2013 Holiday Gift Guide—Gamers' Games

Alright, here it is! It's our final list of gift suggestions for the 2013 Christmas season! These are games we suggest picking up for the tried and true gamer on your list. Many of these games we've played and reviewed, and others we're hoping to find under our tree in just under 2 weeks! So, here we go! Our list of gamers' games for 2013!

The Duke—In this 2-player abstract game, players maneuver their tiles in an attempt to capture their opponent’s Duke. Simple to learn, highly strategic, and there are plenty of expansions already available.

MSRP: $40 (Find it online)

Ages: 13 and up

Review: http://wp.me/p2hTk7-122

Suburbia—It’s like SimCity: The Board Game. I (Firestone) am completely enamored with this city-building tile game from Ted Bezier. And with a recently released expansion, this one gets better and better. The third printing will be available in January, but you might be able to preorder with your FLGS.

MSRP: $59.99 (Find it online)

Ages: 8 and up

Review: Coming soon!

Terra Mystica—This game is a beast. Lots going on. Lots of wood. Lots of variety in the various races. It’s a deep game where you’re trying to expand your race better than the others.

MSRP: $79.99 (Find it online)

Ages: 12 and up

Viticulture—An elegantly designed worker-placement game that has players taking on the roles of vineyard owners. Grow, crush, and bottle your way to success and become a master, vineyard...ist?

MSRP: $60 (Find it online)

Ages: 13 and up

Review: http://wp.me/p2hTk7-NA

Mage Wars—Okay, imagine Magic: The Gathering, except you pick your spells instead of drawing from a deck. That’s Mage Wars. You’re two mages battling each other, using spells and creatures and equipment, but you have all of your spells available at any time. It’s deep and fascinating and very, very good.

MSRP: $59.99 (Find it online)

Ages: 13 and up

Libertalia—This under-the-radar gem is a unique auction game where you’re a pirate captain trying to get the best treasure. You’ll play out your character cards and jockey for position.

MSRP: $49.99 (Find it online)

Ages: 14 and up

Bora Bora—The remarkable Stefan Feld came out with four games this year. And this was by far the best of the three I (Firestone) played. It’s a heavy Euro where you’re juggling 100 things in an effort to get VPs.

MSRP: $59.99 (Find it online)

Ages: 12 and up

Tzolk’in—This worker-placement game didn’t make our list last year because we hadn’t yet played it. Well, once we did we realized it’s one of the best ones out there. It’s innovative, tense, and so, so good.

MSRP: $59.99 (Find it online)

Ages: 13 and up

Review: http://wp.me/p2hTk7-u6

Thanks so much for reading, and have a great Christmas!

2013 Holiday Gift Guide—Family Games

Family Games is kind of a hard category. I mean, if you're playing a kids game, is that a family game, too? What about families with young kids, or older kids, or no kids? Basically, these are games that we play with our families, but that aren't designed specifically as kids games. And our kids are between the ages of 5 and 9, so the games will skew that way.

DC Comics Deck-Building Game—So deck-building games are a little bit...ya know...SUPER POPULAR!! But what kid wants to play Dominion and build Markets and Cellars? None that I know. The DC Comics Deckbuilding Game is the PERFECT game to teach kids about the basics of deck-building.

Cost: $40

(Find it online)

Ages: Probably 8 and up, as there’s definitely some reading involved.

Review: http://wp.me/p2hTk7-Gn

Relic Expedition—In this game you'll be exploring the jungle, looking for relics, managing the tools in your backpack, and trying to stay one step ahead of the dangers—which include snakes, panthers, boars, and monkeys. This is Foxtrot Games' first game, and they thoroughly impressed us with their out-of-the-gate offering.

MSRP: $49 (Find it online)

Review: Coming soon!

Forbidden Desert—If you’ve played Pandemic or Forbidden Island, then you’ll know just what to expect from Matt Leacock’s latest co-op game. But that’s not to say this is just like those. This has new and interesting gameplay mechanics—including deadly sand that will cover important tiles until you can dig them out. Look for our full review soon!

MSRP: $24.99 (Find it online)

Ages: The box says 10 and up, but an 8-year-old who's played Forbidden Island should have no problem here.

