The Family Gamers Podcast

0:00:00 Fact for 430

Chlorophyll A absorbs light strongly in the blue-violet region (around 430 nm) and the red region (around 680 nm).

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0:04:30 What We’ve Been Playing

Fight 5
Ham Helsing
Three Sisters
Carnuta
Sails Up!

August Monthly Report

Anitra: 31 plays of 23 unique games. H-index: 2 (Obelus, Hummingbirds, Got Five!)

Andrew: 28 plays of 18 uni...

Why would you ever want a disposable game? And what are some types of disposable games?

Lots of board games have a stripped down or re-themed version for kids. Are they worth it? Well… sometimes.

0:00:00 Fact for 428

4/28, April 28, is the birthday of  Carl Laemmle Jr. who was the head of production at Universal Studios from 1928 to 1936 and personally greenlit the original Classic Monster films (Dracula, Frankenstein, The Mummy), effectively creating the monster universe. (And there’s a rock with this number carved into it at “Darkmoor”, Universal Epic Universe.)

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If this perspective sounds helpful (and you’d like something less generic), you too can book a free 15 minute...

Trick taking is an especially hard genre of games to teach. But it doesn’t have to be!

0:00:00 Fact for 427

The world record for a Rube Goldberg machine with the most steps is 427 steps. The record was set in China in 2021, and here’s the video of it in action:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VpLDfkLBJ0Q

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We’ve got five literature classics to introduce to your family through board games.

0:00:00 Fact for 426

The number of people living past the age of 80 worldwide is projected to triple, hitting roughly 426 million by the year 2050.

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0:04:30 What We’ve Been Playing

Obelus (our review)
Spirits of the Wild: Awakening
Fire Tower
Palette *
Tag Team

(*) first time mentioned on The Family Gamers Podc...

Listener request today! We’re going to talk about ELA skills and board games to support them.

0:00:00 Fact for 425

The most expensive film produced is Avatar (USA, 2009), with an estimated production budget of $425 million. Avatar went on to achieve a worldwide box-office gross of $2.9 billion – the highest of all time.

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0:03:30 What We’ve Been Playing

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring – Trick-Taking Game *
Stew
Cat Rescue...

Our daughter just graduated from highschool, and that has us thinking about graduation parties and gifts. Would you give board games to a new graduate?

0:00:00 Fact for 424

Dances with Wolves grossed 424 million at the box office in 1991.

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0:03:50 What We’ve Been Playing

VNTYPL8S *
Bullseye *
Unmatched: Stars & Stripes
Fight for Olympus (our review from 2017)
Got Five! (brand new review)
Spirits of the Wild: Awakening *

It’s been a minute since we talked about short games! (Episode 194 or Episode 369) But life is crazy these days, we’ll get into the monthly report, so we started thinking about games that were fast. What are some great ones that take 10-15 minutes?

0:00:00 Fact for 423

423 is the easiest symmetrical 3 object siteswap besides the basic pattern in juggling. Go to YouTube and look up “423 juggling” and you’ll see a ton of them.

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0:05:00 What We’ve Been Pla...

We’re testing out a new review format, with our thoughts recorded in real-time after 1, 2, and 3 plays.

0:00:00 Fact for 422

Kuwait Airways Flight 422 hijacking – the hijacking lasted 16 days!

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0:04:00 What We’ve Been Playing

Fleet: The Dice Game<...

What should you look for in a board game? Let’s look at five elements of games to help you choose.

0:00:00 Fact for 421

The game that is ID 421 on Board Game Geek happens to be pretty well-known among boardgamers.

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What is gamification? Does it have any relationship to board gaming? We examine the concept this week.

The post Episode 420 – Gamification appeared first on The Family Gamers.

How do you teach kids to play games "nicely"? To respect the rules of the game?

The post Episode 419 – Teaching Board Game Manners appeared first on The Family Gamers.

Escape rooms let your family cooperate in new and interesting ways. But do you prefer a physical, in-person escape room, a video game, or a board game experience?

The post Episode 418 – Escape Rooms appeared first on The Family Gamers.

How do you know when you're done with a game and it's time to get rid of it? Your kids have aged out of it - are you sure?

The post Episode 417 – The Purge: How Do You Know You’re Done? appeared first on The Family Gamers.

Andrew & Anitra talk about their experience growing a gaming family, from toddlers to teenagers. Every kid is going to be different!

The post Episode 416 – Growing As a Family with Board Games appeared first on The Family Gamers.

How about some card games? We recommend one for beginners, two for intermediate, and three for advanced players.

The post Episode 415 – Room to Grow: Card Games appeared first on The Family Gamers.

