New Board Games – ‘survive’ , ’7 Wonders’ and ‘stone age’

We got 3 new games for christmas – woohoo!! Having put some pics up a number of people have asked what they were like, so i have decided to write a blog post about them for other games made families [I do have to say at this point, that I have nothing to declare! My DH bought me one of the games, and my BIL bought us one and my SB the other, so all fully paid for! however, the links are amazon affiliates and would earn pennies if you bought through them]

These are 3 very different games. I like having different kinds of games – some are fairly fast, some cooperative, some easy on the brain. SOme take a long time, have in depth strategies, and some are pretty back stabbing!

Survive regularly takes less than an hour. It is fairly quick to set up, it is easy to get the hang of the rules, perfectly suited for mixed age and gaming ability. It is a definite back stabber of a game! it takes 4 players, but if you have peepl in other games you can use them to be extra players [sort of] . the plan is to place your people on the island of atlantis in such a way that you can get most of them to escape successfully to any of the 4 corner islands. what stops you? well, island tiles are taken away every turn so the island sinks. if you are standing on that tile, you end up in the water. sharing the water are sharks, whales and sea monsters [more as the game goes on] all ready to tip you out of boats and eat you. its a game to giggle over and although some strategising is helpful, ganging up on the most astute player by the others will make strategising to no avail! we all really enjoy this game. It is a good game for people who rarely play board games too as it doesn’t look intimidating or difficult, and everyone likes making the shark eat someone else!

7 wonders is a game that requires a bit more strategy and thought. played happily by my 11 year old, and it looks more complicated and although has minimal rules to learn, there is a lot of what is best to do itis! don’t let it put you off. if you enjoy playing games, and fancy something different, this is an excellent choice. there is no cental board, you each have a wonder to build and then have to choose cards to ‘build’ things to create points [either directly, or by increasing science or military might]. i like that 7 can play too. it is more complex, and strategising to do. however it is pretty quick, taking under an hour each time we have played, and not a long set up time either. options in your strategy to backstab and derail others strategies.

stone age possibly the most complex of the games due to number of strands tho perhaps les strategic decisions to make than 7 wonders, definitely the longest game. this is more of a tradiotional boardgame – choose what taks you want to do, put ppl on the tasks, a bit of luck as to whether it works etc. v enjoyable game to play. definitely one thats length means you want your beer/diet coke and nibbles on hand! less backstabbing possible, possible for those less strategically minded to do well without constantly asking you what you think is best just needs longer concentration, and therefore best for those that know they like playing games.

do i have a favourite?? well, it depends on the situation which I will choose but think they are 3 very good games.