Choose Your Own Adventure: House of Danger is a new narrative adventure game from Z-Man games. 

We’ve never played a game like it before and it offered our family a one of a kind gaming experience.

Sometimes a game comes out and we just know we are going to love it. 

Whether its because of its theme, mechanic, designer, or publisher, we just know that it’s one we can’t wait to put on our shelves back home. 

Other times, however, it’s not as easy. Maybe it’s something completely different from what we’re used to playing. Perhaps it seems too similar to what we already have. Or maybe we’re just not sure if it’s worth the price. Whatever the reason, there are a lot of games that hit the shelves at stores that we aren’t sure would work for us. That’s why when we can, we like to try a game before we buy it.

Due to a lack of board gaming friends with libraries we can borrow from, we’ve found a lot of different ways to test out games before we purchase them. Here are three of our favorites!

Have you ever wondered if a game was all it was cracked up to be? Especially a game with a gimmicky mechanic? 

We’ve all been there. A new game comes out that looks fun and different and we are instantly intrigued and curious. Sometimes it’s putting a fun twist on an old classic. Sometimes it’s just straight up different and we are squinting our eyes at it wondering, “Is that really as fun as it looks? Will it work for my kids?”

Let me tell you, we’ve had our fair share of buyers remorse when it comes to board games but also a fair amount of pleasant surprises. So in spirit of it being almost Halloween, we thought we’d run through some of our children’s and family games that have either tricked us or treated us with their gimmicks!

What do you look for in a great kid game? 

For us, it’s all about three things:

1. The game must engage our kids so that they want to play long enough to finish it. 
2. It must teach them how game mechanics work in a fun way so they learn and grow in their gaming ability while playing.
3. It has to be enjoyable enough so that we as parents don’t want to run for the hills when our kids bring it to the table. 

If you are looking for a great, dare I say perfect kid game, then Ghost Fighting Treasure Hunters is for you!

Do you have what it takes to become a Food Truck Titan? To best the competition and secure your “American Dream on Wheels” you must be cunning, quick thinking, and shrewd; able to handle adversity and the ups and downs of food truck management while keeping your foot on the gas and cruising to a juicy victory. Are you ready to take a bite out of the competition?