Netflix just made game night a whole lot easier. Now you can play games on your TV. All you need is Netflix and your phone. That’s it. Just like that, everything you need to start playing with your friends and family is in the palm of your hands.
“Starting today, you can play games on your TV, using your phone as a controller — no setup needed, it’s as easy as streaming your favorite shows,” Alain Tascan, President of Games at Netflix, communicated to ageekdaddy.com “You can now go from watching KPop Demon Hunters to playing Pictionary: Game Night without ever leaving Netflix. And for those who love to play anywhere and everywhere, we're bringing even more games to your phone with our own special Netflix touch.”
There are three new characters to join in the battle within Disney's Sorcerer's Arena tabletop game from The Op Games. Available now is a THRILLS & CHILLS expansion pack that adds Jack Skellington, Mother Gothel and The Horned King to the gladiatorial arena that pits fan favorites from Disney and Pixar animated movies in combat against each other. These three scary characters can now join Sorcerer's Apprentice Mickey, Aladin, Ariel, Dr. Facilier, Demona, Gaston, Maleficient and Sulley from the game's core set in this epic turn-based combat game recommended for ages 13+.
DISNEY'S SORCERER'S ARENA is designed for one on one gameplay or matches of two on two teams making it suited for 2 to 4 players. Matches last about a half hour. The core set is required to utilize expansion packs like "Thrills and Chills". Also available is a "Turning the Tide" themed expansion pack which includes Davey Jones, Moana and Stitch to go along with the Core set and "Thrills & Chills" expansion. Which characters are you most excited to team up in your quest to become the Master Summoner who dominates the Sorcerer's Arena?
The "Thrills & Chills" expansion pack for DISNEY'S SORCERER'S ARENA tabletop game adds three exciting options in Jack Skellington from The Nightmare Before Christmas, Mother Gothel from Tangled, and The Horned King from The Black Cauldron. Included are acrylic standee figures with bases, a card deck for each character (10 cards per deck), nine status effect tokens, three character turn order tokens, 3 Cauldron Born character tokens, and an ability card for Jack Skellington, Mother Gothel and The Horned King. The expansion pack adds two new mechanics and one status effect not seen in the Core Set. So, there are some fun bonuses to adding this expansion pack beyond just introducing new characters into your battles.
Here are some details about the new heroes and villains entering into Disney's Sorcerer's arena:
THE HORNED KING
The Horned King is one of the most ruthless and merciless villains in a Disney movie whose sole goal is to become a "God between mortal men." He searches for the legendary Black Cauldron that has the power to raise the dead. Upon obtaining it, The Horned King creates an undead legion of soldiers called Cauldron Born.
In Disney's Sorcerer's Arena, The Horned King introduces a new mechanic allowing him to control character tokens for Cauldron Born. These Cauldron Born character tokens are allies to the characters on their Summoner's team and don't have their own moves but rather are controlled by a primary character they are associated with such as The Horned King. His card deck and character skills allow this army of the dead to impact opposing characters within the arena.
The Horned King also introduces constant abilities to the game. These are abilities that are always in effect when the character is in the Arena, including during your other character's turns and during rival Summoners' turns. The Horned King's constant ability is whenever he gains victory points if there are two or fewer Cauldron Born in the arena, another Cauldron Born token is placed in an unoccupied adjacent space.
He has a standard attack of 2 points and standard movement of 1 space per turn as well as a forced march skill which allows him to move one allied Cauldron Born up to 2 spaces each turn. Additionally, The Horned King can be upgraded to give him the ability that at the beginning of each rival's starting phase, that rival takes 1 point of damage for each Cauldron Born token they are adjacent to. The Horned King's action cards that allow him to control an army of Cauldron Born warriors around the game board like chess pawns make him a formidable foe.
MOTHER GOTHEL
Mother Gothel is a witch that utilizes the magical properties of Rapunzel's hair to keep herself perpetually young. She has a standard move rate of 2 spaces and standard attack of 2 points. She has a special skill that allows her to have the top card of a rival Summoner's deck revealed. That Summoner may then choose to either banish the revealed card or Mother Gothel gains a Stealthy advantage.
