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Fun for the Whole Family

Highlighting four family games, all easy to learn and fun to play

If you’re one of those fans who think of Fantasy Flight Games as the company that produces such excellent and intricate games as Arkham Horror and Twilight Imperium, you’d be right. However, we also produce a more diverse range of games than you might expect.

Maybe you don’t think you can sell your family on an evening full of the intrigues and battles of A Game of Thrones: The Board Game Second Edition, or maybe your friends are willing to play a game but don’t want to involve themselves in the subtleties of a game like Sid Meier’s Civilization: The Board Game. If so, you might want to consider some of our lighter games. Fantasy Flight Games publishes a wide variety of games that are easy to learn but still offer sophisticated and dramatic game play.

Today, we’re shining our spotlight on several of these games that are fun for the whole family.

Ingenious

Easy to learn, but difficult to master, Ingenious is an abstract board game with a subtle strategy your entire family can enjoy. Designed by the renowned Reiner Knizia, Ingenious challenges players to score points by matching rows of symbols from the colored tiles they place on the board each round. When you reach the maximum score for a given symbol, you get a bonus play. Meanwhile, as you track your scores for each of the various symbols, you need to shore up your weaknesses. Just as history often judges us by our worst traits, at the end of the game, players compare their lowest scoring columns. Whoever has the highest low number wins!

Since its debut in 2004, Ingenious has been wildly successful, garnering critical praise and awards, and it makes an excellent introduction to modern abstract board games.

Black Sheep

Another game by Reiner Knizia, Black Sheep pits 2-4 farmers against each other as they try to corral as many matching animals as they can. Players send animal cards to one of three fields to create the best combinations possible. If your combination of animal cards at a field is of a higher value than those of each of your opponents, you win the field and shepherd the animal miniatures from the field to your corral. Once no more fields can be won, the game ends, and you score points for the animals in your corral. You can also win bonus cards for additional points by corralling the majority of any animal or for combining livestock into sets. Beware the black sheep, though, as their points subtract from your total!

Black Sheep combines lively card play with adorable art by artist Ursula Vernon. Its cute appearance and simple premise hide a depth of strategy your whole family can come to enjoy.

The Adventurers: The Pyramid of Horus

The Adventurers: The Pyramid of Horus is an exciting game of traps and treasures for  2-6 players. Finally, you get the chance to take the role of an adventurer racing to grab as many ancient gems and relics as you can while avoiding the many perils of a cursed pyramid! Pick locks, outrun crocodiles, and beware the curse of a mummy’s touch. Each wound your adventurer suffers subtracts from your ability to carry treasure and move quickly. With easy-to-learn rules and thrilling, thematic encounters, The Adventurers: The Pyramid of Horus sends you on a treasure hunt full of risk and reward.

Meanwhile, the game’s not just about getting rich; it’s about getting out alive! The greater treasures lie deeper within the pyramid, but as your adventurer travels, he’ll have to watch out for Stone Blocks falling from the ceiling. Not only can they wound your adventurer, they can cut off your avenues of escape, sealing you in the pyramid forever.

Hey, That’s My Fish!

Hey, That’s My Fish! pits 2-4 players and their plastic penguins against each other in a contest of strategic fish hunting. As the bustling Antarctic ice floe on which they hunt begins to fall apart, your penguins must waddle across the map of 60 hexagonal tiles to secure the greatest payload of fish. Each turn, players move one of their penguins in a straight line, removing their starting tile from the ice floe and securing the fish it indicates.

Race to great, heaping piles of tasty fish and cut off opposing penguins in this award-winning board game. With its whimsical plastic miniatures and quick, strategic game play, Hey, That’s My Fish! appeals to players both young and old and is also available as a digital application for your iOS, Mac OS X, or Android.

Games for all tastes

Ingenious, Black Sheep, The Adventurers: The Pyramid of Horus, and Hey, That’s My Fish! are just a handful of the many Fantasy Flight Games that pair an easy learning curve with our signature combination of strategy and dramatic action. Other fan favorites include Talisman, The Hobbit, and Aye, Dark Overlord! From strategic tile placement and barnyard animals to daring treasure hunters and hungry penguins, we have games that run the gamut of themes and strategies. The next time you’re looking for a game to introduce to your friends and family, consider one of our lighter family games.

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Source: Fun for the Whole Family (http://www.fantasyflightgames.com/edge_news.asp?eidn=2692)