Indrani Perera

poet, publisher & mentor

Tag: best games

Verdant

The latest game on high rotation in this house is Verdant, from Flat Out Games. It's a puzzly, spatial card game for house plant lovers. We can't have house plants because our two cats eat anything green we bring into the house including kale and broccoli on the kitchen table. So the next best thing is this super fun game.

This game is gorgeous and lush with its beautiful plant illustrations, botanical details and descriptions along with the superb components. I'm a sucker for wooden playing pieces and the monsterra leaves that are used to add verdancy to your house plant are sooo cute! It also comes with a customise screen printed bag in which to store the cardboard item tokens.

One of the things I am starting to notice in more recent board games is the new levelled game play on offer. Typically this looks like a basic set-up as an introduction to the game with some bonus goals that can be added later to make the game more difficult and up the level to advanced.

Calico which is from the same designers has a similar layered playing level mechanic going on. I picked up a copy of Calico when I backed Verdant on Kickkstarter and it was the game that we were playing at the end of last year. At the time I couldn't believe that the Verdant was the game I backed but wasn't being played. You must never know what the people are going to go nuts for. And Calico is all about cute cats so I guess it was understandable.

So far we have only played Verdant in the introductory mode and I look forward to trying out the bonus goals once we have nailed the basics. Oh and the Kickstarter copy which we have also comes with the spotless plants expansion, so lots there's lots going on to make this game super replayable.

June 5, 2023
Antidote

I bought this game on a whim and then took it when Miss Thirteen and I went to see our friends in Tassie. It’s become a bit of a tradition for us to take a game to play when we go to visit them.

I really like travelling with games. It gives you something to do in those inevitable times when you have to wait for a plane or a meal or for an event to start. It’s especially useful for keeping small children entertained when travelling (a small packet of coloured pencils and blank notepads are also must haves in the travel kit). It gives everything something to do with their hands and reduces the amount of time spent looking down, staring at a screen.

It’s also a good excuse to buy a new game! And when you have as many games as I seem to have gathered over the years, it’s nice to be able to justify your purchase other than saying, it looks cute, I really must have it! Anyone else have a problem with buying more games than anyone wants to play?

Antidote is set in a lab and you’re a scientist trying to discover an antipode for a toxin that has infected your lab. It involves a bit of elimination and some subterfuge. Kudos to the makers and designers for the science theme. Antidote okay but I think if you’re after a game with deception and elimination, Coup is a lot more repayable.

May 17, 2023
Poetry Games

Over the last few years I've been slowly amassing a collection of board games. They're great for teaching flexibility, patience, turn taking, planning, strategy and basic maths. And they're also heaps of fun to play especially when you choose games with themes you're interested in as well as gorgeous design and production values.

When we visited some very good friends in Tassie they introduced us to the fabulous Poetry for Neanderthals game. In this game a speaker uses words of one syllable to describe a word written on a card. Their team tries to guess what that word is. If the speaker uses words of more than one syllable, they get hit over the head with an inflatable club. Super fun!

Once we played this game, I went hunting for more poetry themed games. I couldn't believe that as a poet, I didn't already own any! Any excuse to buy and play more games really. And because it's poetry I can pretend that it's for 'work'. Win-win.

I managed to track down the brilliant Haikubes and Paint Chip Poetry, both from the wonderful USA publisher Chronicle Books. I fell in love with this publisher when I was in my twenties and reading the Griffin and Sabine Books by Nick Bantock. Both of these games are a kind of hybrid beast – not quite game and not quite a poetry prompt but fun to play with a group of people.

If you're interested in checking out games / tools that work as prompts for writing, check out this post. And if you come across any poetry games, please let me know.

March 20, 2023
Prompt This

Do you ever get stuck for words? Or ideas? I know I do. All the time! That's where writer's prompts come in super handy. Pretty much every writing class I've ever done was structured around a series of writing prompts to get my imagination firing and creativity flowing.

Think of a prompt such as 'What lies beyond the stars?' or 'Write about your day from the point of view of your shoe' or 'Where is home?' I just made all those up but it took me a while to figure them out. The brilliant thing about writer's prompts is someone else has already done the hard work of figuring out the prompt for you so all you have to do is to respond to it.

So far I have added these prompt packs to my collection: The Writer's Toolbox, Writer Emergency Pack and The Writing Deck: 52 Prompts for Putting Pen to Paper. These kits are aimed at storytelling and writing fiction but you can easily use them to write poetry as well. Especially if you're interested in writing narrative poems.

On a slightly more poetic note comes Poems to Share II from Red Room Poetry. Red Room Poetry are a great Australian organisation that promotes and supports poetry through programs for schools as well as the publication of poetry on its website. The Poems to Share II prompt cards are brilliant. On one side is a short poem and on the other a prompt inspired by the poem. The deck comes with instructions on how to use the cards as well as a description of different poetic techniques.

What happens when you add dice and metaphors? Well you get metaphor dice of course! Taylor Mali is a genius and this idea is amazing. Roll three dice, get your metaphor and then expand it to create a poem. Brilliant!

