Puzzle_Gaming
Casual Game Insider
Formula D
2-10 PLAYERS | 60 MINUTES | AGES 8+
2 min |
Spring 2021
Casual Game Insider
BOARD GAMES IN THE CLASSROOM
Gamers gather around a table to unbox a new board game or bring out an old favorite. Together, they enter into a unique experience of mental challenge, social interaction, and creative play — an experience that draws them together. But can this special experience have anything to do with learning? John Coveyou, founder of Genius Games, insists that it does. Whenever you take a seat around a table to play a board game, “your mind can’t not begin to pick up information about the world that the game is themed around.” Without a doubt, learning is part of the experience, but is it a big enough part to justify using board games in the classroom? If so, how can board games be best used for learning?
7 min |
Spring 2021
Casual Game Insider
Save Valentine's Day ... by Avoiding These Games
Dating can be a difficult process. Traditionally, two people might chit-chat over drinks or dinner, then spend two hours in a darkened theater ignoring each other. This is not the most effective means of getting to know someone. A shared activity is a better way to share the real you with someone else.
9 min |
Winter 2021
Casual Game Insider
Holi Festival Of Colors
Spread Joy and Playful Competition
2 min |
Winter 2021
Casual Game Insider
SOLITUDE: DISCOVERING SOLO PLAY IN AN EMPTY GAME CAFÉ
In a time of isolation, like the lockdowns of 2020, the modern board game hobby has a weird identity.
8 min |
Winter 2021
Casual Game Insider
Hidden Role: Ted Alspach and the Emergence of Bezier Games
Eurogames in the early 2000s
6 min |
Winter 2021
Casual Game Insider
Calico is Major Fun!
MAJOR FUN REVIEW
4 min |
Winter 2021
Casual Game Insider
Gridopolis is Major Fun!
MAJOR FUN INTERVIEW
5 min |
Fall 2020
Casual Game Insider
HUES AND CUES
In this party game about colors and shades, can you clue players in on the one color (out of over four hundred) that is yours?
2 min |
Fall 2020
Casual Game Insider
GEN CON ONLINE
Dialing Up the Hype
4 min |
Fall 2020
Casual Game Insider
GAMES & STORYTELLING
TWO SIDES TO EVERY STORY
7 min |
Fall 2020
Casual Game Insider
FOUR SENSES
This abstract strategy game calls on you to use one of your senses that is often underutilized in gaming: can your sense of touch lead you to victory?
2 min |
Fall 2020
Casual Game Insider
GAME REVIEWS: STARLINK
Starlink is a drawing game where you draw constellations in the night sky, and create your own unique celestial nightscape!
2 min |
Fall 2020
Casual Game Insider
DONT SKIP THESE ALTERNATIVES TO UNO
IN 1971...
10+ min |
Fall 2020
Casual Game Insider
Reflections on 10 Years of Gaming
I’ve been playing board games my entire life, but I started getting into the hobby around 2010. My then-girlfriend, now-wife introduced me to Ticket to Ride in grad school. Soon after, friends showed us Carcassonne, Lords of Waterdeep, and Kill Doctor Lucky.
8 min |
Fall 2020
Casual Game Insider
CHRONICLES of CRIME
THE MILLENIUM SERIES
2 min |
Fall 2020
Casual Game Insider
ARCANE WONDERS
The Magic Behind Arcane Wonders
9 min |
Fall 2020
Casual Game Insider
ROBOT INVASION: THE CONVERGENCE OF TABLETOP GAMES AND TECHNOLOGY
It will be a surprise to absolutely no one that technology is slowly creeping into the world of tabletop games, just as it has in every other facet of life. What might actually be surprising is how slowly the creep is. Especially considering the wild success of mobile games and the ubiquity of smartphones, you might expect more tabletop games supplemented with apps. So why are tabletop games lagging behind when we embrace technology in other areas without looking back?
