Gaming with American History in Mind

This episode is sponsored by Breaking Games, whose new game Order of Invention got us thinking about American history!

What We’ve Been Playing

We’ve been playing a lot, and looking forward to playing even more games on our no-children vacation!

* Tokyo Jutaku – build within the borders specified by your card. Use exactly the number of wooden pieces specified to achieve the number of floors specified. The wooden pieces are oddly shaped and don’t fit together nicely, making for a very challenging game. Good for a group, not great for kids because frustration seems to be a major element to the game. * Some favorite children’s games:* Silly Street (our review)* Gnomes at Night (our review)* Chicken Cha Cha Cha* Tiny Ninjas (review coming soon)* Planetoid (a prototype from Portal Dragon) – planetoid exploration. Drill into the surface to gain resources; but drilling reveals resources around the drill site. Advanced mode gives extra goals and upgrades for the drilling skills. We can’t wait to play this one more!* Scarabya (our review) – our favorite part is the simultaneous play.* Dice Throne (from Roxley Games) – feels a bit like Magic: The Gathering with less up-front investment. Each character has some unique player powers. Most actions are based around achieving a specific dice roll. We do like the balance offered by enforcing a “stack limit” on the special powers.* Moveable Type (trying the solo mode) – neat word-building game themed with a famous authors.* Drop It – because we love it. (our review)* Fluff from Bananagrams – It’s just a really nice implementation of Liar’s Dice or “Bluff”.* The Grimm Forest – by request of the 4-year-old. One of the best “toy” games we have, so it’s no surprise he wants to play with it.* Most Wanted from North Star Games – It was a really good time with 7 players! Gain notoriety by committing a robbery, but other players can join in. The player with the best hand (pair, 2 pair, 3 of a kind, etc.) wins the robbery, but any others have to pay bail. You can also “duel” to take down a higher player or do “honest labor” to gain money to be able to pay bail later.* Magic Maze – also fun with 7 players. Silently chaotic.* Get the MacGuffin – a short game from Looney Labs. The more we play it the more we like it. “Feels like Fluxx” but guaranteed to be 10 minutes or less. (review coming soon)

Gaming with American History in Mind

“Those who don’t learn history are doomed to repeat it.” Games are one of the best ways to get facts to stick. We appreciate both games that teach history, and games with a historical setting or theme that will get you and your kids talking. A few games from our personal collection that we recommend:

Colt Express (or Boomtown Bandits). These aren’t going to teach you about history, but are a great way to get your kids interested in WHY this setting exists. Why were trains so important in the 1800s? Why did it make sense to rob them?

Worlds Fair 1893 – this one is chock full of facts. You don’t need the facts to play the game, but there’s so much data there you’re bound to remember some of it.

Tesla vs. Edison – all about the war of currents! Both the setting and the gameplay will encourage learning about this important p...