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Casual gamers come from all ages and backgrounds, and certainly sports fans are no exception. For the hockey fan, NHL Ice Breaker is a highly competitive and fast-paced game that brings the excitement of hockey to the table. We recently had the opportunity to evaluate this officially licensed NHL game from CSE Games. I will tell you what we thought of it, but first a bit of info on the game itself.

Who doesn't love rolling a handful of dice? Dice games are plentiful nowadays, and everyone should have a few good casual dice games in their game collection. We have recently evaluated three new ones, Flash!, Nada!, and Botchee. Find out below how we liked each of them.

Casual Games have a big presence on Kickstarter right now, almost like never before. This is our biggest crowdfunding roundup yet, packed full of some fun and exciting casual games seeking your support. Take a look!

Is it possible to start a game publishing company for under $1,000? Michael Mindes, our friend and founder of Tasty Minstrel Games, certainly believes so – and he intends to prove it by publicly and transparently starting up a new company, Paradise Game Labs, for $999. He intends to publish games through this label that, for one reason or another, are not a good fit for TMG. Of course, it goes without saying that the actual cost of printing the games will need to be raised on Kickstarter after the company is formed.

This is our second Big Box O' Games giveaway! One lucky person will win over $100 worth of games, including a brand new copy of Bazaar, Fill the Barn, Castle Dash, and The Crow and the Pitcher. Enter below to win. Good luck!

Our crowdfunding roundup for July includes several great-looking titles (and a bit of shameless self-promotion). Oddly enough, there are no multi-million-dollar miniatures projects going on that we know of, meaning there's plenty of Kickstarter love for the more casual fare this month.

We're always on the lookout for great casual games, wherever we can find them. In May, the Parents' Choice Foundation announced their newest line-up of games receiving the award. Award levels include Gold, Silver, Recommended, Approved, and FunStuff. While the awards are primarily intended to help parents make informed decisions on the products they buy for their children, many of the games they select may be a good choice for casual gamers, as well. Here is a list of the games that caught our attention (click here for the complete list).

Hanabi is the latest winner of the prestigious Spiel des Jahres award, announced earlier this week. The Spiel des Jahres (Game of the Year in Germany) was selected by a panel of ten journalists who cover the game industry. Created in 1978, the award intends to highlight the best games for a widespread German audience, and winning the award can drive a game's sales to 300,000 to 500,000 copies or more over its lifetime (source: Wikipedia).

Please help us fund our second year of publication! If we gather extra support, we also hope to expand our reach to digital marketplaces and more retailers.

The Summer 2013 issue of Casual Game Insider is now in stock and available for sale!