Recap

February Gaming Recap

In February, we played 28 different games from new releases to old classics. Here are our picks for the best games we played last month.

Monthly recaps are to help you know about all the games we played in the past month and share our favorite games as well as some end-of-month awards. Not all of the games we play make it onto social media or the blog so this is a fun way to show you what we have played behind the scenes and which games left an impression.

Check out our January 2022 Recap.

February Games Played

Make sure to let us know on our social accounts which of these games you want to hear more about!

7 Wonders
7 Wonders Architects
Abstract Academy
Adventure land
Animal Upon Animal
Azul (review)
Can’t Stop
Chronicles of Avel
Draftosaurus
Family Feud – Disney Edition
Floriferous (review)
Go Away Monster!
Go Nuts for Donuts
Happy City
Inspector Mouse: the Great Escape (review)
It’s a Wonderful World
Kids Chronicle: Quest for the Moon Stone
King of Tokyo + expansions
Legendary Marvel + Messiah Complex Expansion (review)
Libertalia Winds of Galecrest (review)
Lucky Numbers
Mountains out of Molehills
Onitama
The Quest for El Dorado
Red7
Tapestry (Review)
Tiny Epic Dinosaurs (review)
Yummy Yummy Monster Tummy

Kelsey’s Favorite Game: Abstract Academy

We’ve played Abstract Academy mostly behind the scenes with family this month and I’m just charmed by it. This is a great grab and go game to have ready for travel – which is exactly what we did!

I’m always impressed by how a game with so few components – in this case cards – can provide such a full experience. I love the challenge of building and creating the patterns that I need to score the round goals for myself while also playing aggressively to break up the patterns of the other players.

The art theme, perfect for an abstract strategy game, also hit well with some of the more timid game players we introduced it to. I foresee bringing this one along with us quite a bit this year.

Adam’s Favorite Game: It’s A Wonderful World

It’s A Wonderful World is a drafting game published by Lucky Duck Games and I’ve often heard it compared to 7 Wonders. Both are family weight drafting games with a “nation-building” theme so I can see why 7 Wonders comes to mind.

There is way more to explore with It’s A World World than just card-drafting. The best part of the game is the tableau-building and resource production that happen between the drafting rounds that separate this game from other drafting games. I love how the resources produce one at a time in successive order. This allows cards to be built and then produce resources right away. It creates a cool chaining effect that is very strategically satisfying.

Each of our games moved quickly and I finished the game feeling like I accomplished a lot, but also wishing for one more round – in a good way. So far, we have only played at two players, so I look forward to introducing it to more people and seeing if it still plays as quickly at a higher player counts.

Easy recommendation for anyone who enjoys card drafting and tableau building.

Kid’s Favorite Game: TIE! The Chronicles of Avel & Kids Chronicles: Quest for the Moon Stone

The kids couldn’t decide which of these games was their favorite for this month, so we let them pick both since each game is excellent for their own reason.

Kids Chronicles: Quest for the Moon Stone

Published by Lucky Duck, Kids Chronicles takes the popular Chronicles of Crime series and transforms it into a kid-friendly theme using the same app and card scanning gameplay found in the Chronicles of Crime series. Our kids were apprentice magicians solving mysteries in a magical kingdom. The game comes with 5 total cases with a tutorial mission. Our nine-year-old could lead her siblings through each game without our help. (Parenting Win!)

Over the course of two days, they played every mission and are now eagerly waiting for more. Each mission is one and done and takes about 45 minutes to complete. Our kids liked this one a lot and are excited to share it with their friends.

The Chronicles of Avel

The other game our kids couldn’t get enough of was Chronicles of Avel by Rebel Studios. If the kids didn’t pick it, Adam might have also picked this one as his favorite of the month. It will definitely be in the running for the top family game of the year. Check out our Reel here to take a look!

This family cooperative game is a mix of a tower defense/adventure game. The players are warriors who will go out and explore the land tiles to upgrade gear, fight monsters, and place traps all before the Beast arrives on the gameboard. Once the Beast has entered the land, all the monsters march towards the castle. The hero must defeat all the creatures before any of them enter the castle to win the game.

Our kids loved rolling the dice to defeat the monsters. Adam really enjoyed exploring the lands to find the traps needed for the end battle. The art and components are excellent and it is definitely one you should try out with your family if you love exploration and dice battle games.

We also got to play with the Adventurer’s Tool Kit expansion and recommend picking this up with the base game since it adds more monsters, boots as a hero item, and new land tiles to explore. Chronicles of Avel is awaiting a release date – we’ll share on instagram as soon as we know when that is!

End of Month Awards

Best Expansion: Marvel Legendary: Messiah Complex

Messiah Complex adds in new challenging keywords and an excellent Scheme Twist adjustment where the villain’s scheme is partially veiled and will be revealed fully as you progress through the game. Wonderfully thematic and can really up the challenge for experienced Marvel Legendary players.

Best Game played on Board Game Arena: Go Nuts for Donuts

Most Played Game: Yummy Yummy Monster Tummy – 9 times

From the Vault – Most Fun Classic Played: King of Tokyo

We introduced this classic dice rolling, giant monster, battle game with our two oldest boys and they loved it! They both got way into it and it reminded me of the early days of board gaming and how fun it is to get the older games to the table again.

Highly recommend the power-up expansion to this game which gives each monster unique player powers.