Reader comments
Name of the game: Board and card games still offer family-friendly fun

Wow.

THANKS for the list! My family and I love board games, and are always looking for something new and fun. We love "Catan," Acquire, Scrabble," "Life" and would love to see a newer version come out of the latter. I'll by taking this new list when I go out shopping - there looks to be some winners there!

I discovered these euro games about a year ago and we have become a board gaming family. I just wish more people knew about them. My favorite game store, Game Night Games is featured--they know a LOT about games--and my favorite toy store, Tutoring Toys are mentioned. Thanks for the nice article.

You might also look into a SLC business called Games Unplugged - that is where I got Ticket to Ride, Carcassonne, Transamerica, and a bunch of others. Best of all, they have a website (yourgameguru).

Check out BoardGameRatings.com to find a list of great board games. They also do awards each year.

To be fair to another business that sells these type games (but which the Deseret News did NOT mention in their free publicity), you might check out Your Game Guru in the SLC area (I think they list as "Games Unplugged" in the phonebook). I got Transamerica, Ticket to Ride, and a number of other great Euro-style games from them. Nice thing is they are on the internet (but the website does not use the "phonebook" name - Deseret News policy won't let me put the first name above into a web address format (already tried & got deleted) - but you are smart enough to do it yourself).

One thing this article doesn't mention about Game Night Games is that they often run competitions and demos of games they carry, which allows interested persons to actually check out games before they buy.

Warning: Once you've started playing Eurogames, you'll never want to go back to playing Life, Monopoly, etc., so be prepared.

I would have to recommend Apples to Apples as a great family friendly activity - not a game for two, but a lot of fun for a group of four plus. And, while this is not commercially motivated, you can make a great family game by writing up lots of questions that can be drawn out of a jar to just have conversation about ancestors, family trivia, stuff that a game-maker would never know - kind of a do-it-yourself trivia game where real family conversation can be generated and the members talk about their own life experiences; not those of some movie star or sports figure.

There are lots of places on the internet to buy games, but if you want to visit a local store which many people throughout the country wish they had in their backyard, go check out Game Night (I meet with people from all over the country in much larger cities who are jealous of us for having a store like this). You can talk with people who know games. You can play the games. They have a much larger selection than almost any online store. Most important of all - you support something unique to Utah and which deserves to be supported. If you want an internet site with not only games, but also tutorials that teach you how to play the games and forums to discuss the games and much more, then check out gamenightgames dot com. There is nothing else like it anywhere....period.

Also, a minor note regarding "Hannibal: Rome vs Carthage" - The Avalon Hill version is the old one going for $200 on ebay. The newly released version (the same game but with better components and graphic design) is by a new Canadian Company called Valley Games.

An excellent list of games, though, with a little something for everyone.

Game Night sponsors the Utah gaming convention "A Gathering of Strangers". I think they have done that since it started. They are the resident game experts. It is funny to me that people want "fairness" to suggest that when an article is written that discusses several local merchants, somehow the hundreds of other businesses that may sell some of the same items should also be mentioned. Deseret News simply went to several local merchants who support the community and provide good customer service and interviewed their people. This is great information and the quality of the article demonstrates that they went to the right sources.

An absolutely hysterical game for adults and teens is Munchkin. There are several expansion decks as well.
Some of my favorite games are Carcassonne, Metro, Ubongo, Alahambra, and Quiddler. Game Night Games is an awesome place to go spend a couple hours on a lazy Saturday. It's not a cheap date because we always end up with another game.

Richest man on earth - Warren Buffet plays SERIOUS
BRIDGE. Many chess players who understand
GAME STRATEGY are in Wall Street and financial services.

Games and algorithms are connected in computer
applications and ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE.

People LOVE VEGAS because it is GAME PLAY time!
(a downside to gambling is financial loss/addiction).

Germany and Japan love games and this is why
AMERICA is losing the competitive economic race.