Just the Three of Us

April 11, 2020April 9, 2020

Arboretum – Card Game Review

Arboretum is a strategy-based card game for 2-4 players. The box recommends ages 10+, Maci has been playing since she was 8 and was able at that time to understand the basics of play and scoring. It takes about 25 – 30 minutes to play.

Arboretum card game box and contents — Arboretum box, score sheet, rule book and card/tree types

Gameplay Overview

In Arboretum, players begin with a hand of 7 cards. On each turn, a player must do 3 things:

Draw two cards (you can draw from the deck or any player’s discard pile, including your own)
Add a tree to the Arboretum (after the first turn, all trees must be placed orthogonally adjacent to another tree in the Arboretum).
Discard one card (each player has their own separate discard pile)

The game ends after the common draw pile is exhausted. The player who draws the last card finishes his or her turn and then scoring immediately takes place. To draw the game out, players can draw from the discard piles. Likewise, to move the game on more quickly, players should draw from the common draw pile. Usually players do some mix of the two depending on the cards each player needs.

Scoring takes place after the draw pile runs out. Scoring is just slightly more complicated than the turn-taking parts of the game. To score, the dealer starts at the top of the score pad and announces the first type of tree. Players reveal cards from their hands for that tree type. The player with the highest total earns the right to score for the given tree. Players can earn this right even if they do not have that tree placed in their arboretum, thus taking the ability to score from another player.

Arboretum card game score pad — Arboretum score pad

Points are scored by having trees lined up to make paths. The rules book clearly explains how to complete the scoring and includes examples.

The Dad Review

We bought this game in 2015, and some games just fall by the wayside, especially when the new hot game comes out. I’m glad we started this blog because we have been revisiting a lot of those games, and this is one I really enjoy. Arboretum is a solid card game where you’re basically building pathways showing off your sweet tree collection. I know you’re sarcastically saying to yourself, “Oh cool, I get to build a tree zoo, that sounds like a really riveting action packed game.” Just to let you know, tree zoos rock.

But seriously, the artwork is cool, and it’s another game where I’m learning about something. In this case, I’m learning different trees and what they look like. I will tell you though, with kids you need to play this a few times so they understand the scoring and gameplay or it will be frustrating.

You also have to pay attention to what everyone is doing, because you can prevent people from scoring. This sucks when it’s you not being able to score, and awesome when it’s not. In this case, Maci was super psyched to score some trees but I played some cards that trumped her. She did all she could to hold in all of those angry emotions. Her face looked like I ran over her family of ducks the first time they left the nest, that is if she raised a family of ducks. I will give her credit. She hung in there for the rest of the scoring, but needed to walk away after and grab a granola bar and things were better. I guess losing and hungry never mix. Gaming tip: don’t game hungry.

In closing, this is a great game, especially if you like medium-weight strategy card games. It’s also affordable, and if you want a fancy wooden box and foil cards, you can spring for the upgraded set, which isn’t much more.

As a family game, I rank this an 8/10.

The Mom Review

Arboretum is a game that I really want to like, but I actually do not like at all. I must admit that it is well made. The cards are gorgeous. The concept of laying out cards to score points for sets of trees is super cool.

Arboretum hand and tree layout — Arboretum hand and play space

However, I cannot stand that other players have the ability to keep you from scoring after all your hard work. This has happened to all of us, but it’s super aggravating to me and painful to watch happen to Maci. Also, I am too much of an empath to feel good about purposely keeping cards in my hand for the purpose of preventing another player from scoring. So, I just won’t do it. I don’t play like that. I’m aware I might lose because of it, but I’d rather be able to live with myself than win.

On a more positive note, the rules of Arboretum are simple and the basic gameplay is easy to teach. The rules for scoring are slightly more complicated to understand. If you are teaching the scoring rules to a young player or someone new to gaming, it would be helpful to lay out a sample and show how the scoring would work for that Arboretum.

The setup is very easy since it primarily consists of passing out the correct number of cards to players.

Overall, I give Arboretum a 6/10. The game provides a challenge, but I would like it better if I played with someone who didn’t get their feelings hurt so badly when someone steals their ability to score.

The Kid Review

I think this game is ok. First, I like that the trees are pretty. Next, I like getting trees and placing them for victory points. Sometimes when another player has a lot of the same type of tree and they have 1 through 6 and they have to have a high card to score and I have the 8 of that type, I know that person has the 7 and then at the end of the game they won’t get victory points for the type that they have a lot of.

In conclusion, I will give this game 8/10.

April 9, 2020April 9, 2020

Heist

Heist is a cooperative game for 2-4 players. In this game, your team has been challenged to break into a safe filled with $50 million dollars in 5 minutes or less. You have to work together as a team to pass tools and push buttons to collect the money and open the safe.

Gameplay Overview

Setup

If this is your first game, install batteries (3xAA) in the safe.
Make sure the gold bars are inserted into the top of the safe.
Put the safe in easy reach of all players.
Give the money to the “Moneyman” who should separate it into stacks by value.
Spread the tools around the safe within reach of the players

How to Play

When your team is ready, turn on the game using the on/off switch on the bottom of the safe. Next, each player should push the button for their role when prompted. Then, choose your game level (level 1 is obviously the least stressful and a great place to start.)

Throughout the game, the “boss” (voice coming from the safe), will tell players what actions to take. The actions are:

Get – The announced player should get the required tool
Pass – Pass the tool to the announced player
Trade – The players who have the given tools should swap them
Use – This is when you push a button. Push the button if you have the tool which was announced
Everybody Press Your Buttons Now – means…everybody press your buttons
Grab – take the amount of money described.

As the “boss” calls out the actions, your team should listen carefully and follow the directions. If you make too many mistakes, you will first get a warning. Then, if you make another mistake, an alarm goes off and a police siren will sound.

If your team plays the game well, the safe will pop open and the gold bars fall out onto the table. If you play a perfect game, your team will collect all $50 million dollars!

The Dad Review

Pass the drill, pass the goggles, pass the laptop, pass me the grey poupon…what? Just kidding. Everyone press the button, congratulations you win!