I'm hoping there are more prompt decks for writing poetry out there. Drop me a line if you know of any!

March 7, 2023
Splendor

So it turns out that when your kids don't want to play games, it's actually that they don't want to play any of the games you've backed and bought! Instead, they want to obsess over a game you played at a friend's years ago and that your husband bought on impulse at the discount store up the road.

It started out with the youngest girl and I playing together. Then the Lovely G joined in and finally Miss Seventeen couldn't hold out any longer and joined us. It's been so lovely to be doing something together as a family again.

We've been playing just about every night for the last few weeks. One of the cool things about playing a game with different numbers of people is the way it changes up the strategy you need to use. I have to admit that I'm not particularly good at this game and almost always come last, in spite of the tips and coaching I receive from the girls. But I don't mind because I love that we are here, together, playing this game.

February 19, 2023
Two Player Games

Family games nights are great but sometimes there's just two of you and what do you do then?

I feel like a lot of the bigger games are designed for more players and optimally for four people which seems to be a standard family unit these days. So what do you do when it's just you and your partner and you have no kids? Or how about if there's just you and one child?

Luckily there are some games (that play better in my opinion) with just two players like the deluxe versions of Citadels. And then there are the hugely successful games like Seven Wonders (which my youngest daughter loved so much that she bought it herself with her own pocket money!) which bring out a two player version. In this case, Seven Wonder Duel.

And then there are games that are specifically designed for two players. Like Jaipur and Hive. I'm know there are more games out there but these are the two that we own.

In Jaipur you are competing to become the Maharaja's personal trader by collecting and selling goods.

I bought this game because it was beautifully illustrated with gorgeous components which as you already know, I'm a sucker for. And I was so excited when I opened the box because the game tray is gorgeous and fits the elements perfectly. So many games these days give you little plastic baggie to store your pieces which I find really off-putting. I know that designing a game tray isn't easy so I really appreciate it when a designer gets it right.

I love Jaipur because it is fun to play. I feel that because you get to have some little wins along the way, it doesn't feel so bad if you loose the game at the end. Which is important to little peeps who may not like losing. And let's face, who does? This game is definitely in the cosy game corner.

Hive is a twist on the two player strategy of Chess but it's more accessible for younger players and more appealing with the insects on the tiles. Chess can drag on and adults can crush kids making out not a lot of fun. We own the portable version which comes with little bag so we can take it wherever we go.

I feel like more and more designers are realising that there's a demand for two player games and are rising to the challenge of making games that are interesting, complex and beautiful. Titles that may be worth checking out include: Inhuman Conditions, Summoner Wars, Targi, The Fox in the Forest, Yinsh, I haven't played these games (yet!) but they look cool! For more ideas check out this great article.

January 16, 2023
Calico

This super cute board game from Flatout Games has captured the hearts of the whole family. How could it not? After all, we are a house of cat lovers and share our home with two very funny and quirky Tonkinese cats. If you're curious, the breed is a cross between Burmese and Siamese. We have one cat that is more Burmese in nature and build. She is the adventurous one who will eat anything including broccoli and kale and she used to climb the curtains when she was a kitten. The other cat looks very Siamese and she is super vocal and loves to be with people. She also likes a good belly rub and she played fetch when she was a kitten.

In the board game Calico, you are stitching together a patchwork quilt using cardboard tiles. You're aiming to group patterns together to entice a cat to come and snooze on your quilt. You can also add buttons to the quilt if you match colours. The game has a lot of intuit variety with changeable goal tokens set into each player's board. You can also choose from a range of cats. The instruction booklet has pictures and bios of each cat featured in the game.

I picked up this Kickstarter edition of Calico when I backed the game Verdant which we still haven't played! But I'm not complaining. It's great to be playing one of the new games that have arrived recently, even if it's not one of the ones that I actually backed!

November 21, 2022
Back It

During the seemingly endless lockdowns during the pandemic I spent a lot of time on Kickstarter, drooling over new board games. The girls and I would pore over the graphics, read through the descriptions and watch the videos. And then I would decide which games to back. We decided to invest our pennies into Birdwatcher, City of the Great Machine, Honeybuzz, Mythwind, Roll Camera and Verdant.

For those of you new to Kickstarter, it’s a platform for designers and creatives to source funding for their projects. It allows them to raise the money they need to pay for the printing and production instead of having to take out a loan or use their savings to do so. Although projects aren’t guaranteed, the pay off for a backer is, hopefully a shiny, brand new thing. Cos there’s also books, cameras and just about anything you can think of.

It’s a super clever platform with projects having stretch goals and Kickstarter exclusives to get backers excited and spending their money to back the project. Stretch goals generally improve the quality of the components for a game when a certain funding goal is reached. For example a linen finish on cards or screen printing on meeples when $10,000 has been pledged to the campaign. Kickstarter exclusives are game bonuses that only folks who back the original game on Kickstarter can get. I’m still wishing I’d known about Coup when it was on Kickstarter so I could have got the bonus cards.

