KOOB The Viking Game

If you've never played Viking chess at a BBQ, beach or outdoor setting, you are missing out! It's a fun lawn/outdoor game that using sturdy wooden game pieces that has been around since the Viking ages. Koob is the name of the game (or others call it Viking chess) and it is rumored that the Vikings use to play it more than 1, 000 years ago.

This particular Koob set being reviewed is by produced by MollenLiving, a company focused on producing lifestyle products that embody the Scandinavian way of life, and manufactured in Canada. I love using products that are not cheaply made in China. Now that's not to say products made elsewhere is superior, but, sometimes I like to support another country's industry. So I was happy to find out that this wood set was actually manufactured in Canada.

The package comes with very little waste! All the pieces come snug into reuseable storage bag that fits perfectly in the box it came in. All you have to do is pull the bag out and your whole game is there!

The wood is white birch, which is sustainable hardwood and perfect for this game. You get 4 stakes, 6 throwing sticks, 10 koobs, and 1 king.

The game is made of untreated wood (read: chemical-free). That's another reason I try not to always buy products made in China! The following are the dimensions of the pieces in inches: King: 1 7/8 x 1 7/8 x 11 13/16 KOOB: 1 7/8 x 1 7/8 x 5 29/32 Throwing stick: 1 x 1 x 11 13/16 Corner post: 5/8 x 5/8 x 11 13/16.

The king piece, as you can see in the picture above and below, are nicely designed. The details are beautifully carved and very smooth to the touch.

We were really impressed with the quality of the wooden pieces. We've played with the set once at the beach before posting this review and it plays nicely and the pieces are sturdy and have not suffered any cosmetic damages from the first play. We are really happy with how compact and well made this set is! If you want to see the game play of Koob, visit their website: http://playkoob.com/.

Purchase your Koob playing set here.

Disclosure: This complimentary item was provided for review purposes. As always, all opinions are my own and no compensation was received. This post contains affiliate links.

Exploding Kittens

EXPLODING KITTENS: A CARD GAME FOR PEOPLE WHO ARE INTO KITTENS AND EXPLOSIONS AND LASER BEAMS AND SOMETIMES GOATS.

Where do I even begin? I've always been a fan of the oatmeal. Who isn't? Their comics are hilarious and their illustrations are even better. Originally I heard this was going to be a card game, I have to be honest and say that I just wasn't interested. I didn't think that this could be THAT good of a game considering we are fans of some more strategic and complex euro boardgames. Boy were we wrong. This card game is a load of fun for both adults and children!!

But first, let's begin with the packaging. This came in a unique cardboard packaging that was printed with the company's graphics. Not just plain brown box. The box itself has a soft matte texture that really is nice to touch. That tactile material they chose? A+.  On top of that, there is a hinged magnetic flap to open and close the box.

Here you can see the Taco Cat's eye has the light sensor!

The version reviewed here is the Kick Starter edition that you can purchase straight from the company's website (linked below). This isn't the one sold on Amazon. This special edition is one that MEOWs when you open the box. That's right. It MEOWs! I suggest you buy this version right meow. You won't regret it.

All the different types of cards

This edition is a fun party game to play with the family, and kids can play too. It is for 2-5 players, anyone ages 7 or up, and plays in about 15 minutes. They have another edition that is NSFW (not safe for work) that you wouldn't want to break out in front of the kids. I haven't personally played it but I've read the reviews. It's safe to say...don't play with kids. This game is a simple card game that has a small learning curve, yet it is explosions of fun to play. The object of the came is to stay alive and not drawing an exploding kitten. If you do and don't have a defuse card in your hand to stop it, you explode and die. The last person to stay alive wins!

The cards in the photo above are action cards. These are the only 6 actions you can take in the game, so use them wisely. These cards help you strategize and help you stay alive as long as possible. Most of the time, these cards on only helpful when you know theres a exploding kitten coming up or think it is the next card. These cards can allow you to skip a turn, shuffle the deck, skip drawing a card etc.

The cards that you see in the photo above (minus the "See the Future" card on the far left, my mistake!) are not action cards. BUT they are not totally useless. They allow for what the game calls "special combos."  Two of a kind combo allows you to play a pair of kittens to steal a random card from another player. Three of a kind combo allows you to steal a NAMED card from another player ("give me your diffuse card!!!"). However, if the player doesn't have the card you named, you get nada. So make sure you are paying attention and know that they have the card you want. Five different card combo allows you to take any card you want out of the discard pile. See that defuse card that just went down? Snatch it quickly if you have 5 different cards to play to take it for your hand of cards. When you play these combo's, a good strategy (in my opinion) is to use these non-action cards so you don't waste your good action cards. But sometimes you don't have 5 different cards for that combo to take a defuse card from the discard pile, then that is when I'll throw an action card in that mix to get it...if I'm desperate enough.

