Family Game Night Essentials

As you might be aware from some of my other blog posts (See Game of the Year Post) we are a big game-playing family.  We also attend several "game nights" at friend's houses.
There are two games in particular that we have been packing for various game nights.  Both are fun, fast and easy to learn.  They have an element of strategy and surprise and keep you laughing and yelling (in some cases).

BALDERDASH
The first one is a family favorite. It's been around forever, but is loads of fun.  Plus, many people can play. Or, play in teams if you have a lot of people who want to play.  So much fun! You will laugh til it hurts! I promise.  Plus, kids are allowed to lie in this game.....so that makes it even more fun for them.

The goal is to lie your way through the answer by trying to convince the other players that you know the answer to the question or topic that is posed to you. Of course, if you actually know the answer that you will score more points. But, we have played this game many times and I don't think anyone has ever answered the question correctly. A few people had responses that were very close, but the topics are funny and random....so it's rare for anyone to know the real answer! The fun is in hearing what people think the answer might be!

All players play at the same time.  They submit their answers on a little sheet of paper. The person whose turn it is to read the question, also writes the answer on a sheet of paper.  Then, this player reads the real answer along with all the other submitted answers.  You then go around the table and have people say which one they think is the correct answer.  This can be challenging if there are many good answers.  Plus, you may want to pick your own just to influence others to think your answer might be right! Some of the answere are so outrageous that you actually hope they are the truth....but you never know with this game.  The topics are funny, the answers are funnier.

Looks like there's a trial version in case you want to try it out before investing in the full-sized version.

 

 Balderdash has many different versions of the game. Seems like every time the game is reproduced, they add a new cover. I don't really care for the current version's cover. I liked the older ones that they created. But, some of the older, vintage, versions of the game are getting quite pricey! I guess this is a testament to how much fun the game is. People like the nostalgia of the old vintage box art!  I think this white one will get very dirty over time and is harder to identify in your stack of games.  The other brighter boxes were better, in my opinion.

This is a game night classic, however.


COVER YOUR ASSETS

Another game we've been playing a lot is "Cover Your Assets".  We've played with several different families and they've all bought their own copy of the game.  The nice thing is that "Cover Your Assets" is a simple card game.  You don't have to worry about a lot of pieces.  The game can be taught and played relatively quickly. It's the strategies that the players create, either individually, or together, that make the game fun and unpredictable.

We love it! It can be downright nasty too....especially as players gang up on other players to try to steal their assets.

The game is an asset hoarding game for the most part. You try to be the first player to have a million dollars in assets.  This can sometimes be accomplished in one round, but it usually takes 2-3 rounds to satisfy the million dollar bounty. On your turn, you can choose to lay down assets onto your own pile, or try to steal another player's top-most asset.  Because only the top-most assets are visible to the other players, these are the only ones eligible to get stolen. If they are a high-valued, high-target asset, you will want to cover it quickly, but if there are several players in the game, it can take a little time until it's your turn again and you have the chance to "cover your assets".  So, anticipation builds while you wait to see if anyone is going to try to battle to steal your pile.  High-valued assets become easy targets and may change hands frequently.  The game builds in excitement especially towards the end of the game and with the addition of wild cards in the deck.

SO MUCH FUN and it's nice that it is reasonably priced.  I think I bought our copy for about $12.


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