoined us for a 4 player game. Daughter's Acquire strategy didn't work nearly as well in this game and she finished a distant fourth. The other three of us was in a close battle for the win and it came down to the last few plays. Final Scores: Daughter 110, Melissa and Son 131, Larry 135. Winner: Larry.
March 5: Son is learning Chess and asked me to play with him. We played several games and I set up some problems for him to figure out.
March 9: I reintroduced Niagara to the kids. The last time we played the kids were too young and didn't grasp the game. This time, it went much better. I lost a canoe over the falls early in the game. I made the tactical mistake of not bringing it back right away and that proved my undoing. Melissa went for the 7 gem strategy and claimed the victory. Daughter was one turn away from the five different gem victory and Son was close behind. I was in a distant 4th place. Winner: Melissa.
March 10: In the afternoon, my son and I played 1st & Goal for the first time. I wrote up a Session report about our game: 1st play for my son and me. Winner: Son.
In the evening, Melissa had I got a couple of games in. First up was Kingdom Builder. Melissa made an early mistake in her settlement placement and that cost her the game. Final scores: Larry 56, Melissa 33. Winner: Larry.
Next up was a favorite of mine: Attika. The game was close and looked like neither of us would be able to connect the two shrines. Melissa then had to place a new land tile, and made an error in her placement. I had a couple of amphoras and was able to use them for a couple of extra builds to win the game with a shrine connect. Winner: Larry
-
Larry Welborn
United States
Anderson
South Carolina
Way to go, Bubba.
-
23 plays of 15 games. Red indicates a game not played in the past 12 months.
Pentago 8
Dominion 2
10 Days in the USA 1
Blokus 1
Can't Stop 1
Chicken Cha Cha Cha 1
Eleminis 1
Eruption 1
King of Tokyo 1
Mamma Mia! 1
Penguin 1
Samarkand 1
Tikal 1
Torres 1
Tsuro 1
-
Larry Welborn
United States
Anderson
South Carolina
Way to go, Bubba.
-
Thursday night developed into a rare mini-game night as the kids are out of school tomorrow. Melissa was doing other things, so it was just me and the kids.
First up was Tsuro.
Tsuro is a fun little game to play with the kids or non-gamers. This was our 39th recorded play.
We all started off on different sides of the board. I headed towards the middle as did my son. Daughter opted to hug the edge of the board. I soon began to get close to daughter and looked to change directions. Son blocked me off and I was soon directly across from daughter. She made a nice play, moving herself across the board and running me off the board and out of the game.
Son and daughter remained apart for a while but the shrinking board soon brought them closer. My son was able to trap daughter in the corner and she had no option but to run off the board.
Winner: Son. Second: Daughter. Last: Me.
My daughter picked the next game and chose Eleminis.
This is a fun little card game, where the winner is the first person to get one card each of five different types onto his playing area. Because we had 3 players, we decided to play 3 rounds.
Daughter won the first round and Son won the second. After two rounds the scores were Daughter 200, Son 200, Me 65.
The final and deciding round ended very quickly as my son quickly captured the victory.
Final Scores: Son 370, Daughter 240, Me 85.
My daughter then decided to go do other things so my son and I pulled out his copy of Pentago.
We have played this fast-playing abstract over 50 times since he got it for his birthday last September. Originally I beat him very easily but he has quickly improved. Son is especially tough when playing first. He won the first game, but I took the next three. He then took the following two games. I then won one game and he won the next. We were tied at 4 wins each and decided to call it a night.
Result: Son 4 wins, Me 4 wins.
-
Larry Welborn
United States
Anderson
South Carolina
Way to go, Bubba.
-
We finally had a proper Friday Family Game Night for the first time in a while. I decided to let each of us pick a relatively short game to play.
I went first and chose Blokus. This was our 21st play but only the 2nd one since 2009. I'm pretty good at this game and it showed. I was able to get all of my pieces on the board, finishing up with the 1 square for the bonus.
