Tag Archives: #boardgames

The best card games to play with the family

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We’ve all been staying home safely for a while now and have been playing, reading, exercising, crafting and watching many things and we thought some of you may be running out of fresh ideas. So, we have scoured the internet and had a look at what’s popular and we have rounded up six fun and fabulous card games that you can play at home with the people you are staying safe with. 

Did you know you can source LEGO, card and board games with Booko? If not, have a look at our ‘how to’ guide here.

Let us know what you are playing in the comments below. 

Unstable Unicorns

This is a strategic card game that will destroy your friendships…but in a good way. It’s one of Kickstarter’s Top 50 Most Backed Projects of all time! You start with a Baby Unicorn in your stable (super cute). But don’t get too attached, because even Baby Unicorns aren’t safe in this game! There are over 20 Magical Unicorns to collect and each has a special power. Everyone is aiming to build a Unicorn Army as fast as you can, or be destroyed by one of your so-called friends! You can seek revenge or protect your stable using your magic. But someone could have a Neigh Card and send the game into madness. The first person to complete their Unicorn Army shall hereafter be known as The Righteous Ruler of All Things Magical..at least until the next game.

Ramen Fury

The use-your-noodle card game! Rush to prepare and slurp up delicious bowls of ramen filled with tasty ingredients. Collect combos of cards to score for different recipes while adding garnishes to boost your points. At the same time, watch out as other players throw spicy chilli peppers your way or swipe foods right from your bowls! It’s “take that” fun that will have you calling for takeout!

Taco Cat Goat Cheese Pizza

This is the social card game that is going to change your game days forever. This addictive game is as unique as its name. It’s a power packed quick and simple party game. Race against each other to SLAP a match between a card and spoken word. But – watch out! – your mind will play tricks on you.

As in Snap, each player places a card from their hand face up into a community pile while saying taco/cat/goat/cheese/pizza in player sequence. When the card matches the mantra everyone slaps their hand on the deck, with the last one to slap picking up the cards. Whoever rids themselves of cards first wins!

Gonuts for Donuts

Strategy…Choices…Tension…the three essential ingredients to any great game. All of them play a vital role in this easy-to-learn and instantly engaging card game from first-time inventor Zachary Eagle. This game has a unique twist on set collection card games. In addition to the whimsical variety of donuts inside, part of what makes this game stand apart from the crowd is the secret bidding. This adds a delicious layer of tension that will surely tempt you to come back for another round! A tray of tempting treats awaits your bid, will you go for a stellar cruller or grab a glorious glazed? A double chocolate is sure to score, but in the long run Boston cream may be worth more. Choose carefully because if two or more players go for the same donut, nobody gets it! End with the highest score and victory will taste sweet. 

I’m Not Saying You’re Stupid

How long can a dolphin hold its breath? At what temperature does popcorn pop? I’m Not Saying You’re Stupid is a fun and fresh game featuring over 400 questions that are random, hilarious, and almost impossible to answer just right. The answers are always numbers in this game, which sounds simple enough. But watch out! If your opponents think your answer sounds hopelessly wrong, they can stick you with an I’m Not Saying You’re Stupid…card. Correctly guess who will be furthest from the right answer and watch the points pile up!

The perfect game for anyone who loves new trivia, wild guesses, and uproarious laughter! A dynamic and entertaining game for an evening at home!

Trash Pandas – The Raucous Raccoon Card Game

In this super fun card game players are raucous raccoons, tipping over trash cans for food. Trash is treasure. In this raucous card game, paw through the deck to find sets of day-old pizza, half-eaten candy, and other luscious leftovers. Roll the dice to tip over the garbage or raid a rival’s rubbish, if there’s no Doggos standing guard. The more you roll, the more actions you can take, but get too greedy and your turn is scrapped. Stash the most trash and you’re pick of the litter.

Enjoy!

The best board games to play this Winter

Board Games, Christmas, Gaming, Gifts, Learning, , , ,

For some, the idea of playing a board game is met with thrill as the excitement of taking on an opponent is just too strong to pass up. For others, it dredges up dark memories of many a Christmas Day afternoon where monopoly got a little out of hand.

