Thanksgiving weekend allowed a lot of time for gaming! We talk about what makes a good game to play with “non-gamers”, or at least to family members who think they only like traditional big-name games.

* Santa’s Little Helpers and the Ice Cube Jam

* Portal game

* Machi Koro

* the kids played a bunch of classic card games with their grandma: Old Maid, Go Fish, Crazy 8s.

* They also played around with a special controller with their aunt and learned how to play Tetris: it’s called Makey Makey

* Ash started playing with the Owlegories app. More to come on this soon!

* Power Grid

* Bonbons

* Dweebies

* Fallout 4, of course…

Things to look for in a gateway game for your family:

Shorter

Simple rules – But not necessarily simple strategy

Some familiarity (theme game) – Appeal to their interests!

Games that don’t require consistent commitment (party games)

Cooperative games

What we played this week:

* Dragonwood

* Agricola: All Creatures Big & Small

* Fallout 4

* Cards & Castles (iOS)

* Santa’s Little Helpers and the Ice Cube Jam! See the review on our website. Deal going on right now, the creator (Matt Worden) has a few copies that are packaged in a drawstring bag (no box) for $10, but supplies are limited!

We announced the winner of our Maze Racers giveaway. Who was it? Listen and find out!

On to the deals…

Kiwi Crate still has their awesome deal going on; 60% off your first month’s subscription, or 50% off everything in their shop. See our website for details.

Kindle deals:

Kindle for Kids Bundle (with choice of cover): $69.99 (normally $99.99) (through Nov 30)

Kindle Fire Kids: $84.99 (normally $99.99)

Target

Buy two get one free on board games RIGHT NOW over 900 games

–>> We bought Battleship, Mastermind, Pass the Pigs

Most video games are on sale for 10% off too. NOW

20% off Toys through Wednesday, November 25th with code “TOYS”.

Black Friday – Disney Infinity 3.0 starter pack 34.99

Ten bucks for some games on black friday

Shark Mania

Say Anything

Heads Up

Cheapest XBox One – $299 w/$60 gift card.

WalMart

Lots of board games under $5

Sorry

Connect 4

Minions Trouble

Clue

Under $10

Operation

Game of Life

Hungry Hungry Hippos

Monopoly Empire

Big Lots

All Games and Puzzles are buy 1 get one 50% off.

K-Mart

Misc games at 8 and 12 dollar threshold

Monopoly, Scrabble, etc.

Kohls

Misc games, 14.99

Apples to Apples, Rock-Em Sock-Em Robots

Card Games for 5 bucks

Family Feud

Uno

Toys R Us

Melissa and Doug – BOGO 50% off

Games for $5

Chutes and Ladders

Despicable Me Memory

Monopoly Jr.

Sofia the First

Cootie

Doc McStuffins branded Operation

Games for $7

Jenga

Clue

Trouble

Sorry

Connect4

Games for $10

Apples to Apples Jr

Rock em Sock em

Twister

Games for $12

Pie Face

Games for $15

Simon

AmiiBos are BOGO 40% off

Awesome looking outdoor playset with two slides, a two level clubhouse, and swings – $800 w/ delivery if in store

That’s our show! Enjoy the holiday weekend and don’t forget to play games with your kids!

Thanksgiving is next week, yikes! So let’s talk gifts. This week, we’re talking non-digital gifts – board games, card games, and non-electronic toys.

But first, what we played this week!

* Power Grid

* Santa’s Little Helpers and the Ice Cube Jam

* Fallout 4

* Fallout Shelter (iOS or Android)

We are big fans of Kiwi Crate! With 4 different subscriptions and dozens of individual boxes to choose from, they are a great choice for the kids in your life. They are having a huge sale for Black Friday (60% off first month subscription, or 50% off all individual boxes in their shop), so check them out!

Our top board games for gifting:

* Story Cubes

* Forbidden Island or Forbidden Desert

* Bug Trails

* Robot Turtles

* Castle Panic

* City Square Off (Cathedral is good too)

I love Baby Cheapskate’s list of All-Star Toys – toys that will get played with year after year. Check out their site for gift ideas: toys that get played with broken up by age group.

Next week, we’ll announce the winner of the Maze Racers contest!

On this week’s episode, we’re looking forward to the holidays and talking travel!

But first, what we did this week:

* More Batman: Arkham City

* Machi Koro with the family

* Chip Chain (iOS & Android)

* eagerly looking forward to Fallout 4

* You should join Best Buy “Gamers Club Unlocked” if you buy new video games.

And now, on to the games!

Games to play in transit:

* Brain Quest (or other trivia)

* Over/Under

* Scattergories

* Battleship

* Mastermind

* Slideways

* Rory’s Story Cubes

* Use a dice tower!

* Zombie Dice

* Qwixx

* Dodge Dice

* Rolling America coming soon from Gamewright

* travel Settlers of Catan? It’s ok.

* Trouble, etc.

* War

* Brave Rats

* Dungeons & Dragons – more roleplaying, less moving of figurines around a board

* portable video games (iOS, 3DS, PS Vita)

Games to pack to play at your destination:

* iota

* Card games! Especially if you don’t bring the box, they pack down small.

* Machi Koro

* Dice games!

* Tenzi

* Pass the Pigs

* Hanabi

Don’t forget to enter our contest on Facebook or our website to win a copy of Maze Racers!

On this week’s episode, we’re talking gamification, and we have a contest! Enter to win a copy of Maze Racers. What we played this week:

* Iota

* Guillotine

* Lords of Waterdeep (iOS)

* Earthbound (!!)

* MLB 15: The Show

* Rocket League

* Fallout Shelter

Gamification – making necessary tasks more enjoyable by making them more game-like.

Keys to gamification:

* Do it with tasks that your kids are already doing / need to do.

