All the Games on Our Shelves

  The game HerStory was another gift from my brother - no special occasion, just thought I would like it. I love history, and I am a woman, so, you know  .  .  .  Anyway, we've played it a couple of times this weekend, and it is a very nice game. It is a resource management game and has elements of Splendor and a hint of Dominion (but just a hint) and also a tiny hint of Wingspan ,  but it's nowhere near as strategic as any of those. It's a very casual strategy game. I think the more we play it the more strategic we'll be able to be because we'll know better what all of the cards do - what to look for - what kinds of combos we can make. Some cards provide symbols to help you build other cards, some have game-end bonuses, others have bonuses during play if you're in last place, others have high value but no other bonus, etc.  Though the strategy is pretty light, there is some strategy to it. The first time we played, I was going for big point value c...

  We've had an extended time with extended family, involving four generations staying at our house, so obviously a lot of gaming has taken place.  We started with Mind the Gap , which some of us northern California folks REALLY like and thought would be a particularly appropriate game with which to start the family visit -- a generation-based trivia game.  Not everyone was as much of a fan, but that's OK, as we certainly have plenty of other games from which to choose!  Below is a picture of family members who were gathered together; the group ranges in age from 0 to 85. Next game is one that is a time-honored tradition in our family: Rook .  EVERYONE likes Rook ! Qwirkle is a favorite of Al and Jo, our Michigan guests, and do they ever know how to maximize their play!! Then a card game called Dutch that our middle son learned in Thailand, ironically enough. The next one, Skull King , is a favorite of David's.  This game is very similar to the games Up an...

 Once again it's time to share a game that can be played with one of the hundreds of standard 52-card decks from our shelves.  This time it's Hearts .  Again, a game we hadn't played in years but one I remember playing a lot in the past; I seem to recall it being on that we played often with David's siblings.  Anyway  .  .  .  we were visiting our oldest son and his family in Long Beach this weekend, so we were, of course, gaming.  Hearts was David's choice.  We had already played Sushi Go  and No Thanks , and Jacob was really jonesin' to play Deception , but David got his way on this one  .  .  .  In Hearts you deal out all the cards, and whatever cards are left become a kitty that is taken by the first player to take a trick containing points.  Each heart is worth 1 point, and the queen of spades is worth 13 points.  The goal is to get the fewest points.  There is the option to "shoot the ...

These days it is me, David, and Jacob in the area, but it is rare that I get a photo of all three of us, as one of us generally has to take the picture.  This weekend we had the chance to meet fellow gamer Adam, a  math professor at CSU Fullerton, who gamed with us and took a picture of our family.  He was a keynote speaker at the CMC^3 Math Conference in Monterey, which is where we were this weekend.  I made sure to connect with him, as I had read in his bio that he has created a freshman-level class on problem solving based entirely on board games.  How cool is that?!?!?!?  I connected with him after his keynote address, and we decided to be in contact after dinner to see if gaming would work out, and it did!  As had we, he too had brought a bag of board games along "just in case."  Below you see them all laid out on this table in the hotel lobby.  It was fun to see that so many of his games were ones we were familiar with (For Sale, Cod...