Here’s a few facts about me.
1. I’m cheap.
2. I’m pretty lame.
3. I’m a homebody.
4. I hate being cold.
When you put that all together it adds up to equal a girl who doesn’t mind spending her weekends at home, under an electric blanket. And–if you’ve been around, or know me, or have ever looked at my Christmas list, you probably know that my stay-at-home activity of choice is board games.
I’m actually getting pretty hard to buy for, since the collection Derek and I have amassed is pretty darn impressive. It’s grown quite a bit since I created that awesome board game storage from an old book case. Have I mentioned that that is one of my top pinned projects on Pinterest? {I guess it goes to show that I’m not alone in seeking to show off my gaming goods instead of shove them in the back of a closet.}
While I was in Rapid City I came across a board game store. Not quite as awesome as the one I told you about in Portsmouth, but still pretty darn good. They have demo games and a board game meet up every Sunday. So, while I was there we popped in to try a game I’d been eying and ended up trying out a few others as well. And now, I’ll tell you about them. Three games I’ve never played before and that are totally appropriate to buy for the home-body board-gamer on your list. An ideal thing to stock up on as the chilly weather settles in.
First of all–Carcassonne.
We actually picked this one up in Portsmouth on our Maine vacation. But I haven’t given it a proper write up yet, so I’ll do it now.
It’s a strategy game. The winner is the person with the most points at the end of the game. You get said points by building cities, roads, and monasteries and by owning pastures. Okay, granted that makes it sound kind of awful. Stick with me.
My favorite part about the game is that you build the board as you play. So you’ll never have the same set up twice. On your turn you draw a tile–with a little piece of landscape on it– and place it anywhere you like, so long as it joins one already in play. Then you can set one of your “followers” {aka game pieces} on top of it to claim part of a city, field, road, etc.
There’s lots of opportunities to totally ruin the plans of your opponents and requires some creative thinking. You only need two people to play, but can have up to five total. Like other games of this nature, there are expansion packs to buy…so you can add on nearly as many players as you fancy. A game takes about 45 minutes. If you like Settlers of Catan and Ticket to Ride, you’ll love this one.
Number two: Ca$h and Gun$
This is a party game, best with 6 people, but playable with only 4.
In this game each player is a crook in on a heist. Eight rounds are played. At the end of every round loot from a heist is split between the cons left standing.
At the beginning of the game each player is given 8 “bullet” cards and a foam gun. Three are shots and five are blanks. On each round every player places one of their bullets face down on the table and on the count of three aims his gun at a fellow player. After everyone seeings who is aiming at who, players have a chance to dodge the bullet by knocking over their game piece. If you dodge you are safe. If you choose not to dodge, you are taking a gamble on whether the proverbial bullet is real or a blank.
Next players turn in the bullets they placed on the table and the loot is split between players left standing or unwounded. The winner is the player with the most money at the end of the game.
It’s fun and fast paces and only takes about 30 minutes. It’s good for groups and groups that don’t know each other too well. If you like Wits and Wagers, Clue, or Apples to Apples–you’ll like this one too.
Lastly, let me tell you about Make ‘n’ Break. I really love this one.
It’s a very simple concept. On your turn roll the dice to determine how much time you’ll be given. Then start the timer. While the timer runs you attempt to build as many structures as you can to match designs laid out for you on cards using colorful Jenga-ish blocks. When the time is up you get points for the number of cards you completed.
See how much fun this family is having? {via the Make ‘n’ Break site.}
It’s a quick one, played in four rounds and is perfect for 2-4 players. Since it’s all about building and knocking down you’ll need to play it on a hard surface and shouldn’t try this one during quiet hours. It’s good for all ages. If you are into Jenga and Legos, you’ll like this one.
Happy playing!