Kids will love this game, parents will want to play it. With that combo, this game is a perfect family game. This game is fully interactive. Everyone that plays is involved. You pass plastic tools around according to what the voice tells you and then at some point you hit a button if you have that specific tool. When you have accomplished all of the tasks, you break into the vault and gold bars explode out of the top of the game to tell you you’ve won.

This game also has different levels of difficulty which make it addictive to those who want a challenge and makes the game less monotonous. This game may not hit the table every game session, but is a game adults and especially Maci’s friends will want to play a lot. I could also see this game getting taken over by a group of adults for a fun night of yelling at each other, while pretending to be real criminals on a heist.

I rank Heist 8/10, at under $20 this is a keeper, but wouldn’t pay more.

The Mom Review

Heist is super fun! This is a game you could play with people who don’t really love games. It would be fun at a party, or even to help a bunch of kids play together.

As a teacher, I absolutely love that it really works on the player’s listening and attention skills. If you are going to successfully rob a bank and get lots of money, teamwork and listening are essential, right?

The key to making this fun is to not become too worked up over other people making mistakes. If you are super high-strung and prone to yelling at a family member that makes mistakes, maybe this isn’t the right game for you.

I give Heist a 9/10 for some great family fun!

The Kid Review

I love Heist. It’s a little stressful with the beeping noise and time running out but it’s really fun. I love all of the jobs except the money man because that puts extra stress on me because the Money Man has to play like everyone and ALSO gather the money. I love passing the items and hitting the button when I have the item. By the way, the last level level 5 is really hard. I also love the setting which is trying to steal a lot of money and I like that if we complete the game little gold bricks fall out of the box.

In conclusion I will rate this game 9/10! The only reason I give this game 9/10 is the stress (otherwise it would be a 10/10).

Overall Impressions

We like the game The Heist. We don’t play it every day, but when we pull it out, we always have a great time! Overall, we give The Heist 9/10.

Pros

Not too long, not too short. Insert Boys to Men song.
Not too difficult, not too easy.
Different levels of difficulty, making it challenging for those that want a little more.
Gold bars exploding for winning adds to the fun
Interactive box with voice adds to the theme.
The price as of this review is only $13.
Adults and kids will enjoy this.
Looks like a toy, drawing in the younger kiddos and some adults.
Easy setup
Easy to learn

Cons

Not a game you’re going to play all night, could out live it’s welcome after playing too long.
Overly competitive alpha gamers could take over and be bossy, stressing people out.
Needs batteries. Not a huge deal, but most games don’t.
Younger kids (5-6 year olds) may need an adult to help facilitate the game.
Adults may enjoy this so much that the kids don’t get a chance to play.
Wish the pieces were painted different colors (to help distinguish one from another) and had a game mat to show who’s who in the game.

April 8, 2020April 8, 2020

Sushi Go

Sushi Go is a card drafting game for 2-5 players. The box states it is for players 8+, but due to the nature of the game play, even much younger kids can also participate. Sushi Go! is a quick game, taking only about 15 minutes to play.

Gameplay Overview

Setup

Shuffle all the cards in the box. Deal cards to each player depending on the number of players. (Specifics are found both on the first page of the rule book as well as on the Quick Summary on the back cover).

How to Play

Sushi Go! takes place over 3 rounds. You start with the same amount of cards at the beginning of each round.

During the round:

All players simultaneously choose a card from their hand and place it face down in front of them.
Once all players have chosen their card, flip cards over and leave them face up in each person’s play area.
All players simultaneously pass the remaining cards from the hand to the next player.

Continue with the above three steps until there are no cards left. After the last card has been passed, the round is scored.

Round End Scoring

Each type of sushi has a different scoring mechanism:

Maki Rolls – The player with the most gets 6 points. Player with the second most gets 3 points.
Tempura – Score 5 points for each set of two (a single tempura card does not score)
Sashimi – Score 10 points for each set of three (1 or 2 sashimi cards do not score)
Dumplings – See the chart at the bottom of the card. The top number is the total number of dumplings. The number beneath is points received. For example, 3 dumplings cards will score 6 points.
Nigiri – Score the points named on the card

Special Cards:

Wasabi – triples the value of the next nigiri taken by the player (does not score on its own)
Chopsticks – Use on a later turn to swap for two cards from the same hand (does not score any points)
Pudding – Save these until the end of the game (set aside at the end of each round). The player with the most pudding at the end of the game gains 6 points. The player with the least pudding at game end loses 6 points.

Sushi Go! Back cover of the rulebook — Back cover of Sushi Go! rulebook. Great to keep handy for reference during the game.

Game End Scoring

After the third round, complete the round end scoring as usual, then adjust the points for pudding (player with the most gains 6; player with the least loses 6).

The player with the most total victory points is the winner.

The Dad Review

We bought this game when Maci was 6 years old and she was able to pick it up and play with assistance. Now that she’s 9, this game is really easy for her to play. Sushi Go! is a great introduction to card drafting and I recommend it for families new to the hobby. The game pretty simple. You deal out 7 cards to everyone, everyone takes one card from their hand and passes the remaining cards to the person next to them and this goes on until all the cards are used. Then you score for the 1st round. You then repeat the steps above until 3 rounds are completed. It’s quick and easy.

I believe that you can still find this game at The Gaming Goat, Amazon, or Target, but it’s being to reimplemented to the slightly more complex Sushi Party. It is also available for purchase and uses the same mechanics. However, players have a broader menu of items to select from to put in the game. It’s not super complex but it is a small step up from the basic Sushi Go. If you can’t find the basic version, you can still play the party version with no problem.

As a family game, I give Sushi Go 8/10

The Mom Review

I like Sushi Go as a quick, easy to play pick and pass card game. It is very easy to teach to new players. Also, even if someone has no clue what is going on, they can just choose a card and keep going. They will usually figure things out after a round or two.

A layout of the Sushi Go! cards — Each of the 8 different Sushi Go! cards: tempura, nigiri, sahsimi, dumpling, chopsticks, wasabi, pudding, maki roll

With that being said, the rules are very simple to teach and understand. The rulebook also has a nice little cheat-sheet on the back to summarize the scoring and act as a reminder.

Setup is super-easy as you just shuffle and pass out the cards according to the rule book.

Sushi Go is a fun game, and the overall score can change dramatically from one round to another. So, if you ever feel behind, be patient. Things might just turn around for you!

