I will help you be the hero of the party, game night, or family gathering by making simple, informed decisions on which board games to invest your valuable time and money.
If a single emoji were to capture our first couple of laughably rough games, it would be the headslap. The concept wasn’t quite clicking with the kids until our third or fourth playthrough. You’d have thought our favorite football team had won the playoffs when we made it through maybe half the deck the first game that they started to really grasp the notion! =-)
Continue reading “The Game: Quick and Easy Review: Simple gameplay meets complex strategy”
Our adorable little five-year-old was just learning how to play. The concept of time is difficult for little ones, and it was delightful to see that play out in this game. We would laugh with her as the robot would wait a long time in between beeps (indicating a long travel), and she would guess the very first object. Or, the second beep would quickly follow the first, and she would guess something way down the line. It was SO cute and fun to see her little mind working and trying to understand the timing of the game. =-)
Continue reading “Robots Family Game Review: An excellent “filler” game and stocking stuffer!”
A quick glance at our score sheets would have shown that I was clearly in the lead when Christmas Day arrived, ending the game. Little did they know that just before entering December, I had landed on the Family Vacation space requiring me to take a gift with three value cards. Being the only gift I had at that point, all three very high valued cards were attached to the gift which was…coal! I couldn’t get rid of it before the game ended, and the huge debt ($900!) dropped me out of the lead. While it wasn’t my best moment, it was super fulfilling to watch my son cheer after the unexpected win.
Continue reading “Holiday Fever Game Review: Make actual, lasting Christmas memories with your family”
My three young kids and I had spent hours putting together three sets into an elaborate set-up across the kitchen floor. After several stray knees and elbows destroyed our progress, we built in some fail safe breakpoints. Finally, we neared the final segment when dad knocked over two entire sections. Ugh! After some massive rebuilding, we finally pulled it all off and cheered as the two cars jumped through the flaming hoop and knocked over the brick wall.
Continue reading “Domino Rally Review: An exciting, nostalgic family activity!”
We had been working our tails off planning, collaborating, and communicating the entire game. We were leveraging our special abilities well, had a good stock of equipment cards, and were moving along nicely. Luck seemed to be on our side as several near misses turned out okay. Suddenly, as we could practically taste sweet victory, a bad combination of the wind shifting the wrong direction and blowing several times knocked one of our players off with no rope left. We lost. Did we think about taking back those last couple of plays? Yes…yes we did. Did we do it? No. =-) Why is this the best moment? Because it was exciting and memorable.
Continue reading “Forbidden Sky Game Review: A thrilling end to the Forbidden series!”
Our adorable daughter who is way into drawing right now took this game so seriously! I could not keep myself from laughing when she’d put on the vision-distorting glasses, chew her tongue, and cock her head from side to side as she tried to draw the picture. When the time was up, she’d take the glasses off, look down at her drawing with curiosity tinged with disgust, then smile, proud of what she had accomplished. Proud parent moment right there. =-)
Continue reading “Googly Eyes Game Review: A creative and silly game perfect for families with young kids”
We were nearing the end of the game, and my young daughter had collected the four apples she needed for her last trophy. She was frantically lugging them back to the castle portal to return them for the victory while her big brother raced to collect enough pies for his last trophy. She finally made it first with a loud, “Woohoo!” double fist pump followed by a not-so-sportsmanlike, “Hahahaha!” pointing her finger right at her brother. Mom and dad couldn’t help but chuckle while trying to teach good sportsmanship. =-)
Continue reading “My Little Scythe Game Review: A captivating strategy game for the whole family”
Preface: you’ll want to read the original Ice Cool review as a precursor to this review.
As fun as the original Ice Cool game is, we’ll never go back to playing it without combining with Ice Cool 2. The following expansion features really ramp up the gameplay, excitement, and replay value and are too fun to pass up.
I was immediately impressed with how big of a playing space there is with the original Ice Cool. The space doubles in size with Ice Cool 2! Every board has new, incredibly detailed artwork which is so fun to comb over. The combo rulebook comes with awesome layout options like Kindergarten Court, After-school Special, and my favorite, Iceberg Alley which has a sliding box!
Combining the two games scales perfectly. It is delightful chaos having 8 penguins sliding across the map with two catchers chasing them down. You’ll need to be disciplined and keep track of whose turn it is with so many players (I recommend a simple age-based turn order as this doesn’t change based on where a player sits).
The ginormous layout of the combo game allows for an incredibly fun race mode. Removing catchers from the game, players team up to get two penguins through each of their respective doors to collect their fish. The first team to collect all fish and get both penguins to the finish line first wins! This mode is played like an entirely different game with the same core mechanics. It’s a faster-paced gameplay and is just as fun (if not more!) as the original mode!
In addition to the original benefit of collecting two #1 cards (getting to take an extra turn), Ice Cool 2 introduces task cards and the ability to move a fish to a different door (hugely valuable) if you get two #2 cards! The tasks include successfully jumping over a wall (I still don’t have this down!), flicking a penguin through two doors on one flick (difficult but doable), and ricocheting off a wall and through a door (also hard but doable).
Overall, as an expansion, I give Ice Cool 2 a solid 8 out of 10 (“Very good – enjoy playing and would suggest it” on BGG’s scale) for the following reasons:
If you like the original Ice Cool, you will love Ice Cool 2. If you’ve never played Ice Cool, I’d recommend getting both games in one fell swoop.
Disclaimer: I received this game for free in exchange for my review, but believe me, I post authentic reviews every time and will be brazenly blunt if needs be.
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