Morgan’s Mumbles: Game Recommendations, by teen contributor Morgan Randall

Games have always been a huge part of my life, I play games with my family and my friends. It has always been a great way to have conversations and make funny memories. Here are a few games my family has been playing recently, during quarantine:

Munchkin

Designer: Steve Jackson

Illustrated: John Kovalic

Price: Around $20 (depending on where you buy it from)

Players: 3-6

Age: 10+

Playing Time: 1 – 2 Hours

This is personally my favorite of all the card games we own (a heads up it is classified as a card game, but it does come with a board and standees to represent your progression within the game.) This game was published in 2001, and my family got the game last year. Since then we have been able to play a lot and collect expansion packs. Personally, I love the game because it is a condensed version of many “dungeon crawl” type games. You collect treasure, fight monsters, and try to get to the last room before all the other players. You can help one another, or curse each other. It allows for all sorts of funny outcomes and situations. Your goal is to reach 10th level, which you can do by defeating monsters and selling items.

Rate: 5/5

If you get the game and play it (and enjoy it), I recommend the expansion packs. Personally, my favorites include Munchkin Game Changers, Munchkin 4: Need for Steed, and Munchkin 7: Cheat with Both Hands

Bargain Quest

Designer: Jonathan Ying

Illustrated: Victoria Ying

Price: Around $30 (depending on where you buy it from)

Players: 2-6

Age: 8+

Time: 30 Minutes – 1 Hour

This is one of our most recent game purchases, I bought it for my dad on Father’s Day. The game is a card game that was published in 2017, and lets you take on a unique role during an adventure. You become the shop keeper, your goal is to lure players to your shop and sell equipment to them so they can go off and fight against the monsters. Your goal is to collect the most experience by being the best shop, where the other players are the competitor shops.

Rate: 4.5/5

Currently, we do not have expansion packs however I am really interested in getting the Black Market Expansion. There are a lot of options for expansions if you end up enjoying the game.

Saboteur

Designed: Frèderic Moyersoen

Illustrated: Andrea Boekhoff, Frèderic Moyersoen

Price: Around $10 (depending on where you want to buy it from)

Players: 3-10

Age: 8+

Time: 30 Minutes

This card game, published in 2004, is a game of deception. All the players are a team of dwarves trying to escape the mines, but are you all truly on the same team? Someone is betraying the rest of you and sabotaging you from obtaining the treasure you came searching for. We recently purchased this, and have only played a few times, personally I did not enjoy it (however we played with the minimum players of 3) because it was easy to tell who was sabotaging out work. I think this problem would be erased if you played in a larger group.

Rating (For small groups): 2.5/5

My parents played with a few friends and said that it was more enjoyable in a large group. However, I will not rate that because I personally have not had that experience.

Bandido

Designed: Martin Nedergaard Andersen

Illustrated: Lucas Guidetti Perez

Price: Around $15 (depending on where you buy it from)

Players: 1-4

Age: 6+

Time: 15 Minutes

This game is so frustrating, but I love it at the same time. This card game was published in 2016, and it is relatively simple to understand, but hard to win (which makes it frustrating). There is a prison break and your goal is to piece together tunnels to keep him from escaping. It is a team game (if you play with more than one player).

Rating: 4/5

If you like a challenge this is fun, especially in a group of 3 or 4.

Older games that are (STILL) enjoyable:

• Ticket To Ride (Rate: 4/5)
• Dominos (Rate: 4/5) // Chicken Foot (5/5)
• Clue (Rate: 3.5/5)
• UNO (I personally enjoy the Flip cards the most 5/5)

Morgan Randall, Teen Contributor

Morgan recently graduated high school and is currently enrolled to attend college in the fall getting her BA in Theatre and Dance with an emphasis on Design and Technology. She loves theatre, writing, reading, and learning. But something that has always been important to her is being a voice for those who feel like they don’t have one, and being a catalyst for change in any way possible.

More on Table Top Games

https://www.teenlibrariantoolbox.com/2018/11/take-5-table-top-games-teens-will-love-to-play/

https://www.teenlibrariantoolbox.com/2019/05/cindy-crushes-programming-cindys-favorite-tabletop-games/

https://www.teenlibrariantoolbox.com/2019/11/game-of-gnomes-a-fun-way-to-get-teens-involved-in-tabletop-games-at-the-library/

Filed under: tabletop gaming