Wonderful Things That May or May Not Be Wonderful!!! During the golden age of piracy, the high seas were filled with riches. Massive merchant liners traveling the briny blue filled with cargo and cash the world over. It takes a key mind, a sturdy fleet, and a brazen captain to capitalize on these floating treasure vaults...and that goes for any who play this plundering pirate card. Loot has pirates and pirates are wonderful (the fact that I haven't done a post about theme seems really weird) but the game itself is pretty wonderful too. At its most basic form, it is a betting game. You place down merchant ships on your side of the field to make the voyage and trade. If the turn order makes it back to you without a hitch, then you take your vessel and keep its contents. Trouble is, opponents can use their turn to  place pirate ships of varying color and strength to take your un-harbored wealth. Whoever has thrown the greatest uncontested force of rowdy ruffians at a ship (including you cause you can sic pirates on your own vessel) gets the gold instead. And of course, you have a captain of each color and a mighty admiral who can turn the tide in a snap. The player with the most loot in Loot by the end of the game wins the whole pot of gold. Sounds fun? Then get on it! It's the perfect staple for those family game nights if you ever have them and if you do have them, that would be wonderful.

June 2023 Gaming

June 2023 Gaming #boardgames @_raybird_ @czechgames @gmtgames @Gamewright @beziergames

With Father’s Day coming in June (here’s a link to the Father’s Day post I made in 2019, the first Father’s Day after my dad passed away), meaning that another Sunday Game Day was cancelled (or moved, but I chose to skip it), I figured that my June gaming would be just as bad, if not worse, then my May gaming. But that wasn’t the case! I actually got 20 plays in of 15 games, beating out last…

View On WordPress

Buy Gamewright toys online from Knock On Wood Toys at affordable prices. Gamewright is known for creating the highest quality family games with outstanding play value.

For the sleepover game! I’m going to be teaching English abroad later this year. Do you have any advice from your own teaching experience?

Oh, cool!

For teaching:

Students will match your energy. Try to be high-energy and excited as much as possible. Yes, even if you are teaching bored teenagers at 8 AM.

Kids are usually interested in talking to people from other countries, even if they don't like learning English. Use that. If you speak the local language, then pretend you don't (or suddenly "forget" it if you have to use it for, eg, classroom management) so they have to ask you their questions in English. Scale this to their level, obviously. I used to hold classrooms supplies hostage unless asked for them in English (prompting/helping kids who struggle, ofc).

Pay attention to what vocabulary they've already learned and use it. It's very frustrating if you learned the word trainer and your new teacher suddenly starts talking about sneakers or running shoes.

Know that weird things happen and that kids will do weird things. You will make mistakes you did not anticipate would be mistakes. That's normal. You'll learn quick. For example, you might hear a student say "but my dog is a girl dog!" and then you will suddenly unlock the ability to teleport across the room to stop her from typing "perra" into google translate.

Have fun with it! Kids respond better to fun lessons. I used to carry cards and dice around with me everywhere. If you're playing a game and tell kids you'll give 1000 points to anyone that can spell Massachusetts, their brains will kick into turbo mode and make them finally be able to spell yoghurt.

On that note, I've heard people advise bringing stickers and stamps to give out (especially ones with English words in them). The year I did this, the kids didn't really care.... except they went wild for stickers of US currency? For some reason??? If you can afford them, Gamewright has a bunch of children's card games that you can easily just slip into your bag.

Don't assume your students will have learned the same things as you in the same order. Basically, don't assume the average third grader has learned something just because you knew it in third grade.

For living abroad:

Focus on what you have, not what you don't have. You will make yourself homesick if you can't stop thinking about how you don't have access to [eg, favorite food]. Try to focus on [eg, cool new food you like].

Explore, explore, explore! Walk around your new city. Talk to locals. Ask your co-teachers for recommendations on what to do in your free time. Try new things even if they don't seem like they'd be up your alley.

Learn the local language if you don't speak it already. Learn the version locals speak. This will just make your life easier and enrich your experience. For example, I know a lot of US Americans who just refused to learn vosotros (informal plural you, basically only used in spain) when living in Spain and like.... children will literally not understand you are addressing them if you use ustedes (formal plural you in spain, used informally across latin america).

Try to make local friends. I think the best way would be to engage in hobbies, but most cities have like... language exchanges you can sign up for.

What are your thoughts on this game?

This is Forbidden Sky by Gamewright. It was released in 2019, as the third game in the Forbidden series.

My friends and I thought this game was unreasonably difficult, but that may be a skill issue. Thoughts?

Board Game 30-Day Challenge Day 26

Day 26: Is there a specific designer and/or publisher you particularly like or dislike? Will you ever buy or stay away from a game based solely on the designer and/or publisher?

I don’t think any particular designer or publisher will make a game an instant yes or no; that said, I’m generally positively inclined toward Stonemaier, AEG, and Gamewright, while I’m less likely to pick up something from Steve Jackson.

Next up on Board Games I enjoy

Abandon All Artichokes

It's from Gamewright, masters of fun family games. AAA is definitely that. It says ages 10+, but honestly younger kids would do just fine.

Draw a hand of artichokes. On your turn, choose one other veggie from the garden and play as many cards as you can from your hand. Your job is to compost all your artichokes (poor artichokes).

It's adorable, it's quick, it's fun.

Check out this listing I just added to my Poshmark closet: Terzetto 2013 head to head marble match complete Gamewright spacial recognition.

Check out this listing I just added to my Poshmark closet: Gamewright Dweebies Card Game With Character 2-6 Players Ages 8+ Tin Complete.

Check out this listing I just added to my Poshmark closet: Hit or Miss Party Game COMPLETE Gamewright 2006 Words Family Friends Kids

Check out this listing I just added to my Poshmark closet: 🖤New Gamewright Game--.

Wonderful Things That May or May Not Be Wonderful!!! Abandon All Artichokes! Finally a vegetable themed card game. Just what we always wanted! This is a self-described "Deck Wrecker" game that has each player take cards from a central selection to place into their hand, use their inherent abilities, then discard what they don't use into their personal deck all for the sole purpose of throwing every last artichoke into the compost pile and winding up with a hand that is decidedly heartless...ARTICHOKE HEARTLESS!!!! HAHAHA...ahem. Seems a bit weird at first but it's a blast to play with a fast pace, cute veggies with faces on them, and many possible tactics and card combinations that can give you the edge when you draw your next hand. Wonderful for all ages even if you like artichokes (Get it cause you're supposed to abandon them). I'll see myself out.

NST #848: Guess the Link! (2023)

The party game Guess the Link! (Gamewright, 2023) employs classic string board motifs.

From contributor Kelly Williams.

Buy Gamewright toys online from Knock On Wood Toys at affordable prices. Gamewright is known for creating the highest quality family games with outstanding play value.

Educational and learning toys for speech therapy at home

Speech therapy is an important part of growth of children with delayed speech or any kind of speech disorder . Helping them learn to speak using tools such as in the above link provides a great and immense result in their development.

Check out this listing I just added to my Poshmark closet: New Sealed Gamewright In A Pickle Word Card Game Educational Grammar.