Books, Boardgames, & Music

Photo by  TheSameGuy If you could name 5 boardgames off the top of your head, what would they be? I’ll bet that if you actually did think of that list, Settlers of Catan would be on it, and quite possibly would be the only Eurogame on it as well. Settlers of Catan is one of the best-selling and most popular boardgames of all time! It is a perfect example of what a boardgame should be, and is one of the very few Eurogames that the average American has heard of. Here are the details: Designer: Klaus Teuber Publishers: Kosmos (Germany), Catan Studio (USA and UK), Filosofia (France), etc. Players: 2-4 Setup Time: 12-22 min. Playing Time: 1-2 hours (depends on the number of players) My Rating: 95/100 Overview In Settlers of Catan, the players take the role of settlers who are settling the Island of Catan. The object of the game is to earn 10 Victory Points, which is accomplished by building settlements and roads, trading with other players, getting resources, and...

Photo by  Megata Sanshiro What do you get when you combine a puzzle, a family-friendly videogame, a 2d platformer, evil bosses, beautiful and detailed art, and a heartwarming friendship? A Boy and His Blob. Similarly to Stardew Valley, playing A Boy and His Blob makes you feel good. In addition, you will also most certainly feel awestruck by the design, beauty, and creativity put into the game. Overview A Boy and His Blob was developed by WayForward Technologies, and is published by Majesco Entertainment. It is a remake of the 1989 video game, A Boy and His Blob: Trouble on Blobolonia, released on the NES. In A Boy and His Blob, the player plays as a boy who joins the “Blob”, on a quest. Blob’s home planet, Blobolonia, was taken over by an evil king. Blob fled the planet seeking help, and crash landed on Earth, where he met the boy. The two decided to work together, to save Blobolonia. The game consists of four worlds, each with 10 regular levels, 10 challenge le...

Photo by  Cuthbert-calculus The daring reporter Tintin and his dog, Snowy, are perhaps one of the greatest detective duos in comic book history! Whether they’re off exploring the moon or defeating a criminal organization along with their friends, you can always expect there to be plenty of action, adventure, and humor! Overview The Adventures of Tintin, written by Hergé (real name Georges Remi), is definitely one of my favorite comic book series. The series follows Tintin on his journeys, aided by his dog, Snowy as well his his many friends such as Captain Haddock, Professor Calculus, Thompson, and Thomson. The series consists of 24 books, with the last one (Tintin and Alph-Art), being unfinished, as Hergé died before he finished writing it. The series is hugely popular in Europe, has been written in more then 70 languages, and has sold more than 200 million copies. In the series, Tintin and his loyal dog Snowy go on adventures, while investigating mysteries, fighting...

Photo by  Best Buy In a world of video games, there are many different types. There are shooting games, building games, simulations, and more. But there is one video game out there, which is pretty much unique. It is Stardew Valley. Unlike most games, Stardew Valley is a relaxing and light game to play. It serves as a "break" from other, intense, action-full games. It's also one of those few games that can just make you smile. But, the most unique feature of it, is that it has life lessons in it. What they are, you will have to find out yourself by playing the game, but I will save you some suspense and tell you one of them. This one is shown throughout the game. It is that spending time outside, making connections with real people, and just living the "real" life, a thing which is being done less and less these days, is important. Overview Stardew Valley was developed by Eric Barone (ConcernedApe), and is published by Chucklefish. The story of th...

Remember that toy piano that played music which you had when you were little? Remember the lullabies that it played. Did you know that most of them were probably classical songs? While it is a myth that playing classical songs to babies and unborn children will increase their intelligence (for more information on this, read this article by  Scientific American ), playing classical music to little children  may give them a love of the genre, which could lead them to playing an instrument. THIS, has been proven to increase a person’s intelligence, hand-eye coordination, executive function, language skills, and more. But in any case, I feel nostalgic when I hear a classical song that I heard when I was young. So here is a list of 12 classical songs that you (probably) heard when you were little, and other classical songs that are great for babies: 1.) Brahms’s Lullaby by Johannes Brahms 2.) Piano Sonata No. 16 in C Major by Wolfgang A. Mozart 3.) Cannon in D M...

Photo by  Z-Man Games Okay...Pandemic may not actually be a real eurogame. But it was the first boardgame that I ever played which went beyond the general “American Boardgame Style” (which includes boardgames such as Monopoly and Risk). Pandemic is one of the, if not the, best-selling cooperative boardgame (a boardgame where the players work together), and has won multiple international awards. Here are the details: Designer: Matt Leacock Publishers: Z-Man Games (US), Káiooa (Greece), Hobby Japan (Japan), Filosofia (France) Players: 2-4 Setup Time: 14 Minutes Playing Time: 50 Minutes My Rating: 71/100 Overview In Pandemic, each player has a role (such as the medic and the researcher, each with special abilities)  on a disease fighting team working to discover cures for diseases and prevent a worldwide pandemic. What’s unique about this game though, is that all of the players are on the same team.  This means that all of the players have to work toge...