Walk The Plank—This is a fun little take-that game, designed by some friends of mine! (Firestone) You’re playing cards that will let you push, pull, and drag your opponents off the plank and into the briny sea. Lot of fun!

MSRP: $20 (Find it online)

Ages: 8 and up, as there's some reading on the cards.

King Of Tokyo: Power Up!—This expansion for the terrific game King Of Tokyo adds one more character (the Pandakai!), but more importantly it adds Evolution cards, which are monster-specific special powers that increase the complexity a bit, but also increase the fun!

MSRP: $19.99 (Find it online)

Ages: 8 and up.

Riff Raff—This dexterity game has you putting pieces onto a swaying ship. It's ridiculously clever, and kids are naturally good at dexterity games, as they seem immune to the laws of physics—plus they're fearless in their placement! This one is a little tricky to track down—and expensive—but worth the effort.

MSRP: $69.99 (Find it online)

Ages: Box says 8 and up, but we've played with my 5-year-old.

Review: http://wp.me/p2hTk7-14s

So what did we forget? What are some of your family's favorite games? Let us know in the comments!

2013 Holiday Gift Guide—Kids Games!

Whether you have kids of your own, know someone with kids, or were a kid once yourself, it can be hard to find just the right game for the tiny little snot factories in your life. So as we continue our gift guides, we're going to give you some of our favorite new and old games you can pick up for the kiddos—all of which are in print. And on a few of them we've linked to our review of the game, so you can investigate yourself if it's a game you'd be interested in. We'll give you the MSRP, and age/audience as it's appropriate. So without further ado, here's the list!

Cheeky Monkey—This is a cute little press-your-luck set-collection game involving exotic animals. It even comes in an adorable (albeit legless) stuffed monkey. Our youngest kids really love this game.

Cost: $29.99 (Find it online)

Ages: 5 and up

Review: http://wp.me/p2hTk7-vM

Candle Quest—We haven’t forgotten our Jewish readers! (Okay, we don’t know if we have any of them, but still…) This auction game has you trying to be the first to complete your menorah. It’s a retheme (actually, the original theme) of the game It’s Alive.

Cost: $21.99 (Find it online)

Ages: 5 and up

Review: Coming Soon!      

Pick-a-Pig/Pick-a-Dog—In this game you’re trying to quickly spot the differences in the portraits of dogs (or pigs). It’s cheap, and fast. If you grab a copy of both (pig and dog) versions you can combine them for even more animal selecting enjoyment!

Cost: $10 (Find it online)

Ages: 7 and up

Review: http://wp.me/p2hTk7-Fu

Catan: Junior—This game is designed to teach kids the basics of Settlers Of Catan, and it does so marvelously. It plays quickly, and there are decisions to be made—but they’re manageable. The colorful and chunky components only add to the appeal.

Cost: $30 (Find it online)

Ages: 5 and up

Review: http://wp.me/p2hTk7-qC

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Crazy Creatures Dr. Gloom—This cute little card game has you adding creatures from your hand to Dr. Gloom’s machines. It helps kids with their counting, and learning about higher and lower numbers.

Cost: $15 (Find it online)

Ages: 5 and up

Review: http://wp.me/p2hTk7-A1

Looping Louie—This is a holdover from last year's list, but it's just so stinking good it deserves to be on every list. This is a kids game, but I can tell you that I've played just as many games with adults as I have with kids. It's a super-fun game where Louie whirls around on a pivot, trying to knock out your chicken tokens. You're trying to keep him away from your chickens and send him at your opponents' chickens. Sounds crazy. Is crazy. Is also crazy fun.

Cost: $30 (Find it online)

Ages: My 5-year-old plays it, but he's probably too young by just a bit. Six or 7 and up, I'd say.

The Magic Labyrinth—This clever little game lets you build a different hidden labyrinth under the board every game, and then you're trying to be the first to make it to tokens without running into one of the hidden barriers. There's a big memory aspect to this, and some luck. But best of all, there's no David Bowie in super-tight tights. *shudder*

Cost: $30 (Find it online)

Ages: 5 and up

There it is, our highly recommended list of kids games for this 2013 Christmas season! Stay tuned as we unveil more of our 2013 Christmas Holiday Gift Guide this week!