I enjoy Sushi Go and give it an 8/10

The Kid Review

I like Sushi Go. First, I like all of the cards, especially pudding. I like that we pick a card and play it, then pass hands. Sometimes I don’t like having to pass the hand, because I love the cards I have and I want to play lots of them, and that’s a great thing. I love that I get victory points based on how many cards that I have of that type. I really like collecting sashimi for the thing that I just explained. I don’t like to eat sushi but I love this game, so I will give this game 10/10.

Overall Impressions

Our Overall Family Rating: 8.5/10

Sushi Go Game with Cards — Sushi Go! Game

Pros

Super easy to learn
Good player interaction
Lots of choices
Multiple ways to score
Easy to set up

Cons

If you’re looking for a deep, complex card drafting game this is not it.

Other Card Drafting Games You Might Like

Easy Complexity- Point Salad and Sundae Split
Medium complexity- Everdell, Ticket to Ride, Wingspan, Sushi Go Party, and 7 Wonders
Hard complexity- Terraforming Mars
Teens and older- Blood Rage

What is your favorite card drafting game? Do you have another game you’d like us to review? We’d love to hear from you!

April 7, 2020April 6, 2020

Clank! – Board Game Review

In Clank! A Deck-Building Adventure, players build a personal deck of cards to help them make their way through the passages below Dragon Keep. Once below, each player must retrieve an artifact and make it out alive. Along the way, you make “clank” as you stumble through the deep and encounter various monsters.

Gameplay Overview

Clank! is a deck-building and board game hybrid. Each player begins the game with an identical starting hand of cards. Players take turns individually, in a clockwise rotation. During their turn, each player plays a hand of five cards from their personal deck and performs the actions associated with their cards:

Boots allow a player to move their meeple around the board.
Swords allow a player to fight monsters or avoid damage from monsters in tunnels as they move.
Skill points allow a player to acquire new cards from the dungeon row.
Card effects on each card must be followed each time the card is in hand.

Fill any empty card spots from the dungeon row at the end of each player’s turn. If any of the new cards reveal a dragon, the dragon will attack. When the dragon attacks, add all the cubes from the clank area to the bag and pull a specified number of cubes. Add any cubes that match a player’s color to their health meter. After a player’s health meter is full, they no longer get to take any turns.

The goal of the game is to go into the depths (below the green line on the board), retrieve an artifact, and get out of the dungeon before being knocked out by the dragon. Once a player retrieves an artifact and makes their way back above the green line, they can be rescued by the local villagers and still gain victory points. Players who are knocked out below the green line… sadly, no victory points for them!

Clank: the depths — Here you can see “the Depths” on the Clank board. Players need to get above that green, grassy line to count their victory points!

At the end of the game, calculate the victory points, and the player with the most emerges victorious!

The Dad Review

Man, Clank changed the deck building world in a good way, and became my daughter’s number one game ever. Which made it my favorite game for a while.

Our Clank Backstory

When Maci was born Ang and I were really beginning to get into games, which actually means I was becoming obsessed and Ang was along for the ride. After playing a lot of games we got from Marbles Brain Store which at the time was the only place I knew to check for games, I saw a game pop up called Dominion. Then, I found the holy grail called Board Game Geek and read a review on it and saw videos. I was hooked.

We purchased the Dominion base game and played while Maci slept. It was a quiet game and it was quick. I thought it was the greatest game ever and purchased far too many expansions.

Now, fast forward to the present. While Dominion is still a fun great game in my opinion, it’s all about Clank! And of course Clank’s many expansions.

Playing Clank

In Clank, you build a deck to explore the dungeon, get some treasure and get out before you’re eaten by a dragon or rescued by some very nice villagers. This is definitely a push your luck game but not crazy intense. The creators were very wise to put in a bonus for escaping all the way, but if you don’t make it you still get your points.

When we first started playing, Maci would press her luck and it led to a lot of bummed out, frustrating moments. These were often followed by the good old, “Well, maybe you should think about escaping,” comments that Maci didn’t appreciate at the time.

Now as we play, Maci has this game down and is always thinking ahead. It’s great to see, except when she takes the treasure I’ve been trying to get this whole time. Then she screws up my whole game and then I have to go deeper into the dungeon. And then Maci sees that and starts heading up to escape, all this time leaving her poor dad in the depths with no movement points. Sorry, I guess this game has affected me more than I thought.

This game is an awesome family game. It evokes emotion, makes you think about your next move, has just the right amount of luck. I have to say there will be moments where a player will be stuck down in the depths and someone else “ahem… me” may begin just buying cards from the dungeon row to get the dragon to come more quickly. That may feel frustrating to anyone not in the position to get out, creating a small ‘take that’ situation. However, it’s not a table flipping feeling. It’s more like, “Come on man, knock it off! We know that you’re buying cards just to buy them and knock me out of the game.”

In closing, this is a no-brainer 10/10 game for us, it hits the table a lot and if your family likes deck building games or exploring dungeons, this game is for you. It’s also not a bad price these days, we always find it cheap at our local Gaming Goat, but Amazon often carries it as well.

Clank collection area, dungeon row, and board — This is the top of the Clank board. You can see the dungeon row, market items, clank area and secrets tokens.

The Mom Review

I really enjoy playing Clank! It has just the right mix of deck building and board game to keep me entertained. The games last about an hour, but don’t feel overwhelmingly long. It is rare for someone to have to think long and hard about their turn which is great for those with short attention spans.

The rule book for Clank is not only easy to understand, it is entertaining. Clearly, the designers of Clank have a great sense of humor. This is evident both in the rules and the fun, flavor text on the cards.

Setup for Clank does take some time. The base cards need to be distributed. The dungeon row needs to be established . There are a variety of tokens that need to be placed around the board. The setup process goes much more quickly with help, so if you are the person who usually sets up games in your family, have everyone take a task to get it ready more quickly.

Scoring for Clank is made even easier if you download the free app by Renegade Games.

Score Entry Screen from Renegade Games Companion App — Score Entry Screen from scoring companion app by Renegade Games.

The final score after playing a round of Clank! Maci: 111, Mom: 140, Dad: 142 — Final Score for our most recent game of Clank!