What games are the most popular among viewers and listeners who click our affiliate links? And what were our own favorite games this year?

The post Episode 414 – Top Games of 2025 appeared first on The Family Gamers.

We're going to talk about games that are just plain fun, no matter the group.

The post Episode 413 – Five(ish) Games That Are Just Plain Fun appeared first on The Family Gamers.

PAX Unplugged is our favorite time of year. Share an hour with us and listen to some interviews we got with creators and publishers.

The post Episode 412 – Video Game Gift Guide appeared first on The Family Gamers.

PAX Unplugged is our favorite time of year. Share an hour with us and listen to some interviews we got with creators and publishers.

The post Episode 411 – PAX Unplugged 2025 appeared first on The Family Gamers.

It's that time of year again - we suggest games for everyone on your gift list.

The post Episode 410 – Holiday Gift Guide appeared first on The Family Gamers.

Let's talk about card games!

The post Episode 409 – Five Favorite Card Games appeared first on The Family Gamers.

Weather's getting colder, time for cozy board games - and a hint about some cozy food.

The post Episode 408 – Top 10 Cozy Games appeared first on The Family Gamers.

We’ve been looking forward to making this episode for a little while. Sometimes you don’t have a lot of time to play games – so let’s talk about our family favorites that play in 15 minutes or less. 00:00 Fact for 407 This one is for Zach. on 15 November 2012 a new world record was set. The most people

The post Episode 407 – Our Favorite 15-Minute Games appeared first on The Family Gamers.

Andrew names his 5 favorites out of everything he has played in 2025.

The post Episode 406 – Andrew’s Favorites in 2025! appeared first on The Family Gamers.

Does theme even matter in games? Is theme more than just the art in a game?

The post Episode 405 – Theme appeared first on The Family Gamers.

Boardgames aren't the only way to connect with your kids - and they aren't always the BEST way, either.
We discuss other ways to connect, and recommend some videogames.

The post Episode 404 – Connecting Through Gaming appeared first on The Family Gamers.

We love the board game community, but it can lead to pressure to play MORE or HARDER games, to keep up with the newest games. What can we do to dial it back down and make games FUN again?

The post Episode 403 – Taking the Pressure Off appeared first on The Family Gamers.

Deck building was a little challenging because even among "pure" deck-building games, some of their foundational mechanics are different. Nevertheless, we came up with three we'd recommend to learn this style of game.

The post Episode 402 – Room to Grow: Deck Building appeared first on The Family Gamers.

Just like an evergreen plant that doesn't die, these are games that stay popular year after year.

The post Episode 401 – Ten Top Evergreen Family Games appeared first on The Family Gamers.

Playing games with kids looks a lot different for us now than it did in 2015. Let's talk about what family gaming looks like at different ages.

The post Episode 400 – It’s All About Families appeared first on The Family Gamers.

We talked about older games last week - this week we're moving on to modern abstract games (within the last 20 years).

The post Episode 399 – Room to Grow: Modern Abstract Games appeared first on The Family Gamers.

This week is devoted to older, classic abstract games. You probably know how to play these timeless games already, and have some of them relegated to the back corner of your shelves or your closet.

The post Episode 398 – Room to Grow: Classic Abstract Games appeared first on The Family Gamers.

It's convention time again! We found braille dice, an augmented-reality drawing tool, and lots of fun board game stuff at PAX East.

The post Episode 397 – PAX East Recap appeared first on The Family Gamers.

We've been reviewing board games for almost ten years. And sometimes, we run across ones that REALLY surprise us. Let's talk about a few this week.

The post Episode 396 – 5 Games that Surprise! appeared first on The Family Gamers.

Do you know what a "eurogame" is? Could you explain it to someone who hasn't played a lot of boardgames? What are some other jargon terms we use that are unfriendly to new players?

The post Episode 395 – Euro, Ameritrash, and Other Boardgamer Jargon appeared first on The Family Gamers.

We're out of town this weekend, but talking about our favorite party games.

The post Episode 394 – 7 Party Game Favorites appeared first on The Family Gamers.

It's been a long time since we defined some board game terms. Let's do a deep dive into asymmetric games and auction games.

The post Episode 393 – Board Game Terms: Asymmetric, Auction, Bidding appeared first on The Family Gamers.

After a cold dreary winter, we are ready for green, growing things. Let's talk about games with flowers and plants that make us think spring.

The post Episode 392 – Springtime Games appeared first on The Family Gamers.

Cooperative games encourage players to work together. Here are three to bring your family from beginner to advanced.

The post Episode 391 – Room to Grow: Cooperative Games appeared first on The Family Gamers.