R&R Games' 2015 lineup contains a full array of fun, family-friendly games of varying types from strategy, party and family games to dexterity, team and fantasy games.
Dexterity games require players to do some kind of physical activity. In Cup-A-Cup, players place a set of cups with colored symbols on them on the table and get ready to roll a set of dice containing the same symbols. Players will need to think quickly and have fast hands to win.
Each turn, a player grabs the dice and rolls. As soon as the dice stop rolling, the symbols indicate which cup on the table is up for grabs. The first person to grab it takes control of it and places it in front of him or her. But no cup is safe. A cup can be taken right out from under another player's nose unless he or she grabs it first. The first player to gather three cups wins. It's a fantastic game for kids, though older folks may feel intimidated.
The game Spectaculum, by famous designer Reiner Knizia, uses the theme of medieval traveling performance groups as the backdrop for a financial investment game for two to four players.
There are four performing groups to invest in, and each group has 11 performers available to hire. Each player starts with one free performer from each group. A performer is worth the going rate of his or her particular group. The going rate can go up and down as players strategically play colored tokens matching each group on a central board.
The game is easy to learn, family-friendly and takes only 30 minutes to play. It's heavy on mechanics and light on theme.
Train games are a dime a dozen, but R&R Games has come up with something fresh and entertaining for two to four players. Imagine its the early 1900s and the eastern United States is starting to explode with train routes. In the game Spike, players are trying to build rail networks between cities to score points as well as deliver goods from one city to another.
The most points earned will crown the winner. A great aspect of this game is the ability to upgrade a train to allow greater speed, more frequent card draws (for laying tracks) and more space for commodities. This train game encompasses building train networks, upgrading trains, getting paid for connections, and picking up and delivering commodities for pay. The best part is the easy-to-learn rules.
Two to four wizards face off in battle with the Spellcaster card game. In this simple duel of wizardry, two things matter: energy and sorcery points. If a player collects enough sorcery sapphires (points), he or she wins. Also, if a player can exhaust an opponent's energies, he or she can win. The game comes with more than 60 spell cards, each containing different powers, but the gameplay is not too complex. The different spell cards are not very balanced, so luck plays a role based on drawing the right cards. However, there is enough variety among the cards to hold interest. The areas of magic are combat, conjuring, healing and sorcery. Be aware the box art has a wizard wearing a suggestive costume.
One of the most popular games at parties is charades. But the game Time's Up: Title Recall takes things to a new level. To begin, the topics are limited to guessing the titles of books, movies and music. Play takes place over three rounds and teams work through a stack of cards containing titles until the stack runs out.
Every round, a member of the current team tries to get his teammates to guess as many titles as possible in 30 seconds. However, the charm of the game is that the rules change each round. In Round 1, a person can use any kind of clue to get people to guess. In the second round, no more than one word can be used as a clue but any use of gestures or sounds is fine. In Round 3, it gets tough. No words are allowed at all. This is a great, must-have party game.
Just when it seems all of the ideas for good party games are taken, a fresh, new game comes out. Spit It Out! is all about answering questions in a rapid-fire, fast-talking extravaganza but with a twist. A person tries to truthfully answer as many questions as possible before time runs out, but a random number determines which question he or she must answer wrong.
For example, a round begins, and it is determined the answer to Question 3 must be wrong. Ready? Where do you buy food? Grocery Store. What is the third month of the year? March. Name two countries that share a border with the U.S.? Transylvania and Jurassic World. Its harder than it sounds and points are given for correct answers and the wrong answer at the right time. A turn takes 30 seconds. This is a fantastic, new game allowing players to get creative when answering questions incorrectly.
Dexterity games require players to do some kind of physical activity. In Cup-A-Cup, players place a set of cups with colored symbols on them on the table and get ready to roll a set of dice containing the same symbols. Players will need to think quickly and have fast hands to win.
Each turn, a player grabs the dice and rolls. As soon as the dice stop rolling, the symbols indicate which cup on the table is up for grabs. The first person to grab it takes control of it and places it in front of him or her. But no cup is safe. A cup can be taken right out from under another player's nose unless he or she grabs it first. The first player to gather three cups wins. It's a fantastic game for kids, though older folks may feel intimidated.
The game Spectaculum, by famous designer Reiner Knizia, uses the theme of medieval traveling performance groups as the backdrop for a financial investment game for two to four players.
There are four performing groups to invest in, and each group has 11 performers available to hire. Each player starts with one free performer from each group. A performer is worth the going rate of his or her particular group. The going rate can go up and down as players strategically play colored tokens matching each group on a central board.
The game is easy to learn, family-friendly and takes only 30 minutes to play. It's heavy on mechanics and light on theme.
Train games are a dime a dozen, but R&R Games has come up with something fresh and entertaining for two to four players. Imagine its the early 1900s and the eastern United States is starting to explode with train routes. In the game Spike, players are trying to build rail networks between cities to score points as well as deliver goods from one city to another.
The most points earned will crown the winner. A great aspect of this game is the ability to upgrade a train to allow greater speed, more frequent card draws (for laying tracks) and more space for commodities. This train game encompasses building train networks, upgrading trains, getting paid for connections, and picking up and delivering commodities for pay. The best part is the easy-to-learn rules.
Two to four wizards face off in battle with the Spellcaster card game. In this simple duel of wizardry, two things matter: energy and sorcery points. If a player collects enough sorcery sapphires (points), he or she wins. Also, if a player can exhaust an opponent's energies, he or she can win. The game comes with more than 60 spell cards, each containing different powers, but the gameplay is not too complex. The different spell cards are not very balanced, so luck plays a role based on drawing the right cards. However, there is enough variety among the cards to hold interest. The areas of magic are combat, conjuring, healing and sorcery. Be aware the box art has a wizard wearing a suggestive costume.
One of the most popular games at parties is charades. But the game Time's Up: Title Recall takes things to a new level. To begin, the topics are limited to guessing the titles of books, movies and music. Play takes place over three rounds and teams work through a stack of cards containing titles until the stack runs out.
Every round, a member of the current team tries to get his teammates to guess as many titles as possible in 30 seconds. However, the charm of the game is that the rules change each round. In Round 1, a person can use any kind of clue to get people to guess. In the second round, no more than one word can be used as a clue but any use of gestures or sounds is fine. In Round 3, it gets tough. No words are allowed at all. This is a great, must-have party game.
Just when it seems all of the ideas for good party games are taken, a fresh, new game comes out. Spit It Out! is all about answering questions in a rapid-fire, fast-talking extravaganza but with a twist. A person tries to truthfully answer as many questions as possible before time runs out, but a random number determines which question he or she must answer wrong.
For example, a round begins, and it is determined the answer to Question 3 must be wrong. Ready? Where do you buy food? Grocery Store. What is the third month of the year? March. Name two countries that share a border with the U.S.? Transylvania and Jurassic World. Its harder than it sounds and points are given for correct answers and the wrong answer at the right time. A turn takes 30 seconds. This is a fantastic, new game allowing players to get creative when answering questions incorrectly.