7 min |
Summer 2020
Casual Game Insider
What Kind of Board Gamer Are You?
IT’S SAFE TO SAY THAT WE ALL PLAY BOARD GAMES BECAUSE WE ARE LOOKING TO ENJOY OURSELVES. BUT WHAT KIND OF FUN WE’RE LOOKING FOR CAN DIFFER FROM GAMER TO GAMER. SOME OF US PREFER GAMES THAT INCLUDE EVERYONE AT FAMILY GAME NIGHT. OTHERS SEARCH FOR NEW WAYS TO CHALLENGE THEMSELVES AND TEST THEIR STRATEGIC ACUMEN AGAINST LIKE-MINDED OPPONENTS (OR THEIR LONG-SUFFERING SIGNIFICANT OTHERS). AND THERE ARE OTHERS STILL THAT ARE JUST LOOKING FOR THE CHANCE TO INTRODUCE THEIR FRIENDS TO BOARD GAMES.
8 min |
Summer 2020
Casual Game Insider
Pictures is Major Fun!
MAJOR FUN REVIEW
4 min |
Summer 2020
Casual Game Insider
Pandemic
Taking a Gaming Break from the Outbreak
7 min |
Summer 2020
Casual Game Insider
GAME REVIEWS: MENTAL BLOCKS
Mental Blocks is a cooperative puzzle game in which each player is dealt a card that shows one perspective for the block tower they are building.
10+ min |
Summer 2020
Casual Game Insider
HINDSIGHT IS 2020: REVISITING THE CLASSICS WITH RESTORATION GAMES
There is mounting evidence that the board gaming industry boom is not going away. People of all ages are flocking to board gaming as a means of entertainment, fun, and connecting with others in variable settings. Conventions devoted to promoting the latest games continue to swell, with anticipation of the latest hotness working thousands into a frenzy.
5 min |
Summer 2020
Casual Game Insider
Flipping Out Over SILVER COIN
Game series don’t come along all that often. Expansions, sure, but not an actual series of stand-alone games. Silver is both a series of games (Silver Coin is the third of at least seven planned entries) and a collection of expansions, with each game being both stand-alone as well as an expansion for the previous titles. Even weirder is the notion that the two previous games in the series—Silver and Silver Bullet—serve as expansions to Silver Coin.
2 min |
Summer 2020
Casual Game Insider
BOARD GAME ROCK STARS
5 Game Designers Who Changed the World
9 min |
Summer 2020
Casual Game Insider
Smooth Sailing: 3 Tips For Streamlining Your Gaming Experience
What board games do you play the most, and why? Are they the ones with the best mechanics, or an immersive theme you can really appreciate? What about play time? Maybe you don’t have time (or patience) for those multi-hour epics. While longer, more complex board games are great in their own way, you probably find yourself reaching for games with a combination of quick setup, shorter playtime, and easy to teach rules. So why is that?
7 min |
Fall 2019
Casual Game Insider
Hosting A Party?
Have one of these games on hand.
7 min |
Fall 2019
Casual Game Insider
Origins - The Start Of A Good Time
Over the course of Wednesday, June 12, through Sunday, June 16, over 20,000 people attended the 44th annual Origins Game Fair. Put on by the Game Manufacturers Association (GAMA) and held each year at the Greater Columbus Convention Center in Ohio, what sets Origins apart from other gaming conventions is its focus on playing games.
5 min |
Fall 2019
Casual Game Insider
Paranormal Detectives - A Game Made To Order
On a hot summer day, fans, designers, and publishers of board games meet at a holiday resort by a lake in Poland in order to take part in the V Board Games Lab. Once on-site, they are divided into groups supervised by trainers — representatives of Polish publishing houses and authors of board games. Their task: to design a board game during this 72-hour game jam!
3 min |
Fall 2019
Casual Game Insider
Opening The Floodgates
Creating Experiences through Game Publishing.
5 min |