Table Talks Gives Your Holiday Board Game Gifting A Lift

"Table Talk," WJON" 's show on board gaming, got into the holiday spirit with board game gift ideas. William Pankratz, from Games By James, and I presented suggestions in 6 different categories: Kids/Family, Co-op, Thematic, Awesome Game by Local Designer, Party Game, and Card Game.

Get our free mobile app

In the Kids/Family category William went with "Stomp the Plank," He said it is a light yet suspenseful push-your-luck game that is easy to learn with elephants on a boat. I mentioned "Flip 7," a fast-paced card game that recently came out. We played it over the holidays several times. It is a push-your-luck game that has a little bit of a Blackjack feel to it.

For the Co-op category, I suggested "Thanos Rising." It is a fairly simple game to learn but is still very hard to beat. In addition to the Marvel-themed Thanos Rising, the series has a Star Wars, Harry Potter, Batman, and Avatar-themed version. "Bomb Busters" by Cocktail Games was Williams's pick. In it players defuse bombs by deducing and cutting unseen wires. The game has 66 different missions to choose from so there is a ton of replayability.

In the Thematic category, William presented "Lord of the Rings: Duel of Middle Earth" based on "7-Wonders Duel" mechanics which came out recently. I went with "Star Wars Outer Rim." Outer Rim is a heavier strategy game but captures the Star Wars Universe theme well.

For a game from an Awesome Minnesota or Local Designer we suggested "Arcs" by Leder Games and "Planet Unknown" by Adam's Apple Games.  William says Arcs is a newer game that has been very popular at the store and has a fun quirky feel to it. In Planet Unknown, players take polyominos (Tetris-like) pieces and place them on their respective planet boards to get bonuses and stop threats.

We wrapped up with our Party Game suggestions of "Smug Owls" and "Pit" and our ideas for a Card Game with "Rebel Princess" and "Dominion." You can tune into  "Table Talk" on AM 1240 WJON every other Saturday at 8:10 a.m. opposite the "Woods Garden Show." On December 14th, we will have the designer of "Dominion," "Kingdom Builder," and "Greed" Donald X Vaccarino will join us to discuss his upcoming new game "Moon Colony: Blood Bath."

READ MORE FROM AUTHOR PAUL HABSTRITT:

• Award-Winning Brewing Company Bringing Its Beers To Minnesota
• Klingons To The Rescue In New Holiday Musical
• Table Talk Goes Mad With Druid City Games
• Frigid Dip Is Reward For Helping A Good Cause In Little Falls [PHOTOS]
• A New Microbrewery is coming to Paynesville
• Student’s New Who Done It Play Makes Debut At St. John’s Prep [PHOTOS]