This month brings us several fun games suitable for the entire family with little reliance on language skills, while microgames are still going strong.
Monster Chef (Believe in Games - LudiBooster) – A game for 2-4 players with a short 15-20 minute play time. Monster Chef allows players to cook up monstrous recipes, improve their meals or ruin another player’s, earn stars from customers and fulfill their monster chef's secret goal. The game is language independent, and the designers are offering an interactive sample turn on their website to give people a feel for the game.
Chopstick Dexterity Mega Challenge 3000 (Mayday Games) – A dexterity game for 2-3 players. Tokens are placed in a large bowl in the center of the table. A cardboard tile is flipped over and players use their chopsticks to try and grab the corresponding tokens and place them in their personal bowls. Blocking and grabbing from other players gives the game that extra bit of chaotic fun.
Good Cop Bad Cop (Overworld Games) – A game of bluffing and deduction in which each player begins the game with 3 integrity cards that determine whether or not they are a good cop or a bad cop. Throughout the game players are given the chance to check others' integrity cards and use the gun card to shoot players they think are on the other team. Using the gun, however, forces you to reveal one of your own integrity cards and if you get shot, you’re out of the game.
Dig Down Dwarf (Grey Gnome Games) – Winner of the Micro Game Challenge, this game has simple rules and quick game play. Take on the role of noble dwarfs, attempting to win the vacant thrown. Draw gems at random, roll dice to gain gems and spend gems to change your rolls. The player at the end with the most valuable gems is the new dwarf king. A free print-and-play version is available if you want to give Dig Down Dwarf a try.
Little Dungeon: Turtle Rock (Little Dungeon) – A dungeon crawling card game, specifically designed to be both accessible for young children and entertaining for adults. Collect loot, equip armor and fight monsters. With fun artwork, the game is intended for players five and up and plays in 15 to 30 minutes.
The Big Time (Game Salute) – Take the role of theater owners during the golden age of vaudeville. The game features real acts such as Houdini and the Marx Brothers. Public opinion on different acts is affected by every player's successes and failures, while everyone competes for the most successful theater in Chicago. Plus, the campaign has a very fun video.
Evolve: The Game of Unnatural Selection (Andrew Rader) – Build your own animal, evolve your creature and face challenges and biomes. Evolve allows you to build over 8,000 different animals. Will your creature have penguin flippers, a zebra head and chameleon tail? How about a crocodile tail, parrot wings and elephant head? The most dominant animal at the end of the game wins.
Highway Hustle (Blue Room Games) – Play a mayor, trying to bring Rock 'n' Roll or Disco from the big city to your small little town. Plan and play tiles and build roads, while other players attempt to sabotage you and bring the music to their town first. The game includes multiple maps and additional mechanisms to allow players to adjust complexity and gameplay. Play time is an estimated 20 minutes, and plays 2-4 players.
Uptown Espresso & Gameporium (Break From Reality Games) – While this campaign is partly to fund Uptown Espresso's Gameporium, a large part of the campaign goes toward the Uptown Espresso. A real-time card game in which players take the roles of baristas, making drinks, ringing up customers and managing ingredients.
Disclosure: unless otherwise noted, we have not seen or played any of the above games. Our assessment of each is based on the information given on the crowdfunding project page.
I decided to buy Monster Chef because it looks a funny and simple game and I like the cartoonish style. I will be picking it up in Essen this year!