Final Scores: Larry 20, Son -12, Daughter -13, Melissa -19. The only surprise was that my son edged out my daughter for 2nd place as she usually snags 2nd.
Melissa got to pick the next game and she chose 10 Days in the USA.
This was the 54th playing of this game that we play several times each year. I started with a mess and tried to work from both ends. I was left with trouble in the middle. Melissa claimed the win, with my son one turn away from victory and my daughter only a move or two behind. Me? Not so close. Winner: Melissa.
My daughter got to pick the next game and she picked Chicken Cha Cha Cha.
This was our 27th play but only our third since 2009. I managed to get the win, which I believe is my first and only win ever in the game. Melissa asked if I was getting better or was it the result of the kids getting older? I will stick with me getting better.
The final game of the night was selected by my son. He picked King of Tokyo.
This was our 4th play of a game I received for Christmas. My monster knocked out my son when he didn't leave Tokyo. It then became a race among the rest of us and I was able to claim the win. I didn't record the scores but won by several victory points.
On Sunday, I brought out one of my all-time favorite games: Tikal.
This was our 11th recorded play but I had dozens of plays before I started keeping records here. This was our first play since 2009 as the kids were too young then and I don't really like it as a 2 player game.
I jumped to a slight lead during the first two scoring rounds, but Melissa tied me at the end of the 3rd round, with both kids doing well, but not well enough to win.
The final scoring round was good for me, but not good enough. My daughter had the honor of the highest scoring final round, but Melissa had the honor of the victory.
Final Scores: Melissa 109, Larry 108, Daughter 98, Son 82.
-
Larry Welborn
United States
Anderson
South Carolina
Way to go, Bubba.
-
35 plays of 12 games. Bold is new to me, Red is a game not played in over 1 year.
Can't Stop 12
Cathedral 8
Liar's Dice 3
Architekton 2
Alea Iacta Est 1
Blokus Trigon 1
Dominion 3
Igel Ärgern 1
Kingdom Builder 1
Scrabble 1
The Settlers of Catan 1
Stone Age 1
Not much gaming going on this month. Can't Stop continues to be a hit with the kids and Liar's Dice is always popular. I played Scrabble for the first time with the kids. I will probably play this with them again but, like chess, the game is much better when the players are of comparable skill.
Settlers was also the first real play with the kids. They enjoyed it as did I, but I never feel a strong urge to get it to the table.
-
Melissa Welborn
United States
Anderson
South Carolina
-
Cross-posted as a Session Report.
My husband and I settled in after dinner with our son, age ten and daughter (a stone’s throw from nine) for a quick game of Liar’s Dice.
Round One:
Mama started out weak and continued to bleed out until she was without dice. The son was out next when he challenged three stars in a set of nine dice. In reality, seven out of nine were stars. Tough break. The game was down to the daughter, who was holding on for dear life with one dice against her daddy who still had all five. She couldn’t fight the master with only one dice. Winner: Daddy.
Round Two:
Mama had high hopes, but was out first again. Sitting between Daddy and the daughter is the place of death. Daddy challenged the son’s bid of five five’s out of ten. When the dice were revealed, there were seven five’s out of ten, all natural five’s (no stars). Daddy was out. The son still had four dice, and the daughter was down to three. Then they were tied two to two, and both of them were still in it. The daughter had a star and a three, and the son had a two. He tried to bluff her with two fours, but she challenged and he lost. Winner: Daughter.
Round Three:
Mama beat her previous record by getting out in two rolls, killed by her daughter’s incessant challenges. Everyone else at the table still had five dice. The daughter lost four in one turn when she bid seven two’s when there were only three. And she’s out leaving the two boys, each with five dice. Then they were both down to four. Then they were both down to three. Then they were both down to two. Then the son lost when he got down two to one against his Daddy. Those are tough odds. Winner: Daddy.
All in all, it was a fun night of challenging the odds with a ten and nine year old, playing a game rated on the box for twelve year-olds. Maybe Mama, who is 43, should wait a while longer before attempting it. Or maybe she should sit somewhere else.
1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 Next » [11]
|
|
