Goodreads Bookshelf
Obscure Board Games Quarterly
With the gift-giving season upon us (as measured by the start of Hanukkah, the Feast of St. Nicholas, and I think there's some other big gift-giving holiday coming up too...) a review of some board games seems in order. Board games make great gifts for children and adults--especially when it comes to games that both children and adults can play and enjoy. When I was growing up, some authority or other told my mother that playing games helped develop intelligence; I can't confirm or deny that claim, but certainly it offers a nice way for a group of people to interact with one another.
Starting up a "Games Club" at my school has given me additional motivation to check out many different games and has given me a different perspective to add to my own. Additionally, I've linked the games to the relevant entries on Board Game Geek, where you can get more detailed reviews and browse other games. In this batch will only be games that can be played in a relatively short period of time, say 15 minutes up to 30 or 40 for the longest.
I think I've reviewed it before, but Blokus is easily the favorite game of our Games Club: it's relatively fast-paced, relatively easy to pick up, but also rewards careful thought. Games can easily be played in about 15 minutes, which is key when your school's activity period only lasts 30. In essence, it's an area-control game in which you try to get rid of your pieces and prevent others from getting rid of theirs. Works best with 4 players, 2 is fine, but 3--while possible--never feels quite right. Two players is even better with a slightly modified board--just make it smaller to fit the "Travel Blokus" dimensions.
The second-most-popular game for an activity period is Rumis. Something about it suggests a three-dimensional version of Blokus, but it is of course a different game. In this game, players work to make structures reminiscent of Incan stone buildings, in one of several shapes. The strategy comes in the placement of the blocks as each player works to ensure--within the height restrictions, that her color is the one most visible at the end of the game. This game, too, can be played in 15-20 minutes and works well for 2-4 players.
A relative new-comer to the Games club, and still working to catch on, is Can't Stop. In this game, players must take calculated risks based on the laws of probability and their own sense of daring as players compete to move their markers up the board, but a bad roll of the dice can cause a player to lose all the progress she's made. This game plays in around 20 minutes and works quite well for 2-4 players.
Sleuth is another one that's new to me and to the games club. The way I like to think of it is that it's the deductive part of Clue without all the wandering around. Granted, I did like figuring out who did what to whom with what, but finding a missing gemstone has its excitement too. There are a number of cards representing different gemstones in different settings with a different color associated; one of those cards is removed from the deck and the rest are distributed to players. Then a different deck of cards enables players to ask questions of their fellow players about what cards they have, and from that the player asking the questions gets fairly specific information while everyone else gets rather general information. I played it with two students, and though our game was cut short by the arrival of the lunch period, one boy has declared himself the school's Sherlock Holmes after a lucky guess won him the game (he guessed since we were ending anyway--or perhaps he really is a genius!).