Way Back In Time – Kingdomino Origins

Before the dragons came… Before the great duel took place… Before the age of giants began… Before her imperial majesty took her reign… And before the kingdom itself came: The Origin.

In Kingdomino Origins, from Blue Orange Games, players are prehistoric tribal leaders advancing their civilizations and creating the most powerful kingdom in the land. They do this by adding terrain dominos to their kingdom to earn them the most points.

Since the namesake is Kingdomino, players familiar with the original Kingdomino game will find a lot of similarities. Yet in Kingdomino Origins, there are 3 different modes of play!

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Land vs Sea Board Game Review

“In fourteen hundred ninety-two
Columbus sailed the ocean blue.
He had three ships and left from Spain;
He sailed through sunshine, wind and rain.”

So starts the poem used to teach about Christopher Columbus arriving in the Americas.

It’s hard not to think about sailing and searching out lands when you’re playing the clever tile-laying, puzzle game Land vs. Sea by designer Jon-Paul Jacques and publisher Good Games Publishing.

Players work to create completed land masses or completed seas depending on the roles they’ve taken. The player or team who does this the best by the time the final tile is played will be the winner!

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Queenz Board Game Review

I’ve never been someone who loves bees.

I still have vivid memories of being stung by a bee when I was little and swelling up like crazy. So it’s hard for me to understand the desire of some people to become beekeepers.

It’s a good thing I don’t have to like bees to enjoy Queenz by Rio Grand Games.

It’s a fun set-collection and tile-laying board game where the players are beekeepers planting orchids to attract bees and produce the tastiest honey.

And it’s a great addition to a family board game collection.

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Between Two Castles of Mad King Ludwig: Secrets & Soirees – expansion game review

The king is at it again!

More crazy castles to build with your neighbors plus options to go it alone!

Last year we reviewed a fun game from Stonemaier Games called Between Two Castles of Mad King Ludwig. It was a mash up of two games we really enjoy — Between Two Cities and Castles of Mad King Ludwig. And they did a fantastic job bringing those two games together in yet another enjoyable game.

So of course we were excited to get a chance to review this new expansion, Between Two Castles of Mad King Ludwig: Secrets & Soirees.

And it’s time to share our thoughts about the expansion game!

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Board Game Gift Guide 2020!

It’s that awesome time of year again when we look for great fun ideas for gifts for family and friends.

With this crazy year, we know many families have already been grabbing a lot more board games to pass the time together throughout the year.

But it’s always nice to get some ideas for fresh games to play too.

This marks our 10th annual Board Game Gift Guide and we love sharing great gift ideas!

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Starting My Legacy in My City

No two cities are alike.

That’s as true in life as it is when playing My City by Thames & Kosmos.

That’s because players in My City will end up with a unique city every game. And there will be many games played!

And not just because My City is a “legacy” game, but because it’s so easy and fun to play you’ll want to play over and over.

At least, that’s how it is with us.

Let’s see if it’s a board game your family will enjoy too.

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Between Two Castles of Mad King Ludwig game review

“The king demands a castle!

You’re a world-renowned master builder who has been asked by Mad King Ludwig to help design his castles. Projects of such significance require the expertise of more than one person, so for each assignment you’re paired with another master builder to execute your grandiose plans.

Will your planning and collaborative skills be enough to design the most impressive castles in the world?”

Such is the introduction to the tile-laying, family board game, Between Two Castles of Mad King Ludwig, a collaborative production from Stonemaier Games and Bézier Games.

And what a fantastic collaborative production it is!

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2019 – Year in Review

2019 marked a huge milestone for The Board Game Family. We celebrated 10 years of doing family board game reviews!

With our video reviews hitting 2 million views and our written reviews and articles being read by millions more, it’s been an amazing 10 years.

But today’s not about looking back on all 10 years (we’ve already done that). Instead, we’re just looking back at 2019.

As I’ve done at the start of each year, let’s take a quick look back at the games we’ve enjoyed the most from 2019.

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What kind of Planet will you create?

You’ve got the whole world in your hands. So, what are you going to do with it?

It’s time to find out in Planet!

Planet, by Blue Orange Games, has players crafting their own 3D planet to attract a variety of animals to them. It’s a unique tile-laying game where the tiles are magnetic continents consisting of various habitats.

Different animals are attracted to different types of habitats so players have to choose wisely in which animals they want to inhabit their planets.

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Build your own city in Bloom Town

I can’t quite place my finger on why, but I’ve got a penchant for tile-laying games.

So, when I saw the new tile-laying game, Bloom Town, with its awesome artwork, I was immediately anxious to play it.

Lucky for us, the great team at Sidekick Games sent us a copy to review, so we didn’t have to wait long!

In Bloom Town, players all have their own player board where they’ll place tiles to build out their town to their liking. And they get the tiles to play from a common, central area – which means they’re also competing for those precious tiles.

With multiple things to think about during game play, it makes for an engaging play experience throughout!

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