She does like herself some Willems. I’ll look into the games, thanks!
I’m a huuuuuuge fan of cribbage/cards/dominoes/dice/etc. Cheap, super-portable, much easier in my experience to get non-“gaming” people on board. And many (most/all) reinforce basic math and counting. And there are a ton of super-fun and timeless games to play with just those props. Just win/win/win/win/win across the board.
I should bust out the old Parcheesi set I rescued from my folks’ house. Played that all the time with my mom as a kid and loved it.
Also, they don’t have to read, which was a problem for games with my kids until they were 6-7. Not that they couldn’t read, but that it was slow enough that it made the game drag.
Ooh! You just made me think of two games we have taken camping and hiking. One I think is the LoTR: Confrontation game, which Tom calls Hobbit Stratego but isn’t that…the other is Lost Cities. I should totally try those out, and the latter is super portable.
The real jam will be when the 2yo is old enough to not throw a fit and/or Godzilla through a game when I try to play one with the elder child. Or even participate! I love my boy and there are fun aspects to toddlers for sure, but so many things are going to be so much easier just in the next year or two.
I did not know there was a thing called that. I’ve played Seven Wonders at the table with a ton of people. As per usual, the first time I played it I won. Which is ridiculous. But it happens. Haven’t won since. But I didn’t know “Duel” was a thing. I’ll have to look into that.
So is that Ticket to Ride: Europe? Because I have friends who advocate for that. I’d consider Ticket to Ride regular too, but there’s a lot of poo-poo-ing about that one because of portals or stations or something. @fire plays a cool speed version of the game with her kid. I love watching them do that.
I don’t quite understand what this means. Is a one-shot game like a legacy game? So you can literally only play it once? Sorry to be so dopey.
This is the rerelease with an India map. Compatible with Europe.
I do consider Europe to be superior to the USA map, better balanced, more interesting route choices, tunnels add a nice feature and stations keep you from getting totally hosed (at a price, but losing a few points for a station > losing 20 for not completing Copenhagen-> Cadiz)
Switzerland is a more compact map, which gives more competition among 2 players, the lack of route conflict is a weakness of lower player counts on the main maps.
Hmm, kind of but not really?
The Exit games can have component destruction, but all are technically replayable in the physically exist meaning. But they are a series of puzzles and riddles. Once you know the solution, there isn’t really any alternative reason or means of play.
But we really like them.
The unlock are literally a deck of cards, so once you play you can easily give to someone else.
I don’t know, never played Roll for the Galaxy. But Dice Throne, everyone has five custom dice with both numbers and symbols on them, and you have a character sheet with powers that require a particular set of symbols to activate. (The numbers aren’t used as much but factor into powers that require a straight, or sometimes you have something that does damage equal to the numbers on the dice, or a card or something.)
The default is three symbols, with 1-3 being one symbol, 4-5 being another, and 6 a third, but some of the more complicated characters have four and different spreads.
The Exit games are a ton of fun with kids about 8 and up. I’ve done it with my kids, their cousins and friends: about 6 kids total and it worked great. And I’ve done some with just me and my kids. They’re pretty clever. About $15 each, but you get 2-3 hours of entertainment out of it, which is cheaper than taking them to a movie. They’re great for birthday parties.
If you haven’t, get the Orient Express one. It’s my favorite yet.
And the last two releases from Unlock have been every bit as good. Wizard of Oz and Scherezade in particular. And they’re doing some fun and clever things with the app integration for machines, things that couldn’t be done with pure paper like Exit.
Unlock used to be the poor cousin to Exit, now they are each their own distinct flavor, fully matured and worthwhile.
Yeah, that’s a serious commitment. It’s huge. But I really enjoyed the extra stuff. It answered a few questions and in my mind more of that story can’t be bad.
I dove into it as well. A fantastic book, one that just literally drove me to continue reading during many sessions. So many characters so effortlessly woven into a driving story.
Wait, I lied. I did finish The Gunslinger and was kind of bored to tears by it. But I’ve bombed out of Eyes of the Dragon (my gf’s favorite King tale), The Stand, whatever book 2 of The Dark Tower septology was, and The Shining at various points over the years. Been ages since I made a serious effort, but something about his prose was offputting to me, and I don’t really love horror. But the gf was a big King nut in high school/college, so I wanted to try so she’d like me more :-D
I totally would man, but she’s currently hiding in her car in our apartment complex’s parking lot because some of the stoner bro’s who live downstairs from us are standing in the parking lot about 30 feet away and getting out of her car now “would be weird.” Not afraid of them, or what have you. Just thinks it’s weird to get out of her car if anyone is nearby at all. We’ve gotten stuck waiting outside restaurants for 5+ minutes because someone else pulled in next to us and was slow to get out of their car, and she had to finish makeup (which also can’t be done if anyone is within visual range).
I think I’ve mentioned before that living with an introvert with crippling anxiety is a hell of an experience for me :)