It seems the world of board games is springing back into life as there seem to be more and more games available to play and what’s more, they aren’t all competitive…in fact some of our favourites  promote collaboration amongst players.

Here are our top five picks.

 

Pandemic

Four diseases have broken out in the world and it is up to a team of specialists in various fields to find cures for these diseases before mankind is wiped out. Players must work together playing to their characters’ strengths and planning their strategy of eradication before the diseases overwhelm the world with ever-increasing outbreaks. For example the Operation Specialist can build research stations which are needed to find cures for the diseases. The Scientist needs only 4 cards of a particular disease to cure it instead of the normal 5. But the diseases are out-breaking fast and time is running out: the team must try to stem the tide of infection in diseased areas while also towards cures. A truly cooperative game where you all win or you all lose. As skilled members of a disease-fighting team you must keep four deadly diseases at bay while discovering their cures. You and your teammates will travel across the globe treating infections while finding resources for cures. The clock is ticking as outbreaks and epidemics fuel the spreading plagues and you must work as a team to succeed. Can you find all four cures in time? The fate of humanity is in your hands!

 

Power Grid

If you’re interested in board games that keep you thinking and reward strategic planning with a victory, then we highly recommend you consider Power Grid. The objective in Power Grid is to be the person who can supply power to the most cities in the network when the game ends. And the end of the game is triggered by the players. Keeping an eye on the other players, their progression, their city network, their power plants, and their resources is key to doing well in the game.

Players mark pre-existing routes between cities for connection, and then bid against each other to purchase the power plants that they use to power their cities. However, as plants are purchased, newer, more efficient plants become available, so by merely purchasing, you’re potentially allowing others access to superior equipment. Players must also acquire the raw materials (coal, oil, garbage, and uranium) needed to power their plants (except for the ‘renewable’ windfarm/ solar plants, which obviously require no fuel), making it a constant struggle to upgrade your plants for maximum efficiency while still retaining enough wealth to quickly expand your network to get the cheapest routes.

 

Harry Potter Hogwarts Battle

Harry Potter Hogwarts Battle is a cooperative deck building game for 2 to 4 players that, depending on which game you’re playing, could take 30 minutes, or well over 90 minutes.

Players are taken on a journey through the seven films adapted from the books. They span the years of Harry Potter learning at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, meanwhile encountering the likes of various villains and one particular villain who-should-not-be-named. Players achieve their goals through some pretty standard deck building mechanisms and combating villains with spells, items, and companions along the way. It is a wonderful introduction to cooperative games and deck building for new gamers.

 

Terraforming Mars

Think you have what it takes to make Mars habitable? Well well have we found the game for you!

In the 2400s, mankind begins to terraform the planet Mars. Giant corporations, sponsored by the World Government on Earth, initiate huge projects to raise the temperature, the oxygen level, and the ocean coverage until the environment is habitable. In Terraforming Mars, you play one of those corporations and work together in the terraforming process, but compete for getting victory points that are awarded not only for your contribution to the terraforming, but also for advancing human infrastructure throughout the solar system, and doing other commendable things.

 

Settlers of Catan

The Settlers of Catan is a highly rated board game that has won several awards and members of the Booko online community highly recommend. Between 3 and 4 people can play the base edition, but a 5 to 6 player expansion is also available if you want to play with more people. You can use multiple strategies to win, and there are lots of variations to the rules. Picture yourself in the era of discoveries and after a long voyage of great deprivation, your ships have finally reached the coast of an uncharted island. Its name shall be Catan! But you are not the only discoverer. Other fearless seafarers have also landed on the shores of Catan and the race to settle the island begins!

 

Enjoy!

The best Games, DVDs and eBooks to give this Christmas

Blog, Board Games, Christmas, Gifts, Movies, Top Tips, , , , ,

There’s only six more weeks until we frantically decorate trees with tinsel and baubles and wrestle with tape and ribbons as we wrap pressies for all of our loved ones. But not to worry, we have your back…and can even save you from the wrapping frenzy!

