Time for mom to feel like a kid again.
Hello Gaming Library Family!
We’ve written previously about how too often these days it is too easy and too convenient to shove a smartphone or tablet in your kids’ hands and let them occupy their own time. With the number of things parents—Moms, especially—have to worry about at a time, nobody can blame you. However, technology demands enough of us as it already does, so we can only imagine how much it affects children. More and more studies show that parents are growing increasingly worried about their children spending too much time on screen, and the subsequent long term effects of kids being online for far too long.
Our vision at GL understands that concern in spades. That’s why this Mother’s Day, we present to you our top picks for board games for moms to bolster more bonding time with the family. These picks employ gameplay that can further strengthen bonds between kid and parent, can challenge children in a competitive yet non-threatening manner, and teach both parent and child how the other party operates, emotionally and intellectually. All titles are available in stores and online at www.gaminglib.com!
Don’t forget to take advantage of our Mother’s Day sale! From May 5th to the 14th, get 10% off on any purchase minimum P1000 on family games. And as a special tribute to mothers everywhere: a day of free play at All aBOARD XP on Mother’s Day weekend May 12th to 14th!
- Winning this Arets Speil 2012 Best Family Game Awardee takes a steady… Forehead? Lift It: Party has players strap a crane to their forehead and lift various building blocks to recreate structures depicted on assigned cards. Move carefully and don’t duck! Deft and coordinated movements are key here, because limited time makes even the best builders sweat! This game is especially fun with family or the kids as the smallest factor like stifled laughter can make or break a round.
- Similarly to Rummy, the game you play with cards, Players of Rummikub try to get rid of all their tiles by forming numbers into runs of 3 tiles or more, or 3 to 4 of a kind. The colors of the numbers on the tiles are like card suits. Simple as it sounds, Rummikub can start uneventfully, but spiral out of control when the players start putting more and more tiles in play. Options for upcoming turns can become more complex, challenging, and exciting. Rummikub is a game for kids to enjoy if they’re up for a mentally stimulating challenge.
- In Cascadia, players take a journey through the Pacific Northwest to compete in creating the most harmonious ecosystem. In building the game, the makers of Cascadia accomplished what many strive to create: a game that appeals to casual players while also appeasing the needs of more hardcore board game hobbyists.
- Dixit is a creative storytelling guessing game that both stimulates imagination and sharpens players’ cognitive perception. Each player takes turns being the storyteller, choosing from one of six cards in their hand to inform their one-sentence story they share with fellow players. The other players must now select a card from each of their hands that best matches the story and give that to the storyteller. Its spinoff game Stella exists in the Dixit universe and is played in a similar manner: in each round, players interpret Dixit cards on a board after receiving a common clue word. Each player observes the Dixit cards and secretly associates these cards with the clue word, marking on their erasable personal slates the cards that they choose. Selecting the same cards as the other players allows you to score more points. Conversely, selecting a card that no one else chooses may cost you dearly. At the end of each game, each player calculates their total score. Whoever has the most points — which is possibly more than one person — wins. Take calculated risks, but beware of the fall.
- Wingspan is an exciting nature-themed board game that won Game of the Year multiple times in 2019. Its expansion Wingspan: Asia has also just been released to great fanfare! Players compete to build and maintain thriving bird habitats that attract more bird species and hopefully score them the most points. Known for its unique approach to strategy, gorgeous game design, and stellar replay value, Wingspan is great for both seasoned players and newcomers alike.
- Timeline is a card game where players build a historical timeline that correctly and accurately accounts for the placements of historical events. Each card depicts an event, invention, or discovery, on both sides, one side indicating a specific year the corresponding event took place. After placing a card, the player must reveal the date. If correctly placed within the timeline, the card stays in place. Otherwise, it is removed from play and the player takes another card from the deck. The first player to get rid of all their cards by placing them correctly wins.
- …Is a cooperative, guess-the-word party game in which players try to discover as many mystery words as possible. Over 13 cards, players will coordinate with one another to give the best clues to help their teammates guess the word. There’s a catch, though: giving clues similar to the last will get you canceled, so be unique!
- Tapple is a fast-paced word game that’s great for parties. In each round, a player draws a topic card, then starts the timer. In the next ten seconds, that player must give a word that relates to the topic, press down the letter key that corresponds to the first letter of that word on the game’s electronic device, and restart the timer. The next player must then think of a word for the topic that starts with a different letter; wash, rinse, and repeat. Players that go past the timer are out for that round, and new topic cards are drawn if all players but one are out. Depending on eliminations, the stakes get higher with each round, and the more exciting the game gets! Whoever collects the most topic cards wins.
- Codenames is a fairly simple party game. Players are divided into teams of red or blue, and respective leaders must prompt their team members of the colors they select from a pile of twenty-five cards. Each card has a corresponding word and color, and these words are the key to the leaders’ successes in helping their teammates select all the cards that correspond with their team color and win.
About Gaming Library
Gaming Library aims to be the go-to resource for board games, providing not only titles that can be enjoyed by families, but also to be enjoyed by friends both newcomers and veterans alike. By pulling from different resources from all over the world, we at Gaming Library curate an impressive collection of games for consumers to choose from, suitable for anybody from casual players to hardcore hobbyists. In doing so, we hope to provide the best means to foster activities that strengthen family ties and friendships, while teaching relevant skills and practical critical thinking that can be applied to your everyday life.