2013 Holiday Gift Guide—Party Games

Well, here we go again with our 2013 edition of the Holiday Gift Guide. So let's get this PARTY started with Party Games! These are the games you'll grab when you've got a room full of friends over and someone says, "Let's Play Apples To Apples!" Once you kick that dork out of your house, you can pull out one of these fun games...

The Resistance: Avalon—Yes, The Resistance was on last year's list, too. But that's because it's not just the best large-group game out there, IT'S THE BEST GAME OUT THERE, PERIOD. It's a hidden-role game, where some people are loyal knights of King Arthur, and some are secretly siding with the forces of Mordred. This one includes specific roles with special powers, and new ways to play. And this will work for as many as 10 people—I'm not sure it's good with that number, but it does go up to that number. Longtime readers are sick of us talking about how great this game is, but it's ridiculously fun.

MSRP: $20 (Find it online)

Ages: Probably 14 and up

Review: http://wp.me/p2hTk7-mI

Reverse Charades—If you like your party games a little more traditional, then Reverse Charades is the game for you! Players form teams, and instead of one player trying to get his/her team to guess the answer to what they are acting out, the entire team acts out clues while one player attempts to guess the correct answers. This one is lots of fun, and great for any social gathering! Every time we play this I end up with a headache from laughing so much! And a year later, the folks who played it still bring up the image of my friend Joe acting out Baby Powder... *shudder*

MSRP: $20 (Find it online)

Ages: Probably 10 and up. There are other editions, including a Junior one with easier clues.

Review: http://wp.me/p2hTk7-Dt

Choose One—A simple party game from the folks who brought us Fluxx, Choose One is great for both old friends, and as an icebreaker for folks who’ve just met. A new spin on the classic “Would You Rather” type games, Choose One gives two hypothetical options to a different player each round. The rest of the players then vote on which option the current player chose. The current player reveals their choice, and points are awarded depending on who answered correctly and who didn’t. Look for a review from us soon!

MSRP: $30 (Find it online)

Ages: 14 and up, according to the box.

Review: Coming Soon

Two Rooms and a Boom—This one isn't out yet, but you can print-and-play the game until it does come out, so there's no excuse. (Even if you don't want to, you could pay to have Kinko's print it out for you.) The more people the better, here. The idea is that there's a President, and a Bomber, and after a certain number of rounds, the Bomber wants to be in the same room as the President, and the President doesn't want to be in the same room as the Bomber. Their respective teams are trying to manipulate things so their team's goal is in place at the end of the game. There are a TON of roles in the game, and when you get ~15 or more people playing, it's just an amazing experience.

MSRP: Not sure since it's not out yet—probably ~$20-$25.

Ages: They say 8 and up, though that seems young to us.

Time's Up: Deluxe—Yeah, this was also on last year's list, but I (Firestone) played this again last night, and it is SO. MUCH. FUN! We play in teams, and everyone is given the same 40 names of famous people. You play in three rounds: In the first one you can use words and actions and sounds and pretty much whatever to get your team to guess the name. In the second round you're all playing with the same exact words, but this time you can only use one word (but still actions and sounds). And finally, in the third round, again using the same batch of words, you can only use actions and sounds.

Cost: $30 (Find it online)

Ages: Adults (I don't think this would be a good game for teenagers—too many names they've never heard of.)

The Princess Bride: Prepare to Die! If you're like us, most of your friends and relatives want to play Apples to Apples… again… And we… well, don’t. Prepare to Die is the perfect solution to give your friends the experience they want, while diffusing your urges to rage quit because you once again got the oh so clever “Paris, France” card to play… (Yawn). Prepare to Die is mechanically the same: One player reads a card, “Hello my name is… [Fill in the blank]” and the rest of the players play a “You (Blanked) my (Blank), Prepare to Die!” card. The major difference being the pop/geek culture references in Prepare to Die! are much more interesting and entertaining. Again, this one is a great game for fun light-hearted social gatherings, and who doesn’t LOVE the Princess Bride!?

MSRP: $25 (Find it online)

Ages: 8 and up. But younger players may not get all the references

Preview: http://wp.me/p2hTk7-GB

Well there you have it! Are there any we left off? Any that shouldn't be there? Have a great Thanksgiving, and we'll see you after the holiday. Play some games with people you love!

