The Problem with Kids

Gaming with kids can be difficult, for reference mine are 8 and 11. Even with just a few years of difference there is a massive difference in psychological development, attention span and personal preference. My youngest absolutely loves Rival Restaurants and Santorini, where my oldest would definitely prefer something that is more interactive and probably quicker so that she can get back to what she wants to be doing. 

So gaming as a family can be a little difficult at times and I often try to steadily balance between likes and dislikes which usually ends up games like Kingdomino, Codenames or King Of Tokyo. But by some absolute miracle, Isle of Cats has hit that perfect middle ground for us.

The Game

Disclaimer – Isle of Cats has a more in-depth and strategic mode, I am currently writing on the Family Rules. The copy of the The Isle of Cats is the reviewer’s own.

This is a tile laying game, and is pretty simple at it’s core. What I love is that there is a 2 page sheet in the box for the Family mode – no reading the full instructions and then determining what needs to be added or subtracted from the game. I can’t stress how good this is, especially when kids see a box they are interested in there is often a brief moment before their willingness to play slips away.

Play is simple and revolves around players taking turns to choose cats that they will rescue and place on their ships. There are some simple placement rules and several ‘rooms’ or sections to fill. Each player also receives 2 individual player goal cards, which they work towards throughout the game.

One of the things that seems to get to kids is when there is a runaway leader, or in Kingdomino when you take a tile that can’t be placed. Thankfully, that doesn’t seem to be the case here with The Isle of Cats, there is enough space on the board for players to be able to place cats through most of the game. This was especially good for the younger one as she was able to focus on getting her same-coloured families together, or focussing on maximising her goal cards.

The Isle of Cats isn’t a simple game with no strategy, but with the Family rules it is a simple game. Simple in that the non-essential, extra or confusing rules are removed and play is therefore quick and fun, without the need for rules referencing.

There is one change that I made – the rule of non-completion of rooms taking 5 points off for each room. For the age that I am playing at, as well as for new players to tactile/visual problem solving it seemed a little too arbitrary. Each player was losing 20+ points each game and I figured if I want them to remain involved then I will go easy on them for the first few games.

Overall

Even without playing the full version yet, I can highly recommend The Isle of Cats for family play. It is one of those very rare games that are just as appealing to adults as it is to the kids. As mentioned above, it also fits such a great niche for family play and seems to make everyone happy. Be sure to pick this one up if your kids love to play and want to graduate from games like Kingdomino.

The post The Isle of Cats – Family review appeared first on Next Player.

Context of the review – I am reviewing Curators during the current Kickstarter. I have played the game twice at the 2 player count, plus another time at the 3 player count. The copy of Curators is a prototype copy which was provided to reviewers by the designer. 

I love museums and have since I was a small child. The idea of perusing objects that were sometimes thousands of years old always held an appeal to me, especially dinosaurs. This actually brings up a memory where I was with family, around 4 years old at the time, and using the fire escape/internal stairs to get from one level to another in the Brisbane (or was it Sydney?) museum. As we were descending there was a loud moan, like that of a cartoon Mummy, that rang out through the stairwell. I believe that this is the first time that a child has ever reached Mach-4 while running where I burst out on the street and had the outer door close on me, locking me away from my mother and siblings…

Anyway, I’ve been told that this isn’t the place to process my trauma, so on we forge…

What is it?

Sometimes I find it easier to compare a game to what it is like, rather than to try to define it by itself. So, what is Curators? If I were to give it a comparison, I would say that it is a little like A Feast for Odin or a family weight tile laying Uwe Rosenburg, but also with some other great little touches that really make it unique.

The goal of the game is to have the best museum which is predicated on a few things – whether you have completed wings, how many visitors you get, your cash and what achievement cards you have fulfilled. 

Game Play

If you have been living under a rock, there is currently a worldwide Pandemic (actually I should be in Paris at the moment in the Musee D’Orsay) so this has meant a lot of time at home with the kids and homeschooling. Curators has made it out of the box now several times with the kids and it really seems to suit a family play style. By that I mean that there is often just enough but not too much going on in a turn that keeps the kids occupied. Why is that important? Because as a family gamer I know that there is a very fine line between what will keep young players attention and what will have them wandering off mid game. Curators definitely fits into a great space for our family, it is quick enough (30-45 minutes) without being overly complicated or easy and will definitely be hitting our table again. 

Each player will receive achievement cards at the start of the game (and throughout) which will outline some of the shapes that the players can make their museums to score additional points. Players will use their employees abilities to buy exhibits for their museums, to restore items to their proper places and also to ensure that they are buying and building the wings that they will need to fulfill their achievement cards. 

Each player has five employees of varying abilities and when used this employee must be flipped to their alternate side which is another of the employees. By careful strategy, if you have two of the same employee face up you can take a double turn of their action meaning more benefits for you. I really loved this mechanism as it allowed a further depth of strategy and the ability to plan ahead and ensured that players did not just spam a single action over and over. 

One of the roles, the Collection Manager, who buys items from the market seemed to be a little redundant, especially when the Archaeologist can so easily just select the items for free. However, in a more competitive game or with a different group, I may be proven wrong and the ability to buy specific items may actually be more benficial.

Final Verdict

Overall, I am a really big fan of Curators and really dig (get it, like an Archaelogist) the game. If you are looking for a game for the family then I would highly recommend Curators as a great game to pledge for. 

The Curators Kickstarter is still up for the next week, so make sure to check it out.

The post Curators review appeared first on Next Player.

Kingdomino won one of the most prestigious awards for board games, the Spiel des Jahres in 2017 – but is it that good? Yes, and no. 

The game revolves around the claiming and placing of tiles in a 5×5 block that scores the most points by having the most contiguous land types. 

This is a simple and short game, so I’m going to keep the review the same, so here are the positives: 

• It is played in 15-20 minutes, meaning that it is a fantastic filler game; 
• Game play is accessible to a massive range of ages, from probably about 5 and up. 
• Allows a great entrance point to gaming in general. 

As for the negatives if you have a group of avid gamers this one is probably going to be far too light but that’s OK. The Spiel is often awarded to a game that is not only well designed, but also accessible for a range of players, and Kingdomino definitely hits the spot for that. 

In my opinion Kingdomino is not a great game but it definitely hits all the marks that it needs to for the Spiel des Jahres. Once you know how to play, the game can easily be played in 10 minutes as a warm up for more in depth games which is where this game shines. 

What else you might like

• Quacks of Quedlingburg – good family fun with a simple rule set. Longer game which may lose the interest of younger players. 
• Deep Sea Adventure – Push you luck family game that is played in about 10-15 minutes. 
• Patchwork – family game which is a tile laying treasure (awesome app version as well if you want to check it out) 

The post Kingdomino review appeared first on Next Player.