We have scoured the world in search of the best games, DVDs and ebooks to give to others this Christmas. Make yourself a cup of tea, sit back and smugly do all your Christmas shopping in one big swoop! You’re very welcome.

 

Board Games

 

Dan and Phil’s Truth Bombs

Ka-Boom! This board game just about broke the internet when word got out that Dan and Phil were releasing a board game! Gather your friends and get ready – it’s time to drop some truth bombs. Answer questions about each other and prepare for funny facts, awkward admissions and random revelations that’ll cause explosions of laughter. Grab a pencil, pick a question and bombs away!

The explosively honest party game that helps you find out a bit more about your friends Lay out some Question Cards, pass around the Target Sheets and let those truth bombs fly Once all the questions are answered, prepare to hear awkward admissions, random revelations and explosions of laughter Fresh from the minds of YouTube legends, Dan & Phil Age 14+, 4 – 8 players.

 

Game of Thrones Monopoly 

When you play the Game of Thrones Monopoly, you win or you die…Wait! It’s not as serious as death but you will have to pay up, as the number 1 property board game meets the hit TV series Game of Thrones! Game of Thrones fans, brace yourselves, Winter is coming and so is the Game of Thrones Monopoly Collector’s Edition! Mr. Monopoly definitely took a wrong turn at Old Kent Road and ended up in Westeros. Get your friends and family together and join him in the world of Game of Thrones to see who will rule the Seven Kingdoms and sit on the Iron Throne. Each property square and title deed card contains a beautiful artwork from Game of Thrones and the center of the board has a stunning map of Westeros itself. This amazing Collector’s Edition allows players to invest in some of the most popular locations from the show, such as King’s Landing, Winterfell and Braavos. Traditional Houses and Hotels are transformed into custom Villages and Keeps.

 

DVDs 

 

Transformers – The Last Knight

Every legend hides a secret.
Humans are at war with the Transformers, and Optimus Prime is gone. The key to saving the future lies buried in the secrets of the past and the hidden history of Transformers on Earth. Now, it’s up to the unlikely alliance of Cade Yeager (Mark Wahlberg), Bumblebee, an English lord (Anthony Hopkins) and an Oxford professor (Laura Haddock) to save the world.

 

 

The Crown – Season One

Okay, to be honest I completely binge watched this and I would love to watch it all over again. This drama follows the political rivalries and romance of Queen Elizabeth II’s reign and the events that shaped the second half of the 20th century. As a young Elizabeth becomes Queen, she must manage major political issues and personal matters, which often clash in ways she never imagined. Created by Oscar nominee Peter Morgan, this epic tale won Golden Globes for Best Drama Series and Best Actress. Starring: Claire Foy, John Lithgow, Matt Smith.

 

 

 

The Emoji Movie 

Take an adventure in the secret world inside your smartphone to Textopolis, a bustling city where all your favourite emojis live. In this world, each Emoji has only one facial expression – except for Gene (T.J. Miller), who is bursting with multiple expressions. Determined to become “normal”, Gene enlists the help of his handy best friend Hi-5 (James Corden) and the notorious code breaker Emoji Jailbreak (Anna Faris). Together, these unlikely heroes embark on an epic “app-venture” through the apps on the phone, each its own wild and fun world, to find the code that will fix Gene.

 

 

 

ebooks

 

 

The Rooster Bar by John Grisham

Law students Mark, Todd and Zola wanted to change the world – to make it a better place. But these days these three disillusioned friends spend a lot of time hanging out in The Rooster Bar, the place where Todd serves drinks. As third-year students, they realise they have been duped. They all borrowed heavily to attend a law school so mediocre that its graduates rarely pass the bar exam, let alone get good jobs. And when they learn that their school is one of a chain owned by a shady New York hedge-fund operator who also happens to own a bank specialising in student loans, the three realise they have been caught up in The Great Law School Scam.

So they begin plotting a way out. Maybe there’s a way to escape their crushing debt, expose the bank and the scam, and make a few bucks in the process. But to do so, they have to leave law school, pretend they are qualified and go into battle with a billionaire and the FBI . . .

