Nintendo Monopoly Game Collector's Edition

This game great fun for the family. It teaches the importance of waiting for the right opportunity spend your cash instead of just blowing it away. Now, Monopoly has always been a fun game, even when I was growing up as a kid. But to play as my favorite Nintendo characters is great. I think this game is Educational about the real world! It teaches how to count out the money to pay for property or rent. Great buy ! I think every family should have at least one monopoly game in their homes.

Review By. Diana "Sammy"

Mexican Train Dominoes

I looked at all the Mexican Train games available before I purchased this product. I wanted the most "deluxe" looking set out there. Save yourself hours of research. "This is the one"... It is one of the more expensive versions but I am an adult and wanted something nice to look at with great features like metal trains, nice packaging container. (No others I reviewed came in wood box)and nice colored dot tiles. However, I did not give it a five rating but a four for durablity. IF you are just looking for a Mexican Train set for the kids get one in a tin can not a wood box. Once they get older up grade them with this one...A keeper for many years to come. Hope this helps you!!! Best from Arizona Sandra

Agricola

Product Features

• For 1 to 5 players
• Play time of 120 minutes
• Agricola is a fun family game
• Contents: 360 cards, over 300 wooden components, 50+ tiles, 9 boards, tokens, scoring pad

Carcassonne Big Box 3

Took a chance and purchased the Big Box rather than the stand-alone game as previous research on the game (both written and video reviews) convinced me it would be a game our family would enjoy, so why not save some money on the expansions? This has turned out to be a prescient decision as, after playing it about a dozen times, we've already added the Inns and Cathedrals expansion to mix things up a bit.

Our family enjoys the game for a number of reasons:

1. The basic game was easy to learn even for our seven year old and the Inns and Cathedrals expansion did not add any great complexity.
2. Quick to play (average time between 30 and 45 minutes) so it fits into our weekly boardgame rotation.
3. A good mix of planning and randomness that gives our seven year old a solid chance to win. By comparison, we also regularly play Ticket to Ride. Ticket has a bit more emphasis on planning than randomness and, as a result, our seven-year old is not nearly as successful (while still enjoying it).

Overall, an enjoyable addition to our family's board game collection.

Review By. LivinginAmerika

A Game of Thrones: The Board Game Second Edition

I absolutely love this board game. I am a huge fan of the series and was given this as a Christmas present. I played with my family, none of whom are familiar with the "Song of Ice and Fire" franchise. Still, everyone had a great time! The game is extremely complex but, that complexity makes forming and carrying out strategies even more enjoyable. We played 3 times in 3 days and each time, it went a good deal faster.

Review By. Rachel Marie

Small World

My husband and I bought this on a whim - we'd gone to our local game store to pick up Settler's Of Catan because we'd played that recently with friends and liked it. However, this caught our eye, and we bought it instead! I was drawn the cover art, I'll admit!
We brought it to a friend's place to play after dinner. It took a while to get a hang of the way the game is supposed to work and the dynamics of each round, but after a few turns, we were able to get it all figured out.
I really liked all aspects of this game - the 'Risk' aspect of trying to take over the map, the fantasy aspect of the characters, and the unique way the game's races are developed. Every game you play will be different due to how things are set up!
My only complaint is with the tray the Race Tokens are stored in... it was pretty hard for me (who has small fingers, even) to get the tokens in and out of the little squares they are supposed to go in. Especially when some were in use and the remaining ones would fall forward.
Overall, I'm really happy that we got this game, I'm looking forward to sharing it with other people!

Review By. Christina

Dominion

In the days of technology and scheduled events we struggle to find times to connect with our children. Dominion has helped us renew that connection. My wife and I plus both our sons (age 17 & 11) LOVE playing this game together. Whether you go in with a fine tuned strategy or just "make it up as you go along" the opportunity to enjoy the game and win is presented. We love that the entire game play lasts about 30-40 minutes, we don't always have an entire day to devote to a game, but we have a half hour after dinner to enjoy the company of our kids. they will be moving out soon enough and beginning their own families. Dominion is a game that everyone wants to set aside what they are doing and play together. When was the last time your kids begged to play a game with Mom and Dad?

Review By. Scott Federer

Ticket To Ride

Every year I buy my daughter at least three board games: one for Christmas, one for Three Kings Day and one for her birthday. It has become a tradition we both enjoy. I purchased TTR after reading excellent recommendations from other gamer parents on Boardgamegeek. I was not disappointed.

The game components are well made and beautiful, and the box is designed to store them well. This is very important, as the game has lots of pieces: cards, colorful plastic trains and wooden marker tokens.

Each turn lets you make decisions, play is never merely mechanical. Each time you play you will be able to choose one of three different actions: claim a train route, collect train cards or gather destination tickets. Each of those actions implies further decisions: Do you take a red train or a blue train? The short Duluth or Phoenix? Risk the big payoff tickets or keep only the safer, smaller points destinations?

The instructions are simple enough for non-gamers and children, but game play is engaging for all levels of play. The game accommodates both laid back and cutthroat gaming styles.

If your family games you should add this to your collection. If you are new to gaming and need a place to start, this is a fine first buy.

Review By. E. M. Rivera