puzzle Archives - The Board Game Family

Star Wars: Unlock! game review

Happy Star Wars Day!

To celebrate, we’re diving into a review of another Star Wars family board game – Star Wars: Unlock!

That’s right, the very cool Unlock! escape-room series of games now has a Star Wars themed game – with 3 distinct game adventures. As far as escape-room games go, the Unlock! series have been our favorite. So I was super excited when Asmodee published a Star Wars version.

After having played through all 3 adventures, I’m happy to report that all of them are super fun to play.

May 3, 2023 Trent 0 Comments 2-player, 3-player, 4-player, 5-player, 6-player, Asmodee, cooperative, escape room, puzzle, solo, Star Wars, strategy, theme

Board Games Cooperative Games Family Games Game Reviews

Exit: The Game + Puzzle – The Sacred Temple game review

We’ve played a lot of “escape room” board games and card games over the years. They’re full of riddles and puzzles to solve as you cooperatively try to get out of whatever predicament the story has you caught up in.

But rarely do these types of games include actual puzzles to put together!

However, that’s exactly the case with Exit: The Game + Puzzle – The Sacred Temple.

In this EXIT game by Kosmos, in addition to the riddles and challenges along the way, you’ll put together 4 actual puzzles!

Then you’ll look for more riddles/puzzles within those puzzles to progress further on your journey.

If you like puzzles within your puzzles, then read on…

December 15, 2022 Trent 0 Comments 2-player, 3-player, 4-player, cooperative, escape room, Kosmos, puzzle, solo

Family Games Game Reviews

EscapeWelt Puzzle Boxes review

With Spring in the air and the many shutdowns of the last couple of pandemic years coming to an end, so many of us are looking for an escape. Although we may have settled into new routines, there’s often still an urge to break free.

And our review today is all about setting things free from their confined boxes.

In particular, these are “escape room” style puzzle boxes from EscapeWelt in Germany. Taking a look at their website, you’ll see they have a nice assortment to choose from.

The two we dove into are House of the Dragon and Space Box.

May 31, 2022June 1, 2022 Trent 0 Comments EscapeWelt, puzzle, solo

Board Games Family Games Game Reviews

Downtown Farmers Market

Farmers markets are known the world over as almost all countries have some form of them.

At these markets, patrons enjoy a wide variety of goods that reflect the culture and economy of the area they’re being held in. From produce to handcrafted goods, you can find almost anything you want or need at one of these amazing local events.

In Downtown Farmers Market, from Blue Orange Games, players compete to gather goods from the market that fulfill 8 overlapping objectives. The player who does this the best is crowned Market Champion.

May 25, 2022 Dane Trimble 0 Comments 2-player, 3-player, 4-player, Blue Orange Games, puzzle, strategy, tile-laying

Board Games Family Games Game Reviews Kid Games

PicTwist: National Parks board game review

Whenever we visit a US National Park, we take a lot of photos!

How can you not take photos when you’re wandering around, taking in nature’s beauty?

These are also the types of photos I use for my phone and desktop backgrounds. Looking at the scenic photos can bring a sense of peace.

However, when such pictures are all broken up, mixed around, and players are racing against the clock to be the first to arrange their picture, that peace can evaporate quickly!

That’s a bit what it’s like playing PicTwist: National Parks – a new board game from The Op.

April 6, 2022April 6, 2022 Trent 0 Comments 2-player, 3-player, 4-player, 5-player, puzzle, solo, The OP

Board Games Family Games Game Reviews Kid Games

Mondrian Blocks Brain Teaser review

Do your kids love puzzle challenges?

Or maybe it’s you that loves such challenges.

If so, then you’ll want to check out Mondrian Blocks, published by Smart Egg.

On its own, it’s essentially a solitaire puzzle. However, if you’ve got more than one copy, you can play them in head-to-head races.

September 27, 2021September 27, 2021 Trent 2 Comments 2-player, 3-player, 4-player, puzzle, Smart Egg, solo

Cooperative Games Family Games Game Reviews

Escape Rooms come to Puzzles!

We’ve reviewed a bunch of Escape Room type board games and even included a number of them in our 2019 Board Game Gift Guide.

Well, we’ve got a new twist on Escape Room games for you today — Escape Puzzles!

We first heard about Escape Puzzles from Ravensburger a few months ago and just attempted our first one last week. And I had a lot of fun doing it!

December 22, 2019December 22, 2019 Trent 4 Comments colorful, deduction, puzzle, Ravensburger, skill

Board Games Family Games Game Reviews

Chroma Cube is a colorful puzzle game

There are a handful of things I love to do with regularity each day. And among those things are daily Sudoku and KenKen puzzles.

I love taking a break to challenge my mental muscles in solving puzzles. While both of those puzzles involve numbers, I love taking on a variety of such challenges.

So when I discovered brainteaser puzzles from Project Genius, I was immediately intrigued. And Chroma Cube fits the bill very nicely.

December 21, 2018 Trent 0 Comments Project Genius, puzzle, solo

Board Games Family Games Game Reviews Kid Games

Can’t stop playing NMBR 9!

In our home, it’s very rare that one game gets played every day for weeks on end. But that’s exactly what’s happened this past month since we started playing NMBR 9!

And it’s not pulled out to play on our game table downstairs, it’s front and center kitchen table play!

Which is also why it gets played multiple times after dinner (and sometimes after breakfast).

December 1, 2018February 1, 2019 Trent 0 Comments 2-player, 3-player, 4-player, luck, puzzle, solo, tile-laying, Z-Man Games

Board Games Family Games Game Reviews Kid Games

Kingdomino: Age of Giants board game review

Suppose you’re relaxing in your castle or exploring the beauty of your kingdom (minding your own kingly business) when all of a sudden, a huge giant stomps through your field. Would you be scared, upset, or angry?

Would it make a difference if you knew that giant wandered into your kingdom because your rival kingdom sent him your way? I bet you’d start looking for ways to send him right back!

Thats just the way it goes in Kingdomino: Age of Giants – an expansion game for either Kingdomino or Queendomino.