Reviews

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.

What do medieval kingdoms do best? Why, acquire treasure, of course! But if you really want to make sure you have more treasure than the neighboring kingdoms, you might as well steal theirs.

What do you think is "probably a bad idea"? Giant cyborg boogers? An unholy cockroach temptress? Or maybe a super bad exploding unicorn? In Word Whimsy, by Cryptozoic Entertainment, you get the chance to decide which of these often random and nonsensical answers is best. In the right atmosphere and with the right people, this can lead to a ton of juvenile laughter that will make you feel like you're in middle school again.

In our house there really doesn’t need to be a reason for a new game, however it is almost a guarantee that there will be one for every holiday, and Easter was no exception.  The game: Deadwood, designed by Loic Lamy and published by Fantasy Flight Games. A fairly simple game in which, depending on where you place your cowboys, you gain wanted posters, add buildings and railroads, make a little money, and you may even find yourself in a duel.

A review of Fairy Land by ElfinWerks. Fairy Land is a strategic casual card game for 2-4 players and takes approximately 30-45 minutes to play.

Who knew buying and selling real estate could be so much fun? In For Sale by Gryphon Games, there are no banks, realtors, title companies, or legalese required, just a very simple and fun casual gaming experience. Players bid on different properties ranging from a cardboard box to a space station, then turn around and sell them for (hopefully) more money.

How about a double-feature? Learn about Tokaido, an elegant game by Fun Forge and Passport Game Studios, and enter to win a brand new copy to try out for yourself.