Ahh, 2015 at last. For the second straight year I was able to put together the same number of posts on this site, 41. Maybe I can do better this year (probably will be a stretch to keep things up instead). This first post is easy though, I have lots of new games to discuss that found their way under the Christmas tree last year. What follows is a set of quick reviews on a number of the fun items my family and I gave each other as gifts.
Civilization: Beyond Earth - The latest iteration of the Civilization series builds on the base of the Civilization V engine to give a futuristic Civ game - spiritual successor to Alpha Centauri. The game is standard Civilization with futuristic and alien trappings. You found a settlement, research technologies, build upgrades, explore, try to survive and beat the other civilizations on the planet that mankind has come to after things have deteriorated on earth. I have to say that the futuristic trappings really fit well with the Civ model. Having scouting units build expeditions to explore crashed satellites, alien lifeforms wandering the planet that have to be dealt with, new resources to exploit are all great. If you like the Civ games, this is more of the same with new lip gloss and spit polish. Civilization: Beyond Earth gets 4 Mick Happies.
Jeff Foxworthy's You Might Be A Redneck If… - We like board games around our house and every Christmas and most birthdays will see a new one showing up. This Christmas we had several to play with including You Might Be A Redneck If… For those unfamiliar, the game is based on the comedy of Jeff Foxworthy. You are a redneck trying to stock up your trailer with the usual things you might need such as a TV, satellite dish, fly swatter, beef jerky, a recliner and your dog. To get them, you have to move around the board to various locations. To move, you guess the right answer to a redneck joke. Having family from the South, many of the answers were no-brainers for me but of course my mom, who grew up in the South beat all of us. This is a fun board game sure to bring some laughs and provide good clean fun (as long as you don't mind being hard on some rednecks). 4 Mick Happies.
Despicable Me Minion The Game of Life - I have about 5 different versions of Monopoly and two different versions of Clue and now 3 different versions of The Game of Life. We love the minions from Despicable Me around our house, who doesn't right? The latest iteration of their invasion into all things is this version of Life. You are a Minion who starts with a Minion type job with the goal of collecting 5 bunches of bananas. To help you, you will earn banana bucks from your job, which can be traded in for a bunch of bananas. You will also land on various spots and pick up cards that tell you what to do. The game is for very young ages and can be played very quickly. With 3 of us, we completed two games in less than 30 minutes and laughed at some of the mechanics of the game such as the minion spinners that cause you to change direction when you reach them. If you like cute board games that take minimal time to setup and play, this is a good one. The math is simple and the mechanics are a good variation on the classic Life game. Probably good for ages 5 or 6 and up. 4 Mick Happies.
Metal Earth Millennium Falcon Model - If you have gone to a Barnes & Noble store and looked at their puzzle/game section, you have probably seen these metal puzzles. They are small sheets of metal that have individual pieces that can be punched out and assembled into things like the Eiffel Tower or in this case, the Millennium Falcon. This was in my stocking this year along with an X-Wing model. Everything you need, instructions and all the pieces are included in the packet except the tools to manipulate the pieces to lock together. A pair of tweezers and a needle-nose pliers. They are needed to pull tabs through slots and fold them down - which is how pieces are locked together. Warning, this is not exactly the easiest puzzle to put together, but it does get easier as you go along. Also, the pieces are small, which is where the tweezers can help. It took about 2 hours of dedicated work and a bit of swearing to get the Falcon show above built. The metal can be a little sharp too, so you will probably hurt your fingers at some point. The finished product of your effort does look cool though. If you have patience for it and the right tools, there is probably a Metal Earth puzzle for you. This one gets 3.5 Mick Happies.
Personalized Puzzle from Shutterfly - My wife often gets personalized gifts via Shutterfly and this year was no exception. She decided to have a traditional puzzle made from some of our family photos. What resulted was an awesome ~250 piece puzzle that we were able to assemble in about 30 - 40 minutes working together as a team. It was also great seeing the family pictures emerge as the pieces came together. If you like puzzles at all, I recommend you get one for your family. 5 Mick Happies.
Happy New Year!
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