About a year ago, we talked about games to play outside (episode 54) and camping-themed games (episode 58). We thought we’d revisit this topic, including a little bit of input from the kids…

But first, let’s talk about…

What We’ve Been Playing

The Grimm Forest

kid favorite Batman: The Animated Series Dice Game. Apparently, this game is the reason we don’t have an action shot of Nick’s “Nonnie” playing Roll For It!

Santa’s Little Helpers and the Ice Cube Jam (see our review)

Rhino Hero

Monster Match (see our review)

Go Nuts for Donuts (a huge hit for our whole family, and with Andy Geremia, a friend of the show)

EXIT: The Forbidden Castle – the hardest one we’ve played yet.

Memorial Day weekend brought even more gaming:

Monsters in the Elevator (see our review) – it was a lot harder as a two-player game.

Flow of History – like a lighter version of Through the Ages. Fun, but slightly disappointing since there was quite a bit of errata. We look forward to playing it again.

Pigment from Copper Frog Games – a tight worker-placement game for 1-3 players.

The Tea Dragon Society Card Game – super cute deck-builder coming soon from Renegade Studios

In Vino Morte (our review)

Kintsugi

Good games to play outside

We asked our kids what games they would bring to a picnic, and they came up with some interesting recommendations. (Take the Cake – out of print, Go Nuts for Donuts, CAMP, My First Stone Age, Toasted or Roasted, and Box of Rocks)

What makes a good game for outdoor play?

* quick to play or, if not so quick, easy to drop in or drop out.

* heavy duty pieces (no cards, not much cardboard). Little to blow away or get jostled. Nothing too fragile.

* light difficulty. Something most ages can play, won’t be so heavy you can’t talk to each other.

Of course, it’s easy to play a traditional card game (one draw pile, one discard pile) outdoors if you have a Card Caddy. Card Caddy is now available in single & double capacity, plus accessory storage box with cribbage-style scorepad – triple decker going on Kickstarter soon. Hear our interview with creator Chris Nichols, back in episode 55.

A few games that fit these requirements:

Seikatsu (our review)

Battle Sheep (our review)

OK Play (our review)

POW! (review coming soon)

Toasted or Roasted (our review) Should we test out the waterproof bag FOR SCIENC...