She also can be upgraded to allow her to force a rival Summoner to reveal their entire hand of cards. Mother Gothel can then banish up to two revealed cards for the same character. Her action cards also provide some wicked magical and backstabbing attacks making her much more deadly than she may appear. Watch out for Mother Gothel because she has the ability to sneak up on other characters, banish their abilities and slit their throats. Don't underestimate her because she doesn't come off as monstrous or overly dangerous as she is a very evil threat.
JACK SKELLINGTON
Jack Skellington is the Pumpkin King of Halloween Town. He serves as the patron spirit of Halloween much the same way Santa Claus and Easter Bunny represent their respective holidays. Yet he strives to expand his jurisdiction beyond just Halloween. He means well but can get himself into trouble because while Jack means well Skellington can be rather naive at times.
He has a standard move rate of 2 spaces and attack worth 2 points of damage. He can help a friend with a skill that allows him to discard a card in his hand in exchange for being able to move a status effect on one character to another ally. Jack Skellington can also be upgraded so that on each of his turns an additional counter token can be added to a status effect.
Jack's action cards have a focus on status effects, especially the new one added into the game through this expansion pack, afraid. Afraid makes a character use all of its movements each turn causing it to take 2 points of damage if coming to rest adjacent to a rival. Skellington also has cards that impact rivals becoming Immobilized, Flustered as well as Afraid. He also can prompt allies to be Strong!
Of the three characters, Jack Skellington has the most health points with 10 needed to be eliminated to vanquish him yet his rivals get the least victory points for defeating him at 5. The Horned King will earn an opposing team 6 victory points by eliminating his eight health points. Mother Gothel is the easiest to take out at 7 health points with the same reward as The Horned King with 6 victory points. These points along with character abilities create strategic considerations when determining whom you want to summon to join your gladiatorial team.
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Under a canopy of fireworks, my kids had a Glow Battle in our front yard as the sky grew dark on the Fourth of July. With the city's fireworks show cancelled due to the pandemic, some of our neighbors went all out lighting up the night sky on our block with some professional grade pyrotechnics. While we enjoyed the impromptu holiday show in our neighborhood, my kids had some fun running around outside playing the newest product from Starlux Games → GLOW BATTLE
This glow-in-the-dark game has players battle one another in a variety of competitions. Up to 10 players can play a game of Tag. Two teams run around a field trying to tag the opposing side's players with light swords. You have to dodge getting hit by a sword or block an opponent with your own light-up foam weapon. If a player gets hit they have to go into their opponent's holding pen. If someone on your own team runs into your opponent's holding pen without being tagged they rescue all the tagged players. If all a team's players get tagged, they lose the game.
When you just have two players like we had in this case, Gladiator mode is another option. Players protect their castles, designated by creating the layout of a box on the ground with LED lights included with your Glow Battle kit. Keep your opponent from entering your castle by jousting with him or her using your foam light up sword. Another option is to use the LED lights to create a battle arena space and you try to force your opponent to step outside the ring to get a win.
These are just a few examples of variation of games that can be played with a Glow Battle kit. A set of card describing the rules for different games is included in the box. Of course you can also make up your own rules if you like too!
Kids will love playing with the glow-in-the-dark accessories and having an excuse to play outside at night. Parents will appreciate that Glow Battle will have children and teens wanting to get outdoors, interact with others and get some exercise. Starlux Games' Glow Battle is a great entertainment alternative to television and video games and is a great way for family and friends to have some summer fun.
The Glow Battle Light-up Sword Game comes with 10 game variation cards, 8 LED space markers, 10 light swords and 10 glow bracelets. Game accessories are evenly divided between green and blue coloring. Starlux Games recommends Glow Battle is for ages 8+ and for 2-10 players. Replaceable batteries that power the glow-in-the-dark accessories are included in the Glow Battle kit. The batteries provide a light duration of 6-10 hours.
This game would be awesome to play with a big group of friends. Unfortunately due to the coronavirus pandemic while they have been having fun my kids have just been playing it amongst themselves. They are really excited about at some point getting a bunch of kids from the neighborhood to come over for a GLOW BATTLE.