Overall, I truly enjoy playing Clank and will readily play it anytime. I give Clank a 10/10

The Kid Review

Clank is my favorite game in the whole wide world! I love it for a lot of reasons. My first reason is I love deck building games and I love the cards. I also like the sayings on the bottom of the cards. When I am waiting for my mom and dad to take their turns I like reading the sayings. Next, I like going and getting an artifact, monkey idols, and secrets. Then, I like trying to escape in time and to get the most victory points.

In conclusion, I will give this game 12/10. I also think this is a little bit harder for other kids. I will give this creator so many props.

Overall Impressions

As a family, we LOVE playing Clank.

Overall Family Rating – 10/10
Ease of Understanding the Rules – Medium
Ease of Setup – Medium

April 7, 2020April 7, 2020

Qwixx Deluxe

Qwixx Deluxe is a dice game for 2-8 players known as a ‘roll and write’. It is intended for ages 8+, but Maci has been able to play since she was 5, with some parent assistance. We got our copy of Qwixx Deluxe at Target. We have also seen it at our local Gaming Goat, or it can be ordered online directly from the publisher, Gamewright.

Gameplay Overview

Qwixx Setup

To set up, each player takes a score sheet and dry erase marker. As a group, choose which side of the board to play. Finally, give the dice to the first active player.

How to Play Qwixx

Gameplay is completed as the rolling of dice and crossing out numbers on the score sheet. Numbers must be crossed out from left to right in each of the four rows. Any numbers that are skipped CANNOT be crossed off on a later turn.

The active player rolls all 6 dice. Then, the next two actions must be done IN ORDER:

FIRST, announce the total of the two white dice out loud. ALL players MAY cross out the number that was announced in any row.

SECOND, the active player only may combine one white die with one colored die and cross out the number matching the sum and the color die they chose.

IF the active player either cannot or chooses to not cross off any number on their turn, they MUST cross off a penalty box at the bottom of their score sheet. Each penalty box crossed off at the end of the game will count as -5 points.

Once all players are ready, the dice are passed clockwise to the next player who then rolls all 6 dice. Play continues in this fashion until one of the two game end conditions are met.

Game End

The game is over as soon as one of two conditions are met:

Someone has crossed out his/her fourth penalty box OR
Two dice have been removed from the game (once the row has been locked)

Scoring

Each player scores their own game board by finding the number of xs within each row and using the score chart to give a points total for each color. Add together the total for all colored rows and subtract any penalties received. The player with the highest total is the winner.

The Dad Review

This is a great game to introduce players to roll and write games. This is a game we started with when we began realizing the board gaming world was rather large and there were different styles of games. This particular version (Qwixx Deluxe) is nice because of the dry erase boards. Also, it is two-sided, giving a more complex version but nothing crazy hard.

Qwixx Deluxe Side Two - Variation — Qwixx Deluxe Side Two Variation

Maci has been playing this since she was 5, so we’ve definitely gotten a lot of mileage out of this game. If you like this style of game, I’d recommend these other games: That’s Pretty Clever, Twice As Clever, Welcome To, Fleet the Dice Game (most difficult out of the games listed), Cartographers, and Railroad Ink.

Qwixx Deluxe Pros

Easy to learn and teach
Just enough depth that it’s not your basic lucky dice chucking game.
Affordable
Mensa Select game
Double sided board gives more replay-ability

Qwixx Deluxe Cons

Serious gamers may find it too easy and could use interest
The boards are nice, but can stain

My ranking is a 6/10. If your kids are young and just getting into gaming, I encourage you to pick it up.

The Mom Review

Maci and I like to play games in the morning while we eat breakfast together, and Qwixx is exactly the right type of game for this. It is quick, and the rules are simple and easy to remember. There is also very minimal setup and it is easy to clean up.

As a teacher, I appreciate that players need to add quickly and analyze a variety of number combinations. To make the best decision for which dice combination to make, and how many numbers on their score sheet they are willing to skip, kids have a lot to think about. I am sure this is a big reason this game was chosen as a Mensa Select game.

Qwixx turn example — In this example roll, you can see that the white dice total 4. Since I chose to mark the yellow 4, and I am the active player, I get one more, I cannot then mark the yellow 3, since I have bypassed the 3 to mark the 4. So, I choose to mark the red 2 instead.

When Maci was really little, I would help her walk through the different dice combinations because all of the dice sitting in front of her felt overwhelming.

Overall, I give this game a 7/10. It’s a great quick game, and I’m willing to play it, but I wouldn’t want to play it for hours on end.

The Kid Review

I like Qwixx. First, I like rolling the dice and doing the white and a color plus the white dice. I like getting a lot of rows and locking the color dice up (which makes us remove that colored dice). I also like the more complicated side because it is a little harder. It is definitely easy for kids. I played this when I was a lot younger and it was easy for me.

In conclusion, I will give this game 10/10.

Overall Impressions

We like Qwixx. It’s a great, quick roll and write game. It is also easy to teach to people who are new to gaming and plays up to 8 players.

Overall Rating: 8/10
Setup: Very Easy
Learning the Rules: Very Easy

April 6, 2020April 6, 2020

5-Minute Marvel – Card Game Review

5-Minute Marvel is a cooperative card game for 2-5 players ages 8+. You can play a round in as little as 5 minutes, or try to defeat more than one boss.

Gameplay Basics

In 5 Minute Marvel, each player chooses a Marvel Character. Each character comes with their own, personalized special deck. Additionally, the players also receive an equal share of resource cards.

There are 6 bosses that the players work together to defeat. Each boss becomes progressively more difficult to take down in the five minute limit that is given. To keep track of the time, you can just use a timer, or you can download their free, themed app from the app or play store.

5-Minute Marvel timer app — 5-Minute Marvel free app for keeping time.

The boss mat shows how many “door” cards need to be defeated before getting to the boss. Once a door card is revealed, players may play their special power cards or specific resource cards to defeat each character they encounter on the other side of the door.

After all the door cards have been revealed, the boss can be defeated. As long as your team completes the mission before the time runs out, you are victorious!

The Dad Review

Lets pop on some spandex and yell at each other, like the real Avengers! Like most cooperative games you may run into a highly heated emotional exchange once in a while, especially when the clock is ticking, and this game is no exception. If you’re playing this game as a family, make sure you have some rules for how to go about beating all of these villains. If you have a stage 5 card tosser, this game will not be as much fun as it could be.