I really didn't know what to expect when I first played this game with 3 other people. But my husband and I agree that this is a keeper and one to bring to family and friend gatherings. Even people who are not "gamers" would appreciate this game. That is why this game has such a big draw. It appeals to a large variety of people, even serious gamers. I highly recommend checking this game out if you ever had any reservations about this game. It's a fun one!!

Purchase yours here or on the company site for the meowing edition here.

Disclosure: This complimentary item was provided for review purposes. As always, all opinions are my own and no compensation was received. This post contains affiliate links.

Hive Pocket

Hive Pocket is bug themed tabletop game designed by John Yianni and published by Gen24games. The game comes with 26 game pieces and a cloth bag.  The Hive pocket is a portable version of the original Hive with smaller game pieces.  Hive is like a better version of chess. To put it into perspective…I HATE chess. I know hate is a strong word, but here, I feel that this is appropriate place to use it. There is just something about chess I don't like. Hive is somewhat similar to chess. My elevator pitch would be “Hive is sorta like chess, but more fun.” 

It also comes with the expansion pieces: ladybug and mosquito.  These bugs have different rules they must follow!

The game pieces are well made and don’t feel cheap. It’s hard to find games these days that are solidly built. They have a tactile quality to each piece where the images of the insects are sort of ingrained or carved into the plastic resin. Whereas some mass-produced cheap games would just have a sticker or painted on image that eventually wears out. You don’t have to worry about being rough with the pieces and having them rub and slam into each other in the bag or during game play. 

The tiles are made of thick bakelite. There seven basic pieces:

Grasshopper (3) - jumps in a straight line over any number of pieces.
Ant (3) - slides anywhere legal.
Beetle (2) - crawls 1 in any direction, including atop the hive.
Spider (2) - slides 3 spaces without backtracking.
Ladybug (1) - moves 2 atop the hive, then 1 down.
Queen bee (1) - slides 1 in any direction.
Mosquito (1) - copies the movement of any single pieces it touches.

The pocket version comes with expansion pieces that you’d have to buy separately with the original game. Though we haven’t added it to our game yet because we still love playing the original. 

This is what your startup "board" will sort of look like.

The rules are simple. You place tiles in an effort to surround the opponent's Queen. Once the Queen is places, players can also move the tiles already on the board. Each of the tiles has special movement abilities. Some are more defensive, and some are more offensive.

In order to win, you must surround the queen bee of your opponent as pictured above. 

Verdict? We love this game. It’s an extremely portable, lightweight, and fun game to bring with you anywhere that weight is not an issue (not backpacking trips). We’ve even taken it to the Galapagos! The pocket version of the game is best suited for travel with its soft drawstring bag and smaller game pieces. The game is also great to play in small places (like in a plane) because it takes up so little space.

Purchase it on Amazon.

We Didn't Playtest This Games

For this review, I will only be reviewing the original came "We Didn't Playtest This At All - With Chaos Pack" by Asmadi Games because the other three expansion games are essentially the same game, with even more fun and chaos!

We Didn't Playtest This At All - With Chaos Pack on Amazon
We Didn't Playtest This Either Card Game on Amazon

We Didn't Playtest This: Legacies Card Game on Amazon

We Didn't Playtest This Pasted-On Theme at All Card Game on Amazon

"We Didn't Playtest This At All" (WDPTAL) is an extremely silly, funny, and even frustrating game! The purpose of WDPTAL is simple: win. And how do you do that? By not losing of course! Each player starts with two cards and, on your turn, you draw a card then play a card. That's it. If you're still wondering what I mean is...you win by staying in the game till everyone else loses. The rules are simple and a game can last as fast as 1 minute or 10 minutes.

Let's take a closer look into the cards.

Some cards force players to remember not say something, like the "You" card. Once played, any player who says 'you', 'your', or 'yours' immediately loses.  You'd think that would be easy but I've lost to that card seconds after it was played without even realizing it.  Same with the pointing card.  Any player pointing at another player immediately loses. It's not that hard when you can still use words.  But as more cards are played and you are limited to the words you cannot say, not being able to point becomes a real challenge.

Then there are other cards that give you a choice to eliminate players based on your decisions.  For instance, the "Dragon" card.  You can place the card in front of any player you want, and by the next turn, if the card is still in front of them, they lose!

This is ridiculously fun game with four or more people. We found that having less than four players is not as fun, but still doable.  The game is great for travel because it's just a small box of cards.  The expansion set provides more variety to this game once you've gotten bored of the original game! And, as a perk, this is an extremely fun game to play when everyone's been drinking... BUT when sober, it is a great family game to play with kids! We've played it with a group of elementary schooled children (our cousin's offsprings) and had a grand time!  But it did get a little crazy... this is the type of game that you can play with a big group a couple of times before you move on to more complex games.  It's a great opening game for family game night!