* Have a measurable goal.

* Reward incremental progress (can be as simple as checking off a chart or adding stars)

* Make it social – kids can indirectly compete against each other or even against mom & dad.

Gamify hiking & fitness! More about geocaching and letterboxing.

To enter the Maze Racers contest: Tell us a story about mazes. Did you get lost in a maze? Love paper mazes? See The Maze Runner in the theater this year? Leave a comment below or on Facebook. One story will be chosen at random to win!

We have returned! After missing a week, the Family Gamers are back, and talking about types of play.On this week’s podcast:

The AAP is re-considering their recommendation of no screen time for children under 2.

Games we played:

* World’s Fair 1893 – and Anitra wrote a review!

* Ragnaroll

* Takenoko

* Super Mario 3D World

* Fruit Ninja

* Lords of Waterdeep (iOS version)

* Alkemia

* We attended a taping of Ask Me Another!

Our Facebook question this week: What was your favorite game as a kid?

We also talked about four different types of play.

* Fantasy/dramatic play -examples: dress-up, RPG, playing “pretend”, Story Cubes

* Competitive play

* Physical play

* Constructive play – building sandcastles, blocks, LEGO, “sensory boxes”, pillow forts, DinoTrucks

If you enjoy the show, please tell your friends and leave us a review on iTunes!

Thanks for tuning in! We added a new segment this week, FOR SCIENCE!

Andrew and Anitra try some gross(great!) potato chips and live to tell the tale.

Also on this show:

Mushroom 11

Maze Racers (again)

Marvel PuzzleQuest

More Project Rocket Golfing!

Andrew obsesses over the Deepwater Organizer from Broken Token

An interview with Andy Geremia, the creator of Maze Racers!

Don’t forget to stay tuned to our Facebook page (facebook.com/familygamersaa) for news on when the MazeRacers contest will drop!

Get your FREE PDF copy of Andy’s book, ‘The $5000 Cereal Box Maze’ by going to his website, http://www.cerealboxmaze.com and purchasing the PDF with the promo code ‘family’

Thanks for tuning in! This week, we get creative. Story-based and creativity games!

What we played this week:

Maze Racers

Blink

What we talked about this week:

Balderdash

Paranoia

Dixit

Superfight

Rory’s Story Cubes

Don’t forget to leave us a review on iTunes and check us out on Facebook and Twitter!

Stay tuned next week when we announce our contest winner!

Thanks for tuning in! This week, we talk about the Boston Festival of Indie Games, with some special guests – our kids!

What we played this week:

Numberbots (“Not a game, Mommy”)

Project Rocket Golfing

Disney Fairies Fashion Boutique (discontinued iPad game)

Slideways

More information about the games we saw at Boston FIG:

* Project Rocket Golfing (iOS, by Morgan McGuire)

* Simple graphics with realistic gravity

* No win/lose, just earn awards for passing certain milestones (under par, hole-in-one, finished all holes (“planets”) on on course (“galaxy”)

* Only 99 cents!

* Howie & Yarla (“the game where the red went all over the school, and then he went with a snake on him”) – not yet available

* A Tofu Tail

* Here’s our silly little Asher!

*

* Pizza! Fast!

* free-to-play iOS game (ad supported)

* restaurant simulation game with

* Grow Fairy Kingdoms (by Yaya Play Games)

* semi-simultaneous play (everyone grows their plant at the same time, then takes turns attacking)

* non-lethal attacking (“pruning”)

* must “gift” to other players in each growing round, which both makes things less fully random but also encourages balance

* Maze Racers

* 2-4 players – you each build a maze for a marble to run through

* When everyone is done, trade mazes, then race!

* Slideways (by Tricia McLaughlin)

* 4×4 tic-tac-toe with a twist

* great travel game

* 2-3 players

* Oh My Gods!

* “guess the hidden card” game themed on the Greek gods

* Each god also has a power to reveal or swap out cards

* Why The Long Face?

* “Face charades”

* We never thought pictures of taxidermied animals could be so hilarious!

* Fishing and Farting (card game)

* Smorball (online typing game)

* MegaloMalady (iOS / Android)

* Sneaky Cards

* OutFoxed

* Flashlights & Fireflys (by Pair of Jacks Games / Jeff Johnston)

* Toasted or Roasted (by Pair of Jacks Games / Jeff Johnston)

* Robit Riddle – simple role-playing for kids, choose-your-own-adventure style!

* Loose Nozzles – Foster Family Games. iOS rocket flying game, all artwork / sounds done by 6-year-old Ian.

Remember to enter the giveaway for the complete Hero Kids set on our Facebook page!

You’ve done it! You’re here, getting ready to listen to The Family Gamers!

Episode 5 is coming to your ears momentarily, where Andrew and Anitra reveal the game they’ve finally beaten together after months of effort! Also, The Family Gamers are proud to have had the opportunity to interview Justin Halliday, the creator of Hero Kids, a tabletop role playing game designed for children ages 4-10. You can listen to that interview right here on The Family Gamers Podcast!

During the show we talk about our new contest: how you can win your very own print-and-play copy of all of the Hero Kids content that has been published so far!

To enter, like our Facebook page and comment on this post: http://www.facebook.com/familygamersaa/photos/1623441507915300

We will randomly choose someone who has commented on this Facebook post OR this podcast post by 10 PM EDT on Sunday, September 28!

Please remember to like our Facebook page at facebook.com/familygamersAA, find us on Twitter at Twitter.com/familygamersAA, and please don’t forget to subscribe to the show and leave us a review on iTunes!

Check out the games we talked about on this week’s show!

Hero Kids

Batman: Love Letter

Shadows Over Camelot

Duple

Anomia

Anomia Party Edition

Until next week… Play Games with your Kids!