 

The Barefoot Investor by Scott Pape

This has been sitting on Booko’s most click list for most of the year and it has been selling out in bookstores all over Australia this year – it was even the subject of major theft in some book stores – that’s how popular it was!

‘This is the only money guide you’ll ever need’  – that’s a bold claim, given there are already thousands of finance books on the shelves. So what makes this one different? Well, you won’t be overwhelmed with a bunch of ‘tips’ … or a strict budget (that you won’t follow). You’ll get a step-by-step formula: open this account, then do this; call this person, and say this; invest money here, and not there. All with a glass of wine in your hand. The prefect gift for any member of the family.

 

Enjoy!

Great family board games to try

Activities, Blog, Board Games, Children, Lifestyle,

When it comes to spending time together as a family, the habit is often to jump in the car and get ‘out and about.’  Children want unhurried time with their family where you can just take pleasure in each other’s company.  Quite often, the actual activity isn’t that important.  Bearing that in mind, board games have come back into vogue and also have a secondary benefit of teaching social skills such as how to win, lose, take turns and comprehend rules together.  Some board games are particularly useful in boosting number, shape and letter recognition, as well as hand and eye coordination in children.

We may have been brought up on old favourites such as Monopoly, Cluedo and Scrabble as children, but there are a fantastic range of new board games on the market that you can play together, all available on Booko.  Here are some of our recommendations:

https-covers-booko-info300ticketTicket To Ride – Europe

The aim of this game is for players to claim train routes between European cities in turn-of-the-Century Europe.  There are different coloured routes linking cities such as Paris, Moscow and London .  Players must collect train cards that match the colour of the route to win it.  A light-hearted family game, this is best played with 4-5 players.  This game is fun and easy to understand for younger players.

https-covers-booko-info300hillCarcassonne Over Hill and Dale Board Game

Part of the larger series of Carcassonne games, ‘Carcassonne Over Hill and Dale’ allows players to be farmers who care for animals on their large farms and cultivate the fruits and vegetables in their fields. Players must take turns selecting tiles and fit them with the current landscape.  Players can claim control of roads or fields and win points when these are completed.  This game is more of a relaxing, thinking game than high energy.

https-covers-booko-info300pandemicPandemic Legacy

Pandemic Legacy has been reviewed against hundreds of board games and crowned ‘The Best Board Game Ever Made.’  Such an impressive title, but the subject matter is slightly depressing: the game is based on a fight between four disease specialists who travel the world trying to find a cure to four different diseases that threaten to bring the world to the brink of disaster. Each month will bring new surprises and your actions in each game will have repercussions on the next. The game is played co-op style and is won by curing diseases.  The thinking man or woman’s board game.

 

https-covers-booko-info300timelineTImeline: Music & Cinema

A card game played using 110 cards, ‘Timeline: Music and Cinema’ is based on players placing their cards in the correct chronological order of an historical event.  The winner is the person who places all of their cards in the correct date order.  Great for lovers of pop and historical culture.  Ages 8+.

 

 

https-covers-booko-info300mysteriumMysterium

Mysterium is a cooperative game involving ghosts, a psychic and a murder.  All players bar one are psychics, spending time in a haunted house after a murder has taken place.  The ghost must guide the psychics to the correct murder weapon, crime scene and culprit as quickly as possible.  The final round involves psychics deciphering a single dream to tell them who committed the murder.  This game is loads of fun and an easy to play card game.

https-covers-booko-info300dixitDixit

Dixit Memories is the latest offering from the Internationally best-selling Dixit series. A card-based game for 3-6 players, there are 84 cards to the series.  Each of the cards contains surrealist images from artists Carine Hinder and Jerome Pelissier.  The cards contain images of exotic landscapes and beautiful creatures.  The active player must provide a clue to what their chosen card is.  The remaining players must then select one of their cards that best represents the clue from their pack.  The players must then vote on what they believe the active player’s card is.  We were enchanted by the beautiful artwork on the playing cards.

For more options on the board games available through Booko, visit our Pinterest page.