Board Games for Christmas!

Here are three board games we all got for Christmas, with my thoughts.

Duel Masters: The Board Game - Honestly, I do not like the Duel Masters CCG (Collectible Card Game) or any of its contemporaries: Pokemon, Yu-gi-oh, etc. However, this board game was on sale for 2 bucks at the local Kay-Bee toy store (which is closing for good). After playing it a few times, I found this to be a near perfect family board game: up to 5 people can play, the game has some room for strategy and (best of all) most games won't last more than 20 minutes. Perfect for a quick family game, or you can play several rounds if you have more time. This is a great game for those times your kids want to play a game, but you don't have the few hours needed to play Clue or Monopoly.

Stratego: Duel Masters - Again, I'm no fan of Duel Masters, but this was one-fourth the cost of the normal Stratego game, and it can be played with standard Stratego rules (or you can add special "elemental powers rules" that add a little spice to the game).

Risk: Lord of the Rings deluxe edition - Risk on Middle Earth map. I usually play this with standard Risk rules, but there are optional rules that allow you to add in more Tolkien-ish elements (including a quest to destroy the ring). Very fun - a great game for when you have several hours and a few friends over.