How to Choose A Board Game

Ever had those days that you really want to try something different? Maybe you are sick of playing online games, maybe you want a family friendly game that you want to play indoors or maybe you want to avoid computer addiction. Don't worry, I have the solution for you. BOARD GAMES!!! In a short sentence, board games are typically games that require a board (DUH), some game parts and most of the time, in-game currency. They are a great way to bond with family or friends since most of the board games that I know of usually require more than two players. Let's not talk any further and let's just get on with the board games that work.

1) Games that are related to finance
Money makes the world go round, I think. Anyway, without money, how are we going to survive in this world? We need money to buy food, we need to buy necessities and also we need the money for luxury. So, how do we get the little ones or ourselves to learn about money, the fun and easy way? With these board games of course! Below are the board games that I recommend if you want to learn more about financial management and about money.

Monopoly Junior
Just like the original version of the board game, Monopoly Junior teaches the little ