April means school holidays here in New Zealand, and as always, it was a juggling act keeping the kids entertained until they went back. While we tried to make the most of any sunny days before winter’s chill sets in, we still found plenty of time to play some great board games!
This month saw us welcoming some exciting new arrivals to the table. It’s always intriguing to see how new games will be received in our household. While we tend to agree on many titles, our family’s varied tastes guarantee there are just as many that divide opinions.
So, grab a mug of hot chocolate or drink of choice and let me regale you with this month’s tales from our family gaming table!
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What we Played
We played 40 games in April with 18 different games. 3 games were new to us in April. Here’s what we played:
- Azul
- Blood on the Clocktower
- Camel Up
- Dinosaur Island Rawr N Write
- Jaipur
- Machi Koro 2
- One Night Ultimate Werewolf
- Poetry for Neanderthals
- Santa Cookie Elf Candy Snowman
- Skip Bo
- Splendor
- Star Wars Don’t Upset the Wookiee!
- Taco Cat Goat Cheese Pizza
- Taco Cat Goat Cheese Pizza Easter Edition
- Taco Hat Cake Gift Pizza
- Terraforming Mars: Ares Expedition
- Wingspan
- Wizard
The Highlights
It’s been another lively month of gaming in our household. With the school holidays in full swing, we’ve had plenty of opportunities to break out some new and classic games.
First up, let me gush about Wingspan for a bit. I was over the moon when our local library had a copy available to borrow. For those not familiar, Wingspan is a beautiful engine-building game all about attracting birds to your nature reserve. I’ve been dying to play this one with the family.
My teenage son took to it like a duck to water! After working through the iconography and strategy, he was soon optimizing his bird engine like a pro. My wife also loved her first game of Wingspan and did so well she ended up beating me by a large margin. It isn’t surprising for her to catch on to a game like this quickly and mop the floor with me.
I had high hopes my youngest daughter (9) would enjoy Wingspan too, but it sadly didn’t quite click. We gave it a go before the holidays and while she understood the rules, it just didn’t grab her interest. You can’t win them all!
On a brighter note, she absolutely loved teaming up with me for a solo game of Viticulture. In this vine-growing game, we had to make wine, fulfill contracts, and rake in those sweet victory points. The easy solo mode against the AI was perfect for easing her into the gameplay in a way that allowed us to work together. We ended up snatching victory on the final turn, much to her delight! She’s keen to play again solo together before trying competitively.
We also got some great mileage out of some fantastic lighter games. Splendor, Machi Koro 2, Camel Up and Wizard are all games we enjoy in our house, with our game of Machi Koro 2 in particular coming down to the wire. Such a blast!
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The word game Poetry for Neanderthals divided opinions, though. In this team game, you have to get your teammates to guess words and phrases using only single syllable clues. My son and I really enjoy the brain-burning challenge, but the rest of the family finds it too frustrating. It’s definitely one that needs players willing to lean into that caveman communication style.
I also squeezed in some quality solo time with Dinosaur Island Rawr ‘n’ Write, forever impressed by how much strategic depth this roll-and-write packs into its dino theme park premise. My latest game topped 130 points as I deployed some slick new building and specialist combos.
Finally, no gaming month is complete without a game of the forever fantastic Azul. I managed to steal a rare win against my reigning champion daughter – such satisfying, beautiful tile-laying! This is one we’ll never tire of.
New Content for April
Our first article for the month was our playthrough of Cascadia, Dragonwood, Blokus and Marrakech. This was a write up of a trip to our local boardgame café with my youngest daughter.
We also published our Century Eastern Wonders review and our Wits & Wagers It’s Vegas, Baby! Review. Both these games had a mixed response in our house which is not unusual.
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Upcoming Content
Here’s what’s in the works for upcoming content I hope to get published in the next month:
- Wingspan review
- Warps Edge Review (I have delayed this one a few times but hoping to get to it)
We would love to hear about your board gaming highlights for April, let us know in the comments what games you have been enjoying lately.
About the Authors
We are parents who love board gaming. We have three children and have been enjoying board games as a family ever since we had our first child. We share our real unbiased experiences and opinions on board games so you can decide if they are right for your family. We also write guides and articles to help you get the most out of your family game time. If you enjoy our content and want to support us you can do that through our Ko-fi page by clicking on the button below.