Top Ten Filler Games

Last time I posted a top ten around these parts, it was my top ten lunch games, games that can be played and taught comfortably within the confines of a lunch hour.

But what if your lunch hour is more like a lunch break? Or what about those times when you want to play another game, but you're waiting to mix up the players, and the other group is playing a game of Power Grid that simply will not end?

That, friends, is where the aptly named "filler" games come in--short games that can be used to open, close, or fill gaps within your game night.

What defines an ideal filler game? Here are my criteria:

Giving Thanks for Games (a holiday session report)

My family celebrated Christmas over Thanksgiving this year (long story), so all of us descended on my aunts' house for four days of food, togetherness, and... gaming.

My family has always enjoyed playing games together--first trick-taking games like Pinochle and Rook, then party games like Scattergories and Rapid Recall, and now hobby games, beginning with Acquire. There were fifteen of us at the gathering, and we played a lot of games over the four days. I usually list what I've been playing in the weekly news, but I thought I'd write a separate post since several of these are new, and I'd prefer to treat them in more depth. So here's what we played.

News Bits: 9/3/2013

I hope you had a good holiday. Here is the NEWS:

MeepleTown's Gen Con recap looks at 7 Wonders: Babel [Link] This was not out on the main floor at Gen Con, as far as I'm aware, so I was glad to see someone's take on the expansion. (First, a quick note: the author is absolutely right that Asmodee was on the ball with both great games and great people to show them off. They almost sold me several games...and made me wish I had indeed bought them. Kudos to Asmodee!) I had said before that I probably wouldn't buy any more 7 Wonders expansions, but this one might change my mind...