New games for 2009

The family got several board games for Chanukah this year:

Quoridor was on our wishlist for many years and BRO2/SIL picked it up this time around for the boy. This is a very straightforward abstract strategy game. Extremely simple to learn yet has tons of strategy. You move your piece or place a wall, and try to get your piece to the other side. I couldn't beat the boy for the first few times we played... he is awesome at it. He picked up on the strategy immediately. Now if I can only teach him to be more of a gracious winner...

Race for the Galaxy is an extremely different animal. It was a gift to the boy from BIL/SIL, who were advised by my SIL's SIL. This is a 2-4 player card strategy game with a space theme, and the rules are absolutely overwhelming. We're just simple wannabe gamers, not even close to full-blown game players... it took us a good long while to get used to the game play. I mean, the reference sheet alone was a mile long. It's a fast-paced game once you get it, and can even last under 30 minutes, but you have to get it. And, there is little interaction with other players. It's almost like everyone is playing themselves and the winner is the person with the most points. The boy and I ended up in a tie this first go-round. (I won the tiebreaker according to the rules, which made the boy a little mad.) We liked the game in general, but I don't think we will successfully teach it to the girl or the husband. They simply won't have the patience, and crave interaction too much. Will have to wait for the next time we see the BIL/SIL - they are up for all games!

We played Quelf with BIL/SIL and laughed a lot. The girl chose this game as one of her Chanukah gifts. The game is an entertaining party game good for the whole family (so far). Look out though, we haven't seen all the cards and the game may very well get a little more inappropriate. It is hugely reminiscent of drinking games. The "rules" make the whole game - requiring people to touch the floor or say everything twice or talk with a pirate accent. I personally had to pretend my seat was a toilet and I had to flush every time someone else got a penalty. Lovely. The kids had a ball.

Next game up: Pirate's Cove. The boy chose this game as one of his gifts. We'll see how it goes!