Card Games

We've seen so many bland card games recently that it's easy to lose hope in anything truly fun and unique hitting the market. Fortunately, Actionworks by Lumenaris has swooped in like Luke Skywalker to renew our hope in small card games.

After the second American Civil War, it's every man for himself in the wastelands of the southwest. To get to your destination in one piece, you'll need to hire skilled outriders with souped-up combat vehicles who can out-maneuver or destroy your enemies.

Healthy eating is something that kids ought to learn at a young age, and the more tools parents have to teach it, the better. Qetchup, by startup publisher WebCracker Inc., is a small card game aimed at kids that encourages them to create sets of healthy foods while discarding the junk food. The first player to create a balanced meal from each food group (Veggie, Protein, Fruit, Juice, and Carbs) and discard any extra cards is the winner.

Golf is a sport that involves avoiding hazards and earning the lowest score possible. Grandpa Beck's Golf is a simple card game that is no different in this regard: avoid the high-valued cards (hazards and bogeys) and keep the lower-valued cards wherever possible. Earn the lowest score, and you win.

Loonacy is a new card game for 2 to 5 players by Looney Labs (the creators of Fluxx) that gives players a chance to experience lunacy in the form of a quick and competitive speed game. If you're able to survive the madness and get rid of your cards first, you will be declared the winner.

There was a time long ago when I could quickly and easily label every U.S. state, its capital city, and most countries on the globe. Then life happened — through college, a job, raising a family, and business pursuits, naming every item on a map hasn't been my top priority, so I have since forgotten much of the geography I learned in school. Fortunately, FoxMind has published Map It!, a series of games designed to refresh and challenge geographic memory.

As the Agency shuts down, dismissed and disbanded Agents all around the world are trying to figure out what’s next. In The Agents, by Saar Shai, players enlist agents to further their ambitions, build factions, complete missions, and ultimately earn the most points.

The Big Box O' Games giveaway is back! This time, we're featuring six different card games from various publishers that are sure to sharpen your shuffling skills.

You've almost certainly played Chess — but have you played it using cards? Probably not. King's Ransom, by General Nonsense Games, will feel quite familiar to anyone who has played Chess. The cards contain various Chess pieces which offer similar movement abilities, yet the game introduces some luck and different types of strategy. But is there enough new gameplay here to keep the attention of a casual gamer?

If there's anything that TV shows like BattleBots have taught us, it's that the best possible use of robots is to watch them fight each other to the death. Sure, robots can come in handy for many productive uses, as well, but they're not nearly as entertaining. Stak Bots, by UK publisher DogEared Games, is a small Kickstarter-funded card game that pits stacks of robots against each other to use their unique attack abilities to gain victory.