All the Games on Our Shelves

  We cracked open a new game tonight - wasn't sure I was going to be able to get David to play with me, since he doesn't really like the Fluxx games, but he is the math consultant at his school, so I figured maybe I would sweet-talk him into this version.  We played two games of Math Fluxx tonight.  I won the first one almost immediately, and then he won the second one just before it was time to turn on Jeopardy!, so it all worked out well.  Both games went pretty fast, though we didn't use either of the Meta Rules.  I don't know if that would have made a difference, but we haven't seen those in any other Fluxx games we'd played previously.  We were short on time, so we figured we'd just play by rules we were familiar with.  My pictures aren't very good since we were playing at night, and the cards are kinda shiny, so there's a lot of glare.  (After not having posted for FIVE MONTHS, this post makes three days in a row, so life is definitely looki...

  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...

 Ahoy, mateys!  Did ye know that today be "Talk Like a Pirate Day?"  So what better game to play than Pirate Fluxx?  Not only be it "Talk Like a Pirate Day," but, shiver me timbers, it also be the 98th birthday of Petey the Pirate, mascot of Modesto Junior College (where I teach when I'm not out doing piratey things).  So before posting game pictures, I gi' ye some photos of Petey and me:    And now, on to the game.  It begins with the basic rules, which are "Draw 1, Play 1."  Three cards are dealt to each player.  But the game is called Fluxx for a reason!  One type of card is the "New Rule" card, which does exactly that - puts a new rule down for everyone to follow.  I felt like tonight was the weirdest game of Fluxx I had ever played, since for a very long time there was only one "New Rule" card out there.  Usually there's such a mass of cards in the middle of the table that I can't keep track of what I...

 We were so excited to have a long weekend, which gave us time to game with our dear friends the Kirks.  I knew it had been far too long, but as I just now checked I see that it's been EIGHT MONTHS, which is just a ridiculously long time to go without playing games together!  I really love the fact that they involve their kids in serious gaming!  David said to me on the drive home, "I guess the jumped right over Chutes and Ladders , didn't they?"  YEP!  What you see above is a game called My First Carcassonne , and I'm sure I had as much fun playing it as the kids did.  Below is the stack of kid games that were brought out.  Carcassonne is the one in the bag.  I think Owen was pretty ready for us to get on to playing Carcassonne.  He looks quite eager as we are yet finishing up My First Stone Age with older brother Levi.  Below are a couple of pics of My First Stone Age , which also plays quite well.  Finally we...