5-Minute Marvel Superheroes — These are the superheroes available in 5-Minute Marvel.

What I mean by that is if someone is always just throwing down their cards and not letting the rest of the team play, this game can become frustrating and wear out it’s welcome quickly. But, if you all synergize and play as a well-oiled team, much like Thor’s biceps in Ragnarok, then this game is a lot of fun.

Pros

I like that each player can play as a unique powered superhero. This will definitely get kids and adults who enjoy the superhero genre involved. The art work is great and I like that the game can be played on different difficulties. Not only by the boss level, but you can also add extra doors or crises that will make the game more difficult. Another advantage is this game will not break the bank. This game is definitely affordable. Finally, when you defeat a villain together, it feels very rewarding, and you’ll want to play again right after.

Cons

One issue is with the bossy pants alpha hero who wants all the glory, like I talked about earlier. Someone can really railroad this game and take over, which is not always great. Two other cons are balancing two decks along with your power. It may be a lot to take on at first. During the game you may ask yourself: What’s my power again? Do I go with the basic deck or the special deck? Do we really only have ten seconds left? Things like this can cause people to stress out. The last negative for me is while this game is fun, you have to be in the right mood to play, and it can become repetitive after a few plays, potentially causing burn out.

For my family ranking it’s a 7/10.

The Mom Review

5 Minute Marvel has a fun theme if you are fan of the Marvel characters. It is also great for a short, quick gameplay experience. If you are new to playing games like this, I would highly recommend trying it once without a timer to get a feel for how the game works. The timer adds another element of stress that you just don’t need if you are trying to figure out how the game works.

It can also be helpful if you are playing this with kids or new players if you talk out strategies for completing the cards as well as choose your special characters wisely. It is possible to get stuck if you don’t have any characters in play that allow you to draw more cards.

The rules are straightforward and simple. Here are pictures of the rulebook:

5-Minute Marvel Rulebook Front — Rulebook Front

5-Minute Marvel Rulebook Interior — Rulebook Inside

5-Minute Marvel rulebook back — Rulebook Back

I enjoy playing this game and recommend it to people who love the theme and are looking for a game that can be both short and fast-paced. Overall, I give 5 Minute Marvel a 7/10.

The Kid Review

I like 5-Minute Marvel. I love defeating the boss and fighting the bad guys with my cards and not running out of time. Also, I like the characters that let you do things and the powers that they give you and the power cards. Hulk, Squirrel Girl and Black Widow are my favorite because they are cool and their powers are awesome. There is one more thing that I like about the game and it is that I don’t get angry when I play it.

5-Minute Marvel Boss mats, door cards, and crisis cards — Boss mats, door cards, and crisis cards

In conclusion, I will give this game 10/10.

Overall Impressions

We enjoy playing 5-Minute Marvel, but it’s not a game we would want to play every day.

Overall Ranking: 8/10
Setup: Easy
Rules: Easy

If you enjoy 5-Minute Marvel, another cooperative card game you might like is The Crew. You can check out our review of The Crew here.

April 5, 2020April 5, 2020

Downforce: Wild Ride – Expansion Review

Downforce Wild Ride Expansion Cover — Expansion Cover Sleeve. This expansion does not include a box – I appreciate that they don’t create undue waste!

Wild Ride is an expansion for the board game Downforce. You must have the base game to be able to play. We also have a review of Downforce without any expansions. The Wild Ride expansion adds a new, two-sided game board with totally a totally different play experience and elements on each side. Also included is one cardboard sheet with punch-outs to add to the board.

Downforce Wild Ride Punch Board Pieces — Animals and ramps included in Downforce Wild Ride Expansion

Aloha Sands

One side of the board is called Aloha Sands. Aloha Sands features ramps that cars can jump to zoom ahead of the pack. The expansion comes with actual little ramps you set on the board to simulate the jumps. Using the ramp has a few rules, but they are not cumbersome. A ramp can only be used if:

The number played on the speed card must be equal to or higher than the number on the ramp. AND
The car must have at least one movement left. AND
The landing space for the ramp is empty.

When a car cannot use the ramp, you simply must go around.

Downforce Wild Ride Aloha Sands Board before complete setup — Aloha Sands Board – Before Complete Setup

Savanna Stretch

Savanna Stretch is a completely different play experience than Aloha Sands. This time, wild animals are on the track and the cars must navigate around them. The wild animals are represented by cardboard tokens. Each token has a distinct shape. The rules for Savanna Stretch are also quite simple to learn.

Start with the animals in their spots closest to the starting line.
Animals block the space when they are present.
After the turn when the first car passes the line in front of the animal, move the animal to the next designated space on the track.
Empty animal spaces may be entered by cars like normal spaces.

Downforce Wild Ride Savanna Sands Board — Savanna Sands Board – Before Setup

The Dad Review

I really enjoy the base game and rank it pretty high among our racing style games.

Aloha Sands

On the Aloha Sands side of the Wild Ride board, we are going off some ramps. While it doesn’t feel as good as my 10-year-old self launching off some sweet unsafe homemade dirt jumps as a kid, it is still fun and much safer.

You should always be able to finish this course if you hit the jumps. I had the power card Cunning, which let me move my own car. I believe Cunning is the best power to have on this course, because there is a slight ‘take that’ mechanism at play here. If someone plays a card with your color car, they can bypass the jump and make you go the long way. However, if you have Cunning, you can take the path of your choice. Not being able to move your own cars can cause some frustrating moments. I know it did for Maci, but she didn’t pull the anger card I seem to use a lot. She kept her cool and I was proud of her for that.

Downforce Power Cards — Downforce power cards – Jake played with Cunning, which he thought was awesome (the rest of us, not so much!)

Savanna Stretch

On Savanna Stretch, we bring in some animals. Kinda like the cows in Mario Kart. While I would have liked a standee version for the animals I understand you gotta keep prices low, which I appreciate. It’s difficult to warrant buying a $50 expansion sometimes, I’d much rather pay $15-$20 for a bunch of fun like this, so I will deal with no standees. Plus Maci can now design 3D models of the animals for school and us, win, win. This is another solid course. The animals move when triggered, so it can create blocking issues. On the other hand, when the animals move out of the way, the space they leave is a great way to zoom ahead.