When you back a game, you then receive emails and behind the scenes updates as the game is brought to life. And you know how much I love hearing about the creative process. My favourite email updates so far have been from Malachi Ray Rempen of Kean Bean Studio when I backed the Roll Camera expansion, the B-Movie Expansion. He was super funny and I love his graphics.

The other great thing about backing games is you can often buy other games by the same publisher. Sometimes you can even get the Kickstarter exclusives you missed out on in an initial campaign. When I backed Verdant I grabbed the opportunity to get Calico with the bonus content and Cascadia. By backing the B-Movie Expansion I could also get the original Roll Camera plus the travelling card game, Itchy Feet.

The only problem with backing games is the time you have to wait before they arrive on your doorstep. A lot can happen in that time. Like your kids deciding that they’ve grown out of games and not wanting to play any of them any more! It’s okay, Birdwatcher, Roll Camera and Verdant can wait until they’re ready or I decide to host a games night. Now that they’re here, they’re not going anywhere. And I still have the excitement of City of the Great Machine, Honeybuzz and Mythwind arriving on my doorstep to look forward to. Future me is going to be very happy indeed!

November 7, 2022
Zeus on the Loose

We take games with us when we go travelling. It started with our three month trip to South America way back in 2013 when the girls were six and half and two and a half years old respectively. That game was a cute little deck of cards with watercolour pantings. For the life of me I can't remember its name even though we played it at restaurants waiting for food, in hotel rooms before bedtime and on trains travelling to new places.

On our most recent family trip to Tassie to see our good friends, we discovered a fabulous shop on the main street of their closest town, Deloraine. I love Deloraine, with its fabulous pub meals, quirky shops and the gorgeous river along which it is situated. The shop had a great selection of games and on a whim I picked up Zeus on the Loose. It quickly became a firm family favourite and we played it over and over again. Which is pretty good when your kids are now twelve and sixteen.

Zeus on the Loose is another game from the publisher, Game Wright. We already have loads of their games because they are perfect for families and younger children. They typically involve some luck, some strategy and a little bit of thinking but not too much.

This game is fast and fun. Just what you need for some down time after a day spent sightseeing! Kids who are fans of the Percy Jackson series of books will love the Greek mythology theme. And for parents – it's also a maths game so you can sneak in some learning while you're travelling and the kids won't care cos they're having too much fun!

June 15, 2022
A Brief Board Games Guide

You know I've been bitten by the board game bug. Here's a breakdown of the different kinds of games you can buy, some rules for successful family gaming as well suggestions for games to play.

There are all kinds of modern games often known as Euro games because they originated in Europe and rely on strategy instead of luck.

Some of the game types are: area control games (Risk), co-operative games (Forbidden Desert, Orchard, Pandemic, Wildcraft), deck building games (Harry Potter: Hogwarts Battle), legacy games (Charterstone), puzzles (Sagrada), resource building (7 Wonders), secret identity (Codenames), worker placement (Agricola) and tile placement (Carcassone, King Domino). Games can also fit into more than one of the categories I've listed.

Popular games such as Carcassone, Catan, Codenames and Ticket to Ride bring out expansions for fans and collectors clamouring for more. They're kinda like the games version of a fast-food franchise.

My general rules for playing board games are:

* Double the suggested playing time on the box, especially if you are playing it for the first time or with people who haven't played it before.

* Don't be put off by the suggested age, my nine year old plays lots of games recommended for 14+. I think sometimes the age limit reflects the themes of the games as well as their difficulty.

* If you have lots of people who want to play the same game, split up into teams. It's lots of fun especiallly for a game like Istanbul where you have to work out the best strategy to win. It's also great if there are younger kids keen to join in on a more complex game.

* Have snacks to keep you going through the longer games.

* If the cards are going to be used a lot, get plastic sleeves to protect them. Especially important for a game like Coup where you have to keep your identity secret and a mark on the cards can give you away.

* Take time to read through the rules before trying to play it with your family.

If you've got very young kids, co-operative games are great. Losing can easily bring on meltdowns and tears for the very small who aren't as fast or as smart as older members of the family.

These are my current favourite games:

Azul (a crossword style pattern game)

Boggle (an oldie but a goodie)

Citadels Deluxe (I like the art work much better than the original Citadels)

Coup (brilliant secret identity and bluffing card game)

Crypt (dice and strategy)

Dixit (a story telling / guessing game)

Hive (strategy game for folks who like chess)

Jaipur (two player card game)

Legendary Forests (peaceful tile placement)

Mesozooic (like those little plastic puzzles with a piece missing you had as a kid)

Möbi (think maths meets Scrabble without the board)

And some contemporary classics:

Bohnanza (trading game. I'm not a huge fan of the art work but it's a great game)

Love Letter (card game)

Sleeping Queens (card game for young players)

Spot-It (fast paced pattern recognition card game)

Sushi Go (cute card game for young players)

Ticket To Ride Europe (good for rainy afternoons)

7 wonders (great for large groups – up to seven people can play)

Happy Gaming!

April 23, 2020