Starlux Games GLOW BATTLE gets a Geek Daddy nod of approval for being an easy to set up and exciting for kids, teens and adults to play outside. A great way to get all ages to play together outside in a cool way with glow-in-the-dark accessories. Glow Battle and other Starlux Games such as Wizards & Werewolves are a great way in this dad blogger's opinion to get moving while having a good time. Check them out at starluxgames.com
While the Major Leagues may not be back in action yet, we've been having fun playing the Across the Board Baseball Game in our backyard. Across the Board Games produce unique handcrafted board games with sports themes such as horse racing, soccer, hockey and baseball that are crafted right here in the USA. We have a lot of fun playing their baseball game!
This 2-player game replicates an outing to the ballpark. Players compete on a wooden board shaped like a baseball diamond. Each side has a dug out filled with four batters designated by sturdy metal chrome or brass pegs. Just like in a real ball game each team has nine innings to score as many runs as they can. Whoever scores the most wins!
During a team's at bat they continue until they get three outs. In this game hits, walks and outs are determined by the role of the dice. Get a hit or walk and move your teams' pegs around the diamond. Roll an out and move a marker that designates how many outs you have on the scoreboard.
Roll two dice for each at bat. Roll two 1s and you've just hit a HOME RUN! But roll two 5s and you STRIKE OUT! Other combinations in die rolls include singles, doubles, triples and walks as well as well as ground outs, pop outs and fly outs. This game is all about luck but still is really fun to play!
As you go through innings, use the included dry erase marker to update the score board. It provides an easy way to write in team names and scores. We've found you can rub away the ink on the score board with no residue left behind maintaining a clean look to your scoreboard game after game.
This baseball game has been a home run for our family. It has earned a Geek Daddy nod of approval for being a relaxing way to enjoy some family time while playing it. The game isn't complicated to play making it great for family game nights. The game's real wood board makes it stand out and gives it the appearance of something you'll want to keep around the house long term to bring out when friends and family visit.
If you are looking for an all ages game that is easy to play yet is sure to provide hours of enjoyment, this dad blogger recommends this handcrafted, made in America game from Across the Board. It is unique and the type of thing that could one day become a family heirloom thanks to its quality workmanship. Play ball!
** A Geek Daddy received a complimentary Chrono Bomb! game courtesy of Patch Products for this review **
Now that school's back in session for our kids, we're getting back into the routine of making Friday's a FAMILY FUN NIGHT where we either spend the evening playing games or watching a movie together. It's a time devoted to chilling out from the stresses of the week and to enjoy some bonding time together. For our first Family Fun Night of the school year, we had a fun secret agent themed time playing the game Chrono Bomb! from Patch Products and watched the movie Spy Kids for a good time.
Chrono Bomb! is a gamewhere you have to make your way through a "laser field" to defuse a bomb before its timer ticks down to zero and goes boom! You create the laser field using 27.5-feet of string weaving it through clamps to create an obstacle course to crawl and hurdle through to get to the bomb. In addition to the timer clicking down, if you bump against the string once or twice it knocks off more time from the clock and a third time sets off the bomb - kaboom! Race through the maze without setting off the bomb to see who can defuse it the quickest.
For some extra challenge to the game you can mix in some playing cards to the course. Picking up the cards spread throughout the laser field before you are allowed to defuse the bomb can add another level of difficulty to the game. There is also a free app that can be used with playing the game to provide some interesting twists to the action.
While the game may look a bit tricky to put together it really was easy to assemble. Place the included clamps around your designated play space, roll out the string through an easy to use spinner device, which makes it easy for both laying out your laser field maze and putting it away, and throw three AAA batteries in the bomb to activate the timer and you are ready to go. The sensor that connects the string to the bomb's timer worked really well for us and my kids were frequently frustrated when they brushed up against a string and the timer sped up or the bomb blew up...which is a big part of the fun of the game! Knowing that touching the string would really impact the game really added to the thrill level of Chrono Bomb! and kept the kids honest about how they approached going through the maze.