I prefer Aloha Sands to Savanna Stretch, but I will say this is a great expansion and I would play anytime someone wanted to with no objection. If you like the base game this is a solid investment and affordable.

For a family ranking, I give it a 9/10.

The Mom Review

I really enjoy the Wild Ride expansion for Downforce. It brought some fun new elements to the gameplay without the headache of way too many new rules to remember. Of the two sides, I highly prefer Aloha Sands (with the jumps). It made the game move along quickly. Additionally, every car crossed the finish line. Maci usually buys too many cars at auction and will end up with one or two stranded at the end of the race, but with the jumps in Aloha Sands, all of her cars made it.

Downforce Wild Ride Rules Sheet — Wild Ride Rules Sheet

On the flip side, Savanna Stretch side also has simple rules, but instead of speeding up the game, this side felt like it slowed the game down. I actually wish we had played the sides in reverse order. Savanna Stretch may not have been any slower than the base game, but after playing with the jumps on Aloha Sands, it felt extra long.

Downforce Aloha Sands in play – Meeple spectators not included

One thing to be aware of with Savanna Stretch is that the spaces for the animals are oddly shaped. We had a couple of moments of confusion in placing our cars in them because we weren’t used to the shape of the spaces. This wasn’t a big deal, but it is something to keep an eye on.

Overall, I give the Wild Ride Expansion a 9/10. It isn’t necessary, but I really enjoyed it, and it’s a great way to keep playing Downforce with a little variety.

The Kid Review

I like the Down Force Wild Ride Expansion. Both sides are great. I love the jumps on the first side – Aloha Sands. Double jumping or just jumping is really cool because it gets me really far. I like the other side (Savanna Stretch) because I like that when the animals get out of the way, it’s one space. It’s also challenging that you have to avoid the animals. I like the first side (Aloha Sands) better though.

Downforce Wild Ride Car taking a jump — Having fun with the car jumps in Downforce Wild Ride

In conclusion I will give this expansion 10/10.

Overall Impressions

As a family, we are fans of the Wild Ride Expansion for Downforce.

Overall Rating: 9/10
Setup: Easy
Rules: Very Easy
Does REQUIRE original Downforce game to play

Do you have the game Downforce? Will you be getting Wild Ride? Do you already have it? Leave us a comment, we’d love to hear your feedback!

April 4, 2020April 4, 2020

Downforce – Board Game Review

Downforce is a racing game for 2-6 players. The box recommends players 14+, but Maci has been playing this since she was 6 with no problems. Any person who can pull a card out of their hand and count as high as 6 has the skills needed to participate (although they might not win). There could be some more advanced strategies for older players, but don’t be intimidated by the recommended age! It generally takes 30-45 minutes to play a game.

Downforce game box and race cars — Downforce box and racers

Gameplay Overview

Downforce has three parts: an auction, racing, and betting. During the auction, players bid on the cars using the cards which have been dealt to them. Racing takes place in turn order. Each player chooses a card to play and moves the cars a certain number of spaces as listed on the card they chose. Betting takes place three times during the game. At the end of a turn where a car is the first to pass a yellow betting line, all players place a bet on the car they think will finish first. This bet can be the same or different for each yellow line on the track.

Once a player has all of the cars they won in auction cross the finish line, they stop playing cards to make the cars move. When the last player runs out of cars or all cars have crossed the finish line, game play is over and the scores are tallied. Players add together how much money they earned for each of their cars based on how the cars finished. They then add up any money won through betting. Finally, they subtract the amount they paid for the car(s) won in auction. The player with the highest final total is the winner.

Downforce racing game score pad — Downforce Score Pad

The Dad Review

You know a game is good when you start running out of score sheets. So, you laminate them before you run out. It’s a good tip as well to laminate your score sheets, especially when you play a game a lot, but this review is not about the laminator, it’s about racing and gambling with your family.

Laminated Downforce score sheets — Laminated score sheets

Yep, you have to spend money to make money, but not too much. That leads to a cool part of this game. You spend money to bid for vehicles that you’ll race, but if you spend too much, you most likely won’t win at the end. At the end of the day, that money you invested in cars will be negative points, so if you don’t place well, you will not be making up that difference and will lose.

The other cool part is betting on the winner, which happens three times during the game. This is a way to make money, but not necessarily from your own cars. You can bet on other players’ cars too. This can bring up emotional peaks and valleys.

Highs and Lows

It’s cool to see Maci in first place and smiling when I start moving her car to help her win, even though it helps me as well because I have bet on her car. It keeps her interested in the game and winning feels good, hence the smiling. On the flip side, I can also see the sadness, anger, and depression, the trifecta of bummer emotions on her face when I don’t move her car, and blow past her in mine. Though I feel bad, I also have this awesome feeling inside that I am going to win, and it doesn’t go away even when she starts to cry and uses her cards as tissues. Ultimately, it’s a race and those of you who are competitive know I made the right call to pass her and I should probably buy some extra tissues. I don’t want the cards to get boogery.

So, if your family hates take that moments, that could be a small issue in this game because you will be moving other people’s cars and you could stick them in a poor spot or even get them stuck behind other cars, wasting that car’s movement points.

In the end, the moments of negative feelings are few and far between and this game is straight up fun. Every family we’ve played with has enjoyed it. So if you’re into racing games, like Camel Up, Flamme Rouge, The Tortoise and the Hare, or Formula D, I recommend this game.

As a family game, I give Downforce a 9/10.

The Mom Review

Downforce is a regular hit in our house. It plays quickly, so even if someone is feeling a little antsy, they are usually willing to play. We will also often play several games in a row. Maci likes being in control of a bunch of cars. So, Jake and I often only end up with one or two each. She tends to overbid, and doesn’t win because her auction total was so high. However, since she enjoys having so many cars, it doesn’t seem to bother her too much.

Kids really like that they get to move everyone’s cars on their turn. A single card can have anywhere from one car to all six listed on it. So when you play a card, you aren’t just moving your own cars on your turn, and you can block cars in. This is usually really fun for the person who is moving the cars and less fun for those who realize they just missed out on a lot of movement they could have had.

Some of the types of cards in Downforce — Some of the racing cards in Downforce.

