Dane Trimble, Author at The Board Game Family

Photosynthesis: Under the Moonlight Board Game Review

Photosynthesis, from Blue Orange Games, is a beautiful and elegant game about using the sun’s power to grow majestic trees.

In the expansion, Photosynthesis: Under the Moonlight, players will not only be using the rays from the sun, but they’ll also harness the light from the moon to activate powers of their unique forest animals.

Photosynthesis: Under the Moonlight is actually 3 expansions in one; Forest Animals, Moonstones, and the The Great Elder Tree!

You can play all of them at once or À la carte, it’s up to you.

February 2, 2021February 4, 2021 Dane Trimble 0 Comments 2-player, 3-player, 4-player, Blue Orange Games, colorful, strategy, theme

Board Games Family Games Game Reviews

Meeple Land Board Game Review

In Meeple Land players will be creating their very own amusement park by purchasing a variety of attractions and services while luring in lots of paying customers.

Attention will need to be given to how things are laid out, making sure services are within reach of visitors, and paths don’t lead to dead ends.

The game ends after 4 rounds, at which point the player with the most reputation points wins. Reputation is earned from a diverse collection of attractions and services, number of visitors in the park, and lack of dead ends and stranded visitors at the entrance.

January 20, 2021February 2, 2021 Dane Trimble 2 Comments 2-player, 3-player, 4-player, Blue Orange Games, family, strategy, theme

Board Games Family Games Game Reviews

Cloud City Board Game Review

Cloud City, a board game from Blue Orange Games, should not be confused for a Tibanna gas mining colony floating in the clouds of the planet Bespin run by a smuggler named Lando.

Although that might make a really cool game…

In the game, 2 to 4 players ages 10 and up, take on the roll of architects vying to win city council votes to become the best city planner. They will zone land, build skyscrapers that reach the clouds, and connect them with spectacular walkways high above the ground. The player to do this the best wins.

January 11, 2021 Dane Trimble 0 Comments 2-player, 3-player, 4-player, Blue Orange Games, building, family, strategy

Minecraft Builders and Biomes board game

Board Games Family Games Game Reviews

Minecraft Builders and Biomes – More Than Punching Trees

Back in early 2019, my four boys started asking me if we could get the hit game–Minecraft. I said “No” for a long time. Until after much research and finding out that you can play solo and in private servers, I finally relented and Minecraft entered our home.

Flash forward a year and a half and Minecraft has become a huge hit in our house, not only by my kids, but also by me!

Many hours have been spent creating worlds, adventuring to find treasure, and fighting the steady stream of monsters placed in our way.

When Ravensburger released the board game Minecraft Builders and Biomes, in late 2019 we were all very interested in how it would compare to its digital counterpart. I watch some play-throughs and sure enough, it looked like something we would enjoy very much. Once I got connected with The Board Game Family, I asked Trent to hook me up, and boy did he come through.

December 30, 2020December 30, 2020 Dane Trimble 1 Comment 2-player, 3-player, 4-player, children, expansion, family, luck, Ravensburger, strategy, toy

Family Games Game Reviews Kid Games

Laser Pegs toy review

In 1942 a man by the name of Ole Kirk Christiansen created a toy that would forever change the landscape of the industry. The name of that toy…LEGO, a plastic interlocking building toy that has grown into an empire worth billions.

With continued popularity and the expiration of patents, it’s not surprising that more and more companies are now manufacturing LEGO-like products.

The big question is — can they offer something new and unique?

Enter Laser Pegs, “the first lighted construction toys in the world that feed the next piece low voltage current to illuminate your creations with LED’s.”

That’s right, Laser Pegs light up!

December 22, 2020 Dane Trimble 0 Comments Laser Pegs, toys

Board Games Cooperative Games Family Games Game Reviews

Break In: Alcatraz Game Review

It’s June 11, 1962, the day you’re going to break into Alcatraz.

Yes, you read that right. You’ll be breaking into the most secure prison in the world to break 4 inmates out. Months of planning has gone into this daring operation and now it’s time to act.

At least it will be if you’re playing Break In: Alcatraz!

From the publisher, Playmonster: “Throughout this collaborative experience, you must work together to follow a series of clues and solve puzzles to unfold multiple layers of the game and move deeper into the prison to help your friends escape! You’ll encounter many obstacles and characters along the way…this game provides the thrill and challenge of an escape room, combined with the experience and world-immersion of a movie”!

Do you have what it takes to break into Alcatraz?

December 12, 2020June 21, 2021 Dane Trimble 2 Comments 2-player, 3-player, 4-player, 5-player, 6-player, cooperative, deduction, escape room, PlayMonster, solo, strategy

Board Games Family Games Game Reviews

Healthy Heart Hospital Board Game Review

In Healthy Heart Hospital players assume the roles of doctors and hospital administrators attempting to bring prestige back to Healthy Heart after the previous administration left it a mess.

Prestige is earned by curing patients and expanding your hospital. If players are able to make it through the ambulance card deck, they win the game. If players go broke or run out of places to put dead patients, they lose.

Do you have what it takes to bring Health Heart back?

November 19, 2020November 19, 2020 Dane Trimble 0 Comments 2-player, 3-player, 4-player, 5-player, cooperative, luck, solo, them, Victory Point Games

Reign: The Final Battle Royale board game

Board Games Dice Games Family Games Game Reviews

Reign: The Final Battle Royale Game Review

“Four factions of warriors battle to survive on a doomed land that will be destroyed piece by piece, taking its occupants with it. You must strategize to survive—by fleeing, fighting or sacrificing your weakest members—whatever you must do to be the last one left standing when the land around you has been annihilated.”

Reign is a skirmish battle royale style board game, from PlayMonster, where 2 to 4 try to eliminate all the other players’ troops to be the last one standing.

Players not only have to watch out for each other but also the impending disasters which destroy different sections of the board and with it any troops and Power Stones that have the misfortune of being on that section.

November 6, 2020 Dane Trimble 0 Comments 2-player, 3-player, 4-player, battle, dice, PlayMonster, skirmish

Board Games Game Reviews Kid Games

Snap Ships – Build to Battle Review

Snap Ships – Build to Battle is a clever modular building toy from Play Monster, who is also known for toys like Automoblox and Marbleocity and board games like Island of El Dorado, Farkle, Set, and the classic Stratego.

Snap Ships are similar to LEGO but with beautifully sculpted spacecraft parts. At the core there are square blocks that snap together making up the base structure, you then add the different parts to create the perfect ship. From cockpits to laser cannons to fuel tanks there are all the different components you would expect.

Each model comes with two to three different building instructions, but with your imagination, there’s no limit to the number of different designs you can come up with. Add that to the fact you can mix and match sets and you can keep busy for quite some time.

September 30, 2020September 30, 2020 Dane Trimble 0 Comments building, Play Monster, Snap Ships, toy