Given that the summer has been a bit of a washout, this time we’re looking at some good things for rainy days for kids of all ages. Dragging kids off tabs and consoles can be a struggle, but we’ve got a few dead certs to keep you right.
Now, don’t forget to look back at our feature on Marvel DAGGER last month if you’re after a big box game to keep you occupied. But this month it’s more about the quick games, the time fillers and argument settlers (well, maybe 🤔) We’re pretty much back to our usual programme, too, so of course there’s a giveaway and more besides! Thanks, as ever, to our lovely chums at Asmodee. Read on…
Champions!
No, not the Marvel LCG: the go-to game in our bag of holiday goodies is the excellent and frankly hilarious Champions! from Repos Productions. This is a gloriously silly game of fantasy matchups between any characters or people you can imagine – the only restriction being that all players need to know who they are. This leads to preposterous and brilliant discussions over whether Gru would have pineapple on pizza 🍕, if Pikachu thinks the world is flat or if Dame Judi Dench picks her nose.
Each round, you score if you correctly predict the winner from the collective vote (tie breakers are won based on an icon on the card, which is very effective but can be exploited by ruthless big brothers) and get bonus points if you correctly predicted the overall winner before the round started.
It’s a totally daft game and me & the 3 kids (aged 7-15) were all immediately hooked! Even the grandparents got involved, making… helpful suggestions 😁 little miss particularly enjoyed writing out and guessing characters.
This is a huge hit with us and highly recommended for the whole family! Family fun and of course as a warm-up or(drunken) party game with your mates too (also tested and approved, purely for research purpose ;) )
DC Deckbuilding – The Flash Vs Reverse Flash
In this two player Confrontations set you race to defeat your opponent. Although we’re big DC Deckbuilding fans, we’ve not had a great experience with the Batman Vs Joker set, as it’s just punchy punchy, but we LOVED this: the speedster mechanism means card draws speed up your deck, whilst destruction – and bringing things back- is integral and very fluffy. Interestingly, I won as The Flash by running (ha) the main deck down and scoring the most points despite Reverse Flash repeatedly defeating me in a fight – how very apt!
A real hit, definitely one we’ll be tackling again and again – in fact we enjoyed it enough, maybe, to try the Green Lantern Vs Sinestro version and the team version (Confrontations itself, which features wonder woman Vs Cheetah)
DC Deckbuilding – Injustice
Now I’m not a video gamer, so don’t have any great affection for the Injustice setting, however my middle spawn IS. Plus, now that it’s part of the main DC comic continuity I was more willing to give it a go – despite having fairly mixed feelings about Deckbuilding: Rebirth edition, which I had high hopes for. Boy, am I glad I did!
Both the elder spawn and I felt that this was a complexity level up from what we were used to, whilst still accessible to newcomers. Many of the best elements of Rebirth have been incorporated – character specific powers, different starters, locations – without the chaff. We had a great game and the power-up mechanic is very interesting – and you can clearly see how this will all integrate with other versions.
The game is fundamentally the same as ever – buying from a common pool of cards to build the best deck you can to take down the Supervillains (or in this case, the occasional Superhero – it’s all a matter of perspective after all) but you’re also actively going after one another so it has a define beat-em-up vibe too.
Having been feeling a bit jaded with deckbuilding we have really rediscovered our love for it across these two – great stuff! And hey, if Injustice doesn’t appeal, we also highly recommend Dark Knights Metal or any of the other Core Sets, which are now back in print at long last!
Dobble: Scouts Edition
We have many versions of this bonafide classic in the house, but with all my kids Scouting we couldn’t very well NOT have this new version. Now I actually know very little about Scouts and the lingo, but even I was able to tell Tent, Badge and Woggle with the best of them! It’s a really fun version of the game, and if you’ve got outdoorsy kids stuck inside, it channels a bit of a happy camping vibe. A good little investment.
Love Letter
Speaking of little investments, we finally got our hands on the original version of Z-Man Games’s classic bluff and deduction game. A disclaimer: we found it, sealed, in a charity shop for £1, but it’s well worth paying full price for. We already have the Jabba’s Palace and Infinity Gauntlet versions, but it’s great to have the original and it’s different enough to still have made its way right to the top of our regular game rotations.
Each player is vying for the affections of the princess, by trying to guess the value of the card (from a deck of 16) in the hands of other players… However, 3 cards are faceup for all to see and 1 is a facedown Secret Admirer, so there’s a delightful mix of bluff, guess and memory involved. Very accessible, and another great pocket game, for when you have to get out of the house and sit in a rainy cafe.
Aconyte Books – Tie-in fiction
Yes, books. I know, but hear me out. I know it can be hard to get kids reading, or sometimes even to just find the right brain candy for yourself that isn’t doomscrolling or TikTok. Luckily, Aconyte’s excellent range of gaming and geeky tie-in fiction is perfect. Personally, I’m currently obsessed with the Daidoji Shin mysteries, about a crimesolving dandy and his long-suffering samurai bodyguard in feudal fantasy Japan (less weird than it sounds), but there’s something for everyone.
I’ve already talked at length about the excellent Marvel tie-ins, and am currently really excited for the Mockingbird novel (with its gorgeous deco cover!), whilst my kids are getting lost in Zombiecide and Assassin’s Creed books. Whilst they may not be to everyone’s taste – and I will admit I was skeptical – they are great, accessible enjoyable romps all round.
Massive thanks to Asmodee UK for the review copies!
GIVEAWAY TIME!
And of course it wouldn’t be Geeking Out without a giveaway, now, would it? So how about I channel my actual job as an English teacher and give you lot some books to dig into? Yup, check out the selection of Tie-in fiction we’ve got for you:
So to win everything you see above, just let us know in the comment section below what your top game for the family is (yes, yes, I know ask that question a lot, doesn’t mean it’s any less valid!), or what you’d pick out of this month’s reviews?
And remember to Like, Comment and Share across your socials (FB, Insta, Twitter and/or Mastodon) tagging us @bigcomicpage & @games_with_graven to bag yourself a bonus entry! UK only unless you’re willing to fork out the postage, alas.
And next time, for our Midmonth, we welcome Talon’s Tabletop for a deep dive into a game we love and have already done a brief mention of, Escape the Dark Castle from Themeborne. Get the in-depth view from the hardcore gamer perspective!
The writer of this piece was: Craig Neilson-Adams (aka Ceej)
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