I also like that there isn’t a lot of down time as people think seriously about their moves. It’s pretty easy for players to have an idea in mind or just choose a card that moves their own car or the car they have bet on quickly around the track. The lack of wait time really keeps the game moving and is great for those with a short attention span!

Learning the Rules

The rules are clear, fairly simple, and easy to teach. There are also some alternate ways to play listed at the back of the rulebook. If you are playing with an inexperienced or young gamer, the Beginner’s Game is a great place to start. If your gaming party has a lot of stamina, a World Tour game can be a lot of fun!

Like Jake mentioned, we were getting close to the end of the scoring pad, so we decided to laminate our score sheets. I use this laminator and these laminating pouches that I got on Amazon (affiliate links). You can write on the laminated sheets with either dry erase markers like Expo markers, or wet erase markers, like Vis-a-Vis. ( I prefer the wet erase because the laminating plastic cleans up better after using those).

Overall, I give Downforce a 10/10. I am always happy when someone suggests we play!

The Kid Review

I like Downforce. My first reason is I like racing games. I also like driving my car and it wins. Sometimes my car doesn’t cross the finish line. I’m fine with that though. Sometimes when I get cars I spend too much money on them at the auction, and that’s why I lose. But, it is fun even if I lose because I get to spend time with my family and it’s just a really great and fun game.

In conclusion, I will give this game 10/10.

Overall Impressions

Overall, our family really enjoys the game Downforce. It is a game that we have played with may of our friends, gamers, and non-gamers alike.

As a family, we rate this game 10/10.
Setup rating – easy
Understanding and teaching the rules – easy

If you already have Downforce, or try it out, you might enjoy these Downforce Expansions: Danger Circut and Wild Ride!

What is your favorite racing game?

April 4, 2020April 4, 2020

The Crew – Card Game Review

The Crew: The Quest for Planet Nine is a cooperative trick-taking game for 3-5 players (with a 2-player adaptation included in the rule book). The age on the box indicates 10+. Maci is 9, and we had to play through a few rounds for her to get the idea, especially since trick-taking card games are new to our family. The box gives a 20 minute play time. Our family has finished a mission in as little as five minutes, or taken as long as 15 for a single mission. The missions do become progressively more difficult as they progress. Your group can choose to play as few or as many missions as they wish in a single setting.

Basic Gameplay

The crew, or players, work their way through 50 different “missions” which they either win together or lose together.

All the playing cards are distributed amongst the players. Then, the crew reads the setting and rules for the given mission. Each mission has one or more goals/tasks set for it in order for the team to be successful. The tasks increase in complexity as the game progresses, slowly introducing players to the various rules and components the game has to offer.

There are four regular suits of cards: pink, blue, green, and yellow as well as rocket cards. We appreciate that the designers included a different symbol for each suit for those who may struggle with visual color discrimination.

The four suits of cards in The Crew: pink, blue, green, yellow. Plus the rocket card. — The four suits and rocket cards.

At the beginning of the mission, after all tasks have been distributed, the commander begins the first trick. Going clockwise, each player then must play a card of the same suit, if they can, and the largest number played within the suit wins the trick. If a player CANNOT play a card within the suit, they may play a card of a different suit. When the alternate card played is a color, they will not win the trick. If the card was a rocket card, the largest rocket played automatically wins the trick.

The goal in each mission is to follow the rules or complete the tasks given. This is well explained in the rule book, and although the rules do become more complicated, they are introduced slowly throughout the missions, which we appreciate.

The Dad Review

Day 1 Bad Decision

Frustrating madness, that’s how this game started out. I don’t think we’ve ever played a trick style game or a game like this, before. After a long day of quarantine and work, this is not the game we should have played. But, we continued on, and just like teaching Maci how to ride a bike, and throw and catch a ball, it was a struggle. However, after playing a few rounds, the frustration started to dwindle and we began to understand the game.

Although our understanding improved, it was still frustrating and that’s mostly because I had a plan on how to win my trick and Ang had a plan, but it was not the same plan. So, we won the trick but it didn’t feel like a win. I don’t know if this is just how trick-taking games work. I’m assuming no, because of all the positive hype this game is getting. I don’t think people would hype up a game if they had that same feeling.

Day 2 Much Better

Now that we all got some rest, we tried this game again and it’s addictive. I’m enjoying it. Some of the tricks are more fun than others, but I like that you have levels you can try to complete. Personally, I want to beat all 50 of them and feel I could do that multiple times. This brings a lot of replay ability to the table. We have at least 3 groups of friends that will enjoy playing this game as well, which will be great as soon as we’re off quarantine and are allowed to play with our friends in person again.

I think this game will hit the table quite a bit as a team-building filler. Or, we may play it all night to try to see how many levels we can complete. However, just don’t play if people are tired and cranky. Really, that should always be a rule when playing a game, especially a cooperative game.

In closing, this game is affordable and well worth adding to the collection. If you’re in Vegas I do recommend the Gaming Goat, if not hopefully your gaming store is adapting to the times and able to provide you with service, otherwise it’s a decent price on Amazon.

For a family game, I rank The Crew a 9/10.

The Mom Review

I really enjoy playing The Crew. The missions go quickly, so it is great for people with short attention spans. I also really like that the rules change from one mission to the next. Don’t get me wrong, they don’t change in a way that makes it over-complicated to learn or teach. The rules change just enough to keep things interesting. Also, they do not introduce too many new elements into any single mission, which I thoroughly appreciate!

I definitely think that when playing this game with young or inexperienced players for the first time, it would be helpful to play a couple of rounds without trying to take any kind of score. Toss out a task card or two to achieve, but just get a feel for the game and how it works without stressing about trying to beat the mission quickly. Then, once you get the hang of it, start keeping track and go from there.

During each mission, players can use communication to share a card with the other players. The token can be placed in a way that shows if the card is that player’s highest, lowest, or only card of the given suit. Rocket cards can never be “communicated”. I appreciate this ability to share a little piece of important information with the other members of the crew.

Communication tokens used in The Crew — Communication tokens help players share information.

The rulebook is easy to understand. I would also recommend that whoever the rule-master is in your house reads the main body text through once, then goes back and reads the sidebar reminders. Once you read those two things, it’s pretty easy to lead others through the game.

