Staff Picks August Edition!
Everyone’s favorite blog is out! We have compiled another list of our Staff Picks! We play all of these games and have such a great time introducing people to new games. All of these games and many more can be purchased in store or online here.
Slamwich-Maddie Schenck
- Name of Game: Slamwich
- Publisher: Gamewright
- Year Published: 2001
- Type of Game: pattern recognition and hand-eye coordination card game
- Play Time: 20 Mins
- Rule Complexity: Easy
- Number of Players: 2-6
- Bits: 55 super cute cards that look like bread slices with toppings, thieves, and munchers
- Rating: 4 Meeples
I loved Slamwich when I was little. Its rules are VERY similar to the standard card game, Egyptian Ratscrew, which is also a great game. In Slamwich, the deck of bread slices are evenly dealt to all the players face down, and then the players take turns flipping their top bread slices into a communal sandwich. Players slap the communal sandwich when they see two of the same toppings in a row (a double decker) or two of the same toppings separated by a different topping (a slamwich). Whoever slaps first takes the communal sandwich. The goal is to end up with all the bread slices in your own hand. If you see a thief card, you have to slap the bread slice and yell, “Stop thief!” If you draw a muncher card, you get the whole pile, unless the person to your left draws a double decker, slamwich, thief, or another muncher. Overall Slamwich is a silly family friendly game that takes its design to the next level. You can’t go wrong with delicious looking cards and slapping. –Maddie Schenck
5-Minute Dungeon – Reena Asquith
- Name of Game: 5-Minute Dungeon
- Publisher: Spin Master
- Year Published: 2017
- Type of Game: timed cooperative
- Play Time: 5-30 mins
- Rule Complexity: easy
- Number of Players: 2-5
- Bits: Average
- Rating: 5 Meeples
5-Minute Dungeon is a fast paced family game all about working together to defeat five dungeon bosses of increasing difficulty. Each player picks a hero that uses a unique deck and a special ability. You draw a hand and do your best to get through the minions and defeat each boss within 5 minutes! If you win, you move to the next boss and reset the 5 minute timer. It’s easy to learn and plays with most ages, since you are mostly matching symbols on your cards to the creatures you’re fighting. It’s super quick and fun, the increasing challenge with each boss and five completely different decks leads to a lot of replay. I would recommend it for any group that likes timed games! –Reena Asquith
Memoir ’44 – Boyce Asquith
- Name of Game: Memoir ’44
- Publisher: Days of Wonder
- Year Published: 2004
- Type of Game: Strategy
- Play Time: 30-60 mins
- Rule Complexity: Medium
- Number of Players: 2-6
- Bits: Nice Pieces, Dice, Cards
- Rating: 4 Meeples
Memoir ’44 is a World War II strategy game where you take the side of either the Allies or the Axis fighting some of the famous battles or skirmishes of the D-Day Invasion. The game uses cards to generate special tactics or abilities that you use on your turn and dice that you use to simulate combat. Most battles revolve around some kind of objective, i.e. holding the bridge, capturing the city, holding the line, so you’ll need to keep that in mind as you plan your tactics. Of course, some unfortunate die-rolling and poorly timed cards may have you changing your strategy mid-battle, so you need to stay flexible. Overall, it is a good war-strategy game that can be played by people ages 8 and up. –Boyce Asquith
Harry Potter Hogwarts Battle – Nichole Davis
- Name of Game: Harry Potter Hogwarts Battle
- Publisher: The OP
- Year Published: 2016
- Type of Game: CO-OP Deck builder
- Play Time: About an hour
- Rule Complexity: Medium
- Number of Players: 2-4
- Bits: Good, some nice quality cards and a few metal pieces along with cardboard counters
- Rating: 5 Meeples
Hogwarts Battle is a cooperative deck builder that is insanely fun to play. It is a really great starting point if you have never played a deck builder before, the rules are simple and easy to pick up and the cooperative nature of the game makes it a good environment to learn in. You get to go through all the years at Hogwarts, working together to defeat the thematic villains of that year and learning new spells and skills the more years you play through. Each player gets a unique ability, item, and pet that corresponds to the character you’re playing. Another thing I love about this game is the care that went into the details of creating the cards that form your decks and the various villain behaviors, it really shows that the creators went in depth with the source material to make as immersive a game as possible. It has so much replayability that I have never gotten bored of it in all the years I’ve owned this game and played it over and over. This may actually be my favorite tabletop game of all time. –Nichole Davis
