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:

What's It Worth to Ya? (a Guide to Auction Mechanics)

It's no secret around these parts that I love auctions. Love them. Love, love, love them. In games, in real life. If I can find a way to maximize the value of a deal, I'm in. So I jumped at the chance to write about auction mechanics.

Are you curious about auctions? You should be, because auctions are awesome. And you've come to the right place to find out more.

Stocking Stuffer Guide 2012

  "Children are grateful when Santa Claus puts in their stockings gifts of toys or sweets. Could I not be grateful to Santa Claus when he put in my stockings the gift of two miraculous legs?"
--G. K. Chesterton

There are likely as many stocking traditions as there are families who stuff stockings. I remember commercials from my youth suggesting that a diamond tennis bracelet--because it did not break the size constraint--was a suitable stocking stuffer. (If that's the case, make the stockings bigger--roughly the square, Fantasy Flight size game box.) In my family, "stocking stuffer" is a price range rather than a size limitation, and our stockings are often accompanied by bonus grocery sacks with things that are too big to fit in the stockings we have.

But for today's discussion of my recommendations for board game stocking stuffers, I'm offering two categories: one of small size, small cost games, and one of slightly larger games falling into a similar price range. Filler (stuffer?) games, if you will.

Here are my picks for 2012. Enjoy! (And if you're interested in larger games to give as gifts, check out our full 2012 gift guide.)

The Name on the Box Top: Reiner Knizia

My favorite Knizia game. Indeed, one of my favorite games.

I am almost certain that those who participate in the board gaming hobby who have tried to tell others about it have, at one point or another, been met with a response of, "Oh, is that like Clue and Monopoly?"

What separates hobby board games from the majority of mass-market titles, aside (arguably) from fun, is the name on the box top. Like the byline on books or the signature in the corner of a painting, hobby board games typically bear the name of their creator. But more than their name, hobby board games typically bear the style of their creator as well. Just like you might expect different things from a book by Kurt Vonnegut than you would from Graham Greene, you can expect different things of a game depending on whose name is on the box top.

The Name on the Box Top may become a regular series about game designers, their trademarks, and what I think of their designs. Or it could die here. In any case, I want to talk today about one of my favorite designers: Reiner Knizia.

It's a Rich Man's World (a review of Money)

It was a few weeks before Thanksgiving, and I had what turned out to be an awkward conversation with my wife.

"My sister called. She wants to borrow Money."

My wife was doing the dishes. She paused, gave me a puzzled look, and said, "Why would she want to borrow money—from us?" I'm the youngest in my family, and this would be a severe breach of the rules of family flow.

Thankfully, after this point we both shared a laugh. My sister wasn't asking to borrow the Benjamins; she was asking to borrow Reiner Knizia's blind bidding and bluffing game of exchanging currencies. So we know that my sister liked it. What do I think? Find out below!

There and Back Again: A Farmer's Tale

This is my first post in a while. Sorry about the silence from my end; I've been traveling all over creation to celebrate Christmas with family. And I've come back with a tale or two about what I played...

My bags were packed with fun games—both for under the tree and for general consumption. I brought some old favorites and some new, and here were the results.

Cause for Giving Thanks

This weekend my wife and I traveled all across the state of Indiana to visit our families for Thanksgiving. We caught up with family members, ate great food, and of course, played some games. Here's a recap of the games I played and what I thought about them.

Things I Learned This Weekend...

This past weekend I traveled to be with my family and to meet my new niece. This doesn't sound like a recipe for gaming, but here are a few things I learned:

• From Wits & Wagers I learned that I didn't pay enough attention in history class. And my school's "knowing dates is not important" philosophy did not help me along the path to victory.
• From The Resistance I learned that my wife will throw me under the bus whenever the first hint of doubt is cast on me.
• From Money I learned that my mild-mannered mother should join in currency trading and exchange.
• From Money I learned that I should not.
• From Incan Gold I learned that I'm the dead guy Indiana Jones would learn from in order to leave with the treasure.
• From my two-year-old niece I learned that a cat piano and an "angry face" are all that's necessary for a good time--games are not always required.