Setup is very easy. The dealer shuffles and distributes player cards. Then, you lay out the task cards and pass out tokens. Your Crew is then ready to play.

Overall, I give the Crew a 9/10.

The Kid Review

I love The Crew. One reason is I love cooperating with my family. Also, I love the tasks and sometimes trying to have the biggest number or the smallest number. I also love doing the tasks and trying to win the round with my family. It’s cool having a task in front of me to win. I have a tip for you: when you get to mission number 5, if you’re the captain you cannot choose to be sick because you will have the number 4 rocket ship. So you will never complete every trick if you’re sick and you’re the captain. That mission took a minute for us to figure out, but the game was not very hard to learn, and I like that too!

The four rocket and commander reminder token — The four rocket card and commander reminder token

In conclusion, I will rate this game 10/10.

Overall Impressions of The Crew

As a family, we really like playing The Crew: The Quest for Planet Nine, and I am sure it will continue to be a part of our regular rotation. We like to play a short game every night before bed, and I am sure that The Crew will be a regular contender for a bedtime game!

Overall Family Rating: 9.5/10
Setup: Easy
Learning the Rules: Easy

April 1, 2020April 1, 2020

Wingspan – Board Game Review

Wingspan is a bird-collection, engine-building building game for 1-5 players. It takes the three of us about an hour to play. The box states it is for players aged 10+, but Maci has been playing it since she was 8 with no problem. (She even holds the high point record in our house!)

In Wingspan, players are bird enthusiasts adding birds to their collection. On a player’s turn, they can take one of four actions.

Play a bird card from your hand
Gain food and activate forest powers
Lay eggs and activate grassland powers
Draw bird cards and activate wetland powers

Each bird can have a variety of powers associated with it. Pink powers activate once between turns. Brown powers activate with the habitat they are in. Powers that activate when a card is played do not have a color associated with them.

Throughout the game, you will add to your collection and score points for round goals between the rounds. At the end of the game, players score victory points on a point sheet for bird cards, bonus cards, round-end bonuses, eggs, cached food, and tucked cards.

The Dad Review

I have to give a shout out to Elizabeth Hargrave, designer of this game for educating me on a topic I would’ve never researched before. Because of this game, every time we go to a zoo with an atrium, I actually want to stay and look at all the birds. Which is enjoyable for me, but drives Maci crazy. She would rather zoom through to check out the gorilla exhibit, which is fair. At the age of 9, if my dad would have wanted to stop and look at birds, I would’ve tried to sneak off or hurry through as well. Hargrave does have a new game coming up called Mariposa about butterflies. If it’s like Wingspan, I guess I’ll be into butterflies as well. Never thought I’d say that… moving on.

This game has a lot going on for it and I do believe it earns its high ranking on BGG. The components are sweet, the cards have a nice finish to them, even the rulebook is quality and I usually don’t care about the paper quality of a rulebook. The bird feeder as a dice tower is genius.

Birdfeeder Dice Tower with dice for food resources — Bird feeder dice tower in Wingspan

Gameplay

Let’s talk about gameplay. It’s fun, and this is the one engine builder I really enjoy and will play anytime. The cards make sense depending on where you play them, if it’s a water bird you’re playing it in the water. The gameplay length is actually not too bad. We even have a rule that when you place a bird, you read the fact about that bird that’s printed on the bottom. For example, I found a bird that pukes on itself to avoid danger. I now know what I’ll do if someone tries to rob me. Yeah I’ve turned into a bird nerd and I’m not afraid to share it. Though I’m sure Ang and Maci might not want to know every bird fact I come across.

This game has grown on Maci and she will play it, just not more than twice in a row, which I get. The only negative I see is that the price can sometimes skyrocket because it’s hard to find copies online. My neighborhood gaming store has trouble getting it, which is a bummer since we like to support locally when possible. I actually got this copy at Bed Bath and Beyond with a coupon. So if you want to get it, you might just need to get creative. All in all, it’s a great game and I’d love to chat more but I think I just saw a sparrow fly by my window, so I’m going to grab my binoculars and check it out.

Overall, I rank Wingspan a 10/10

The Mom Review

Wingspan is a favorite of mine. The components of the game are on-point. I love the little eggs, the quality of the paper the cards are printed on, and the detail that went into the bird journals (player mats). The organizational components are also perfect. I adore the little plastic boxes that hold the food and eggs. Not only do they hold the pieces nicely for storage, they are perfect for keeping the play area neat and organized. The birdfeeder dice roller is such a cute, whimsical touch!

Every part of this game was so clearly thought out and developed to keep the theme intact. For example, the power of each bird coincides with at least one feature of the bird in nature. Predators hunt other birds and the cards are tucked and kept for victory points at the end of the game. The food required to play a bird is realistic to what that bird will actually eat. Each bird card also shows a nest type and maximum number of eggs that nest can hold.

One component I really appreciate both as a mom and a teacher is the geograpic and factual information about each bird at the bottom of the card.

All of these extra touches really make this game something special!

Aside from all the amazing components, Wingspan is such an enjoyable game to play. It feels very low-key and chill, and I like that I can just do my thing without being attacked by Jake. Sure, there are a few cards which can let him benefit from my actions, but there is nothing in this game that lets him come in and just ruin what I have built. Although I don’t often win this game, I do feel successful because I have accomplished so much while playing.

Overall, I give Wingspan a 10/10. I am always willing to play and often, I am the one suggesting it.

The Kid Review

I like Wingspan. It is a fun game. I like the birds because they look good and they let you do certain things. For example, there are some cards that let you do things at the end of the round. Other birds let you do things when you go and get food. Some powers on a bird let you do the action right away. I also like getting food to build the birds and getting eggs to lay on the birds. I also like the end of round goals. It is fun working towards those goals.

There is one thing that I don’t like. When I have everything filled up in one row, I sometimes forget and I get mad because it’s a really good card and I have all of the eggs and food for it and I can’t place it.

Wingspan Final Round. You can see how her top row is full, so she wasn’t able to build the bird card she wanted towards the end of the game

In conclusion, I will give Wingspan 9/10. I like it, but I don’t want to play it over and over again.

Overall Impressions

Overall, this game is a hit at our house. Our average rating amongst us is a 10/10!