Chrono Bomb! brought out our inner 007 in this secret agent themed game. It was a nice change of pace to spend the evening playing something different from a board game or video game during our Family Fun Night. It was pretty funny to see some of the positions and moves players have to distort themselves in to get through the maze. Plus it got to be pretty competitive going head to head racing to get the best times. I have to say my kid's size was an advantage in crawling through and slipping around the "laser beams" and my daughter ended up the Chrono Bomb! champion for the night.
This game gets A Geek Daddy nod of approval because it has players both engage in aerobic feats and focus on thinking about how they are going to accomplish a task. It is something unique to play that can easily be set up inside and entertains kids while keeping them active. Chrono Bomb! is perfect for keeping kids amused on a rainy day, having their friends over on a winter afternoon or enjoying time together on a family fun night. Play over and over again by constantly building new courses to challenge players to achieve the best time.
We've been switching back and forth between having Family Movie Nights and Family Game Nights on Friday evenings. Starting off the weekend with a focus on some fun quality time together is a nice way to depressurize from the stresses that work, school and the hustle of everyday life can throw at a family throughout the week. We tried out two new games during our most recent family fun night that were provided courtesy of our friends at IMAGINE TOYS.
Imagine Toys is a specialty toy store with a focus on providing quality toys that encourage children to use their imaginations. They offer unique toys that promote creativity, educational learning, and athletics which normally won't be found at a mass-market store. They provided A GEEK DADDY Blog with theIce Age DVDGameand Inching Along board game to enjoy for one of our Family Game Nights.
My kids really enjoy the Ice Age movies so this was a great pick for a game night selection. You are provided with some really nice playing pieces that depict some of the popular characters from this animated movie series which must be moved across a game board depicting a frozen tundra in search of acorns hidden under the thawing ice...be careful though as your opponents can move around Rudy the T-Rex and if he catches your character it is back to Start for you. The number of spaces you can move in your quest to grab up all the acorns that are colored the same as your starting spot is determined on how well a player completes on-screen games that are randomly generated by the DVD included with the game. In addition to the games the DVD also features humorous segments featuring the cast of characters from the Ice Age movies.
The television sequences involve 8 interactive carnival arcades style games of skill and chance that are randomly generated and have various outcomes so that players can't predict how to beat the challenge. Incorporating the dvd aspects into the game provides an extra dimension to its play but doesn't overpower to board game elements and strategy. So while you aren't turning off the television for the night when it comes to the Ice Age DVD Game, players aren't focused on the television for the entire game as they also have to focus on things taking place on its tiled board like finding their acorns and avoiding Rudy.
The Ice Age DVD game is for children 5 years and older and is for 2 to 4 players. This game amused and entertained my 5 year old twins for an hour. Go nuts with this game during your next family game night!
The next game we played was called Inching Along. This game was dreamed up by a teacher to help kids learn basic math and measuring skills. It is aimed for kids in kindergarten through second grade. My twins are about 2 months into kindergarten and the game was just a little too advanced for them as we started getting into the game play. I have a feeling they'll be ready to play it closer to the end of the school year which was somewhat disappointing because they really were excited about the artwork for the game board and pieces and interested in using the ruler that comes along with the game...but alas their counting and math skills were just not up to par once we started playing the game. So we put it aside for later on but it is a game we will absolutely be bringing back out of the closet in the future.
Inching Along has a nighttime camping theme and I just have to say again has very impressive artwork and a great game layout. To get from the start to finish players must pull a card with instructions on it then follow those directions to measure lines and translate those measurements into numbers to know how many spaced for their characters to move forward or backward on the hiking trail. It is a very original concept that reinforces educational lessons in a fun manner for children.
Both Ice Age DVD Game and Inching Along get A Geek Daddy nod of approval for being fun opportunities to promote creative and educational play. For more information about Imagine Toys visit www.imaginetoys.com
DISCLAIMER: Imagine Toys provided A Geek Daddy Blog with a $50 credit to purchase products from its website to use for a family game night. There was no obligation to write a positive review about Imagine Toys or the products sold from it. The opinions in this post are my own.
