Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Games To Play When Camping

It's amazing how fast the summer has been going.  I just realized it has been several weeks since my last post...so here is a multi-game entry for your reading pleasure.

My family likes to go camping.  Every trip, we end up playing some games, and we have found that some games work better than others.  Here is a list of our favorites to play in the great outdoors.

Guillotine:

This irreverent and humorous card game takes place during the French Revolution. Players represent rival guillotine operators vying for the best collection of noble heads over 3 rounds.  Each round, 12 nobles are worth varying points, depending on their notoriety. During your turn, play action cards to change the order of the line so you can collect the best nobles.

This is a nice quick game and comes in a small box that makes it easy to throw in with the camping supplies.



Travel Blokus:

This is the 2-player version of the award-winning classic game Blokus.  Each player has a set of Tetris shaped plastic pieces that you must place on the game board.  Each piece placed must touch another one of your pieces, but only at a corner...you cannot place them in any other way.  Play continues until neither player can place any of their pieces.  Count the squares on your unplayed pieces and player with lowest score wins.

This is an addicting game...the loser almost always calls for a rematch.



Five Crowns:

Five Crowns is a card game for the whole family. It has original game play, but uses skills that you have obtained from playing your old favorites like hearts, spades and rummy. Because Five Crowns has five Royal Families - the Stars, the Clubs, the Hearts, the Spades and the Diamonds - yes, five suits in the old usage, it allows a more equal chance of making a book or a run, effectively giving each player more possibilities to readjust their hand so as to go out. Good players are able to take advantage of this and win more than an average number of games.
The play starts with three cards and 3s are wild; next hand has four cards and 4s are wild....working up to the last hand when Kings are wild. Each of the royal families is portrayed in original art and has its own colors. The Renaissance designs result in cards that are beautiful to hold in your hand and give a "collector" feel to the game. Five Crowns is a fast paced, ingenious new game in eleven rounds. 

This is a game we have played for years...I especially like it because it is one of the few games we have that I can regularly win against my wife...and that is a big deal. 





Quiddler:

Quiddler, is a beautiful word game with naturally smooth game play that plays fast. These are essentials for a successful game that few word games have. Using special cards, Quiddler draws on one's ability to combine letters into words. Players must combine their entire hand into words trying to use the highest point value letters. Quiddler challenges you to do this first with three cards (round one), then with four, on up to ten cards in the last round. A bonus is given for both the longest word, and the most words made by a player in each round. The average game takes 20-40 minutes. 

The great thing about Quiddler is players of all skills and ages can play.  The bonus points given for either longest work or most words levels the playing field for the Scrabble-Gods and the younger players.  Love this game!!



Here is a pack with Quiddler, Five Crowns, SET, and Xactika all togtehr for a greta low price:


Review:
All of these games are compact enough to pack in the camping supplies.  The whole family can enjoy them...especially since they are all very easy to learn.

You can buy these games in our eBay store (www.howlingfungames.com) or Our Amazon Store or by contacting us directly.