Dale Yu: Return to Kids Games?
I was planning to write a “Gone fishing” note for the day as things have been really hectic at home this week. One of my kids is sick, I’ve got a fantasy football draft Tuesday night, and oh, by the way, I just decided to switch jobs—and all heck’s broken loose at work as a result of that.
I did take a few minutes off work to read Eric’s column/request for ideas. It does appear that there’s still interest in someone talking about kids’ games, so although this isn’t a topic that I’ll touch on every week, I will make a commitment to include them in this column as much as possible.
The biggest issue for me is that there just aren’t many review copies of kids’ games floating around—or if there are, they aren’t being sent to me. Maybe I’ll talk to Eric to see whether he can get in touch with the bigshots at Haba or Selecta to make sure that BGN can continue to provide top-notch English reviews of their new games. Alternatively, I can see if I can make my own contacts while in Essen. Of course, if you’re associated with a game company and want to contact me directly, please do so. Suppose, for instance, that you’re a brother of a distinguished BGN columnist and that you happen to work for one of the two largest toy companies in the country… Maybe you’d set up said columnist with someone in the kid’s department for review copies… maybe?
Since I’m on my own when it comes to getting the games, the reviews flow more frequently around Christmas as that’s the main time that I’d be buying new games for the kids. Even if I saw a new game around this time of year, I’d buy it, then save it for the holidays. That’s why there’s been no kids reviews out since the spring—no new games, no reviews!
So, in lieu of a real column, you get this. If you have any other comments about the reviews, let me know—I’m happy to read your comments, then go about writing my column however I want
Anyways, I’m going back to work now. Hopefully I’ll have time to play games in October. If not, I’ll certainly have more free time about ninety days from now!
Until your next appointment,
The Gaming Doctor
Posted by Dale Yu on Sep 5, 2007 at 01:00 AM in Columnists, Dale Yu / 979
Comments:
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Although I don’t have kids old enough to play games (my twins just turned 1), I still work enough with families and kids of all ages, and am always interested in more information about all the high-quality titles you from publishers like Haba, Select, Zoch, etc. Is it always necessary to only review the new stuff, or can you also review some of the older titles that are “old favorites” of your kids? Posted by Jeff Allers on Sep 5, 2007 at 03:31 AM | #
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I have a couple kids myself (ages almost 5 and almost 2), but even aside from gaming with them, I enjoy (some) kids games. Sure, part of it is the “parakeet” in me...kids game frequently get some great looking and unique components. For example, Chateau Roquefort (english version of Zoch’s Burg Appenzell, coming this fall from RGG) is ridiculously cute, and is *very* enjoyable by adults, not just kids. It’s a great little game, and don’t be misled by the “6 and up” age rating...this is an “action point” game, and can definitely have a bit of (good-natured?) cut-throat take-that-ness too it. I definitely suggest checking it out when RGG releases their version this fall. Posted by Jon Theys on Sep 5, 2007 at 08:50 AM | #
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And check out Tier Auf Tier by Haba, an animal stacking dexterity game that works very well with kids, adults, or mixtures. Posted by Jeffrey D Myers on Sep 5, 2007 at 10:42 AM | #
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Jeff - I can certainly do some old favorites of the kids… the problem is that I’ve already done a lot of them! Jon - I totally agree with you. I like Burg Appenzell a lot, and I’ve found that it is a completely different game with adults… It is quite cut-throat when all the players are able to remember where all/some of the cheese tiles are Dale Posted by Dale Yu on Sep 5, 2007 at 10:43 AM | #
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Dale, I really enjoy your take on kids games. It gives me ideas for gifts for my nephews and nieces. I think what we’re all experiencing right now is a dearth of new games because the publishers are holding out till October. Then we’ll have a glut for a while. Posted by Scott Tepper on Sep 5, 2007 at 10:48 AM | #
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Dale: I’ve enjoyed your kid games reviews in the past and I’m glad you will be doing more. Quality kids games are an area that BGG covers very badly (most ratings and reviews are for adults playing with adults). This site does a better job, but it’s still not a major focus. There have been atempts at other sites but they don’t get the traffic. On the other hand, I also like your regular columns, so don’t give that up. Though where you find the time to do this, I have no idea. Posted by S. Deniz Bucak on Sep 5, 2007 at 12:16 PM | #
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Scott - how true it is about the gaming calendar… It doesn’t help that I haven’t found many good sources of domestic kids games, which pretty much forces me into the October Essen glut to last me all year! Deniz - Where do I find the time for this? To be honest, it depends from week to week. Some weeks, like this one presently, it’s quite hard. Other weeks, there’s lots of free time, and it’s not uncommon for me to have a 3,000 word column before editing (down to a more manageable target of 2,000-2,250). I’m glad that you like my columns though! Dale Posted by Dale Yu on Sep 5, 2007 at 02:24 PM | #
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