Holiday Gaming: Family Games

Because holidays are for family.

By now, you may be under the impression that I prefer heavy games, with lots of thinking and strategy and little wooden bits.

And you would be correct.  Love that stuff.

BUT, that's not to say less heavy games are bad.  I don't care for them for the most part, but I'll play them.
And so we come to Family Games.  These games (by my own definition which I am making up at this very moment) have pretty simple rules, play somewhat quickly, and almost always involve a reasonable amount of luck.  So while hardcore gamers like myself may not love these (I like lots of complexity, tough decisions, little to no luck), they are great for people like, say, my family who just want to have fun.  Hence, "family games."  These games are accessible to everyone and not just people who treat boardgames as a hobby/way of life instead of just a way to pass the time.

Enough background.  Every Christmas, I play boardgames with my family.  I try to get them to play heavy euros and rarely succeed.  So we play lighter games, where my chances of winning are significantly decreased.

Here's the rundown of the new games we played this holiday season:

1.  Sushi Go!

The name of this game is obviously borrowed from what the referee screams before a sushi eating contest (3...2...1...Sushi GO!!), or the intestinal effect one gets after eating bad mall sushi (never eat mall sushi!).
Sushi Go is a very simple card drafting game with very cute artwork.  Players play cards simultaneously, then pass their hand, then play another card, then pass the hand, etc.  The point of the game is to make sets of various types of tasty treats (tempura, nigiri, maki rolls, sashimi) which score points.  The rules are super simple, and though a lot of luck is involved there is plenty of decision making and room for strategy like any other card drafting game (knowing what's coming, what you've passed, what your opponents want).

Food should not have faces.

We played this one 5 times.  I won 3 and tied for first in another.  That counts as a net win for me.

Win Record: 1 for 1

2.  Splendor

MY PRECIOUS!!!

Splendor is a Spiel des Jahres (Family game of the year) nominee, and rightfully so.
It's all about collecting gems (henceforth referred to as "the shinies") and using those shinies to buy cards which are worth points and give you discounts on buying future cards.
On your turn, you have the options to take 3 different colored shinies, take 2 of the same color shinies, reserve a card to buy later along with a gold (joker shiny), or buy a card.

Shiny.

This game really shines in two regards.  One is the component quality.  The artwork is very well done and the shinies are depicted on very solid poker chips, not the plastic kind but the kind that makes the nice clicky noises that drive my sister crazy.  Normally I would call this a cop out, because individual gem-shaped shinies could be cooler.  But those could also be small and fiddly and I just like the way these turn out.
This game is also great, I think, as a gateway into heavier games.  The rules are simple and the decisions don't seem very tough, but there is some strategy and engine-building elements involved.

A light strategy game that looks nice and is a decent amount of fun.  I call Splendor a splendid game, though it's not complex enough for my taste, so I can't call it splendiferous.  

My mom is not so great at strategy games.  But she gets this one somehow.  She won both times we played.  Kudos to her.

Win Record: 1 for 2

3.  Machi Koro

Machi Koro is a tableu building game, where you buy cards to expand your city of Machi Koro.  The goal of the game is to build the 4 big buildings that every player starts with.  To do so, you need money, which you get from the smaller buildings you build throughout the game.

The game works on a Settlers of Catan type dice rolling system.  When a certain number is rolled, it triggers certain cards matching that number.  Say you roll a 3.  You may have a card that gives you money when you roll a 3.  Another player may have a card that give them money when anyone rolls a 3.  Another play may have a card that steals YOUR money when you roll a 3.  And some cards give you more money for having certain types of other buildings (like the Cheese factory gives you more money the more Ranches you own).

Let it be known that I absolutely hate Settlers of Catan.  I hate dice rolling.  I hate being at the mercy of that numbered cube.  I wish that die would die.

Machi Koro is very simple and highly luck-based, though there is a bit of engine-building here.  I'm just not into the dice-rolling.  Would play again with casual gamers and family, but I'm not too impressed, especially with the hype this game has been getting.

Also, my copy of the game came with several mis-cut cards, which just makes me angry.

We played once.  I had everything I needed to win.  Then I rolled a number on what should have been my final turn that let everyone else steal my money so I couldn't buy the winning building.

Win Record: 1 for 3

4.  Tokaido

Tokaido is a game about traveling across Japan, doing all the things vacationing travelers would do in Japan.  Eat good food, meet other travelers, take in the beautiful scenery, buy souvenirs, stuff like that.
Players move across the road as many spaces as they like on their turn, however whoever is farthest back on the road gets the next turn.  So you have the choice to jump far ahead of everyone and get to those hot springs before someone else can, but then players behind you can take it more slowly and get in extra turns while they mosey along a few spaces at a time.
Decisions in this game involve choosing when to jump ahead and stick behind and when to take what you want/need versus blocking spaces from other players who need them.  Kinda interesting.

Peace be the journey.

While there are decisions to make, there are few difficult ones.  Decision making becomes more important towards the end of the game, when players need that one last visit to the temple or last souvenir to complete their set, but early game consists of everyone moving as slow as possible to get as much stuff as possible which isn't too exciting.

Yet there is a very zen feel to this game.  I just enjoyed the trip.  And when I didn't have any particularly good plan, I just went shopping.  Shopping is always fun.  This game is just like real life.
Furthermore, this game is very thematic and very pretty.  I like Japanese-themed games, mostly because of the artwork that goes along with it, and this game is no exception.

I would suggest this one if you are looking for a pretty, thematic, chill game.

Oh, and I won this one.

Win Record: 2 for 4

5.  Wasabi

Hot.

I picked up Wasabi at my local game store recently, knowing it was out of print (I have a thing for having to have games that are out of print) and that it was a family game I could give as a gift to them.

Wasabi is about playing ingredient tiles on the board one at a time, trying to get ingredients in a row that match one of your recipes.  The recipes vary in length from 2 to 5, with more points awarded for completing harder recipes.  Furthermore, the ingredients for 3 to 5 length recipes don't have to be in order listed on the card, but doing so means completing the recipe "with style", awarding you green wasabi cubes which are extra points on top of the points for just completing the recipe.  Wasabi cubes get stored in little ceramic bowls, which are there for no real reason other than to look awesome.

The final complication is that completing a recipe allows you to take a special power card, like the Spicy! card which lets you play two ingredients on a turn instead of one, or the Stack! card which lets you play on top of a previously played tile, or the Wasabi! card which gets you a wasabi cube when played and is used to block spaces on the board to block other players from completing recipes there.

Very easy light game.  Lots of luck involved, tiny bit a strategy, involving a bit of planning but mostly involving being mean and blocking people.

The being mean strategy led me to the win by a landslide.

Win Record: 3 for 5


That's the final score.  Decent win rate, especially compared to my 0 for 7 last holiday season :/

Hope everyone got in some great gaming over the holidays!