2012 Holiday Gift Guide - Stocking Stuffers!

Today we're completing our gift guide with a list of things to get that gamer who has EVERYTHING! These little trinkets are fun, add something to your favorite game, or just add a little geeky Christmas cheer! Catan Ornament - For the serious Catan fan, this cut-brass beauty will help you celebrate the season while settling on the newfound island of Catan. The third in the Catan Resource series, this year's ornament features wool.

Cost: $48.00

Available from: Mayfair Games

Pirates of the Spanish Main card game - Wizkids Games' latest reboot of their former titles, turns their classic consrtuctable strategy game, into a single-deck card game, perfect for the nostalgic Pirates player, with lots of art that has been re-purposed for the game.

Cost: $10.60

Available from: Amazon, or your local game store

Ages: 8 & up

When Zombies Attack - Because Attack Dice (makers of When Zombies Attack), isn't Steve Jackson Games, this fun little dice roller has been somewhat overlooked. Unlike Jackson's "Zombie Dice"—which is basically a re-themed version of Farkle—When Zombies Attack is a competitive dice game that has players trying to eliminate not ALL of the zombies, just ones attacking them! Totally worth picking up and stuffing someone's stocking with this one!

Cost: $14.99 (And they're running a special Christmas deal 2 for $25.00!)

Available: Right here!

Ages: 8 & up

Alvin and Dexter: A Ticket to Ride Monster Expansion - By far one of the coolest mini expansions for a game to come along in a while! This was released last year and is becoming harder to find! They're out there, so grab a set for your gamer and become the hero of the day! It's like a Godzilla effect for Ticket to Ride! 'Nuff said!

Cost: $15.00

Available from: Amazon, and your local game store.

Lord of the Rings card sleeves - Fantasy Flight released a series of card sleeves featuring art from LOTR: the card game, every gamer wants to sleeve their cards, but most of the time they buy the cheap clear sleeves because that leaves more money for more games. So a couple packs a snazzy LOTR sleeves is sure to make the yuletide gay! (Note- there are Star Wars sleeves available now too!)

Cost: $5.00

Available from: Amazon, and your local game store

IronDie - I saw these at Origins this year and HAD to buy one. Simply because they are so cool! There is a game that is played with them if you choose to buy the whole set, but if you play any game that requires a 6-sided die, pick up a couple of these to replace them! There are now also polyhedral designs for that role player on your list!

Cost: $5.00 (6-Sided) $25.00 (Polyhedral, 7 die set)

Available from: Amazon, and your local game store.

Thanks so much for reading and being a part of Theology of Games; we hope this guide has been helpful to you during this wonderful season!

As always stay tuned for more great features from the gaming world!

Merry Christmas, everyone!

What You Missed

As this year's holiday season rolls on, so do we! Here's what we've been up to this week, just in case you've missed anything with the hustle and bustle of the season! Monday - We started off the week with another installment to our 2012 Christmas Holiday Gift Guide. This time: Party Games!

We also wrote about Mayfair's annual Catan Ornament series.

Tuesday - We brought you another Double-Take Review of the latest iteration of one of our favorite games: The Resistance: Avalon.

Wednesday - We interviewed Chris and Johnny from Otherwise Games—the masterminds behind the Kickstarter dynamo, Boss Monster.

Thursday - Our Kickstarter Weekly featured a nifty gaming accessory and an ancient art form all rolled into one. Origami Card Holders.

And earlier today we once again added to our 2012 Christmas Holiday Gift Guide! It's the Gateway Games edition...

And in case you missed this, we've added a tab to the site where we've compiled all of our gift ideas in one handy place! Just click here!

Thanks so much for reading, and come back next week as we bring you more news, reviews, and finish our gift guide! Have a great weekend everyone!

Deck the Halls with...Bales of Wool?

Last week, Mayfair Games announced their Catan Ornament for 2012; this year is their third release in the line, and the featured resource is wool. It's a cut brass ornament featuring iconic symbols from the island of Catan. For more information and a sneak peek at another ornament offered this year just follow this link.

Thanks for reading and stay tuned this week for more from our 2012 Christmas Holiday Gift Guide!