BabyWatch 2012 is upon us, folks. Within two weeks, the newest addition to Team SuperRad will be here. Mu, Q, and I are on pins and needles and Lady Rad couldn't be more ready to get to the finish line. We have been incredibly blessed by this entire experience and our little tie-breaker will be here any day now. It's like Christmas..!
...if you didn't know when Christmas was and then spent the next 6-9 months existing on 2 hour naps because Christmas always needs to be fed or changed.
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
Sunrise City Teaser
Quick review? It looks, feels, and plays like a game that should be on your bookshelf for your kids, your grandkids, and your grandkids grandkids to play. Look for a full-on video review of it as soon as I can find my lav mic which I'm certain is buried at the bottom of a toy bin.
Wednesday, June 6, 2012
Wreck it!!
My mind is basically exploding right now with the new Wreck-it Ralph trailer. But as much as I want to jump in feet-first with my kids into this movie, I have to wonder whether the obnoxiousness level is just a bit too high for the sub-grade schooler set. And sure Disney, I love that you are giving us a love-letter to my gaming heritage, but I really miss the charm and sweetness of classically-animated fairy tale stories. Give us another Beauty & the Beast, please?
Thursday, March 1, 2012
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
"Reviews on the Road" - Risk Legacy
Just thinking about the past weekend of this game makes me want to play hooky from work and tear into it again. Darn you societal commitments!
Thursday, January 5, 2012
"Reviews on the Road": The Walking Dead: the Board Game
Trying something new for 2012. Hopefully, this will refine itself...
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
12 Games of Christmas: Flipper Felix
Flipper Felix
Generally, if I see a yellow Haba game box, I try to pick it up. The German company is synonymous with quality components for their games which are aimed squarely at the younger set. I managed to find "Flipper Felix" with a $1 price tag on it at a local Goodwill, complete and in unplayed condition. This could not have been a better deal considering that "Felix" may have single-handedly gotten the Mu into boardgames. Though "Candyland" and "Go Away Monster" have been played in our house, "Flipper Felix" has had staying power - and more importantly - focusing power, that has taught the Mu basic game mechanics such as rolling dice, counting movement spaces, rule-following, and light strategy.
"Felix" is set up with 20 colored fish hiding in the seaweed in the corners of the board, with the goal of rescuing all of the fish into the middle of the board. Circling the middle is a great big, purple fish who will gobble up any of the fish already rescued in the middle.
Players play cooperatively, attempting to rescue all of the fish together. On a turn, a player will roll the "fishie" die which will result in either a small fish or the large fish. If a small fish is rolled, the player selects which color fish to rescue from the corners of the board. Should the large fish get rolled, the player then rolls a purple numbered die to see how many spaces the big fish moves around the board. If the big fish lands on a space that has him gobbling up a fish, a fish of that color is placed from the middle of the board into the big fish's hollow belly. Some spaces will have the big fish burping up all of the fish in his belly, where they return to the corners of the board. The game ends once all of the fish have been rescued into the middle or the big fish eats 4 of the little fish.
The simple rules and action of the game keep my toddler involved in what's going on. He loves to roll the dice and falls back on the floor in an "oh no!!" fashion each time the purple fish is rolled. We have fun deciding which colored fish should be rescued, and the game has him counting pips on a die, moving the corresponding spaces, and recognizing which colors need to be placed in the big fish's belly.
The building blocks of game playing are here, and he loves setting the game up himself and working through the mechanics of it. Games can drag on a bit with bad rolls, and sometimes he decides he's had enough - but "Flipper Felix" has got him sitting down and learning how to play through a game with the core skills a little gamer needs to learn at 3 years old. It's establishing the building blocks for more to come, and it makes his nerdy dad very happy.
Santa will be bringing him Orchard this year, followed by Monza for his birthday in the summer, as we start to gradually build his capacity for more rules and more strategy. But let's hand it to Haba - no one really grows gamers like they do.
Friday, November 18, 2011
The 10 Most Head-Shakingly Inappropriate Sesame Street Parody Sketches
Couldn't agree more with Topless Robot on this one, though he left
out "Socks in the City," which I find to be one of the most inappropriate Sesame Street parodies of all time. This is the reason why the kids don't watch
modern Sesame Street and we kick it old-school instead.
I'm a huge fan of Topless Robot for my nerd culture and news, but be forewarned that there's a hefty helping of salty language throughout and occasional NSFW content. Keep it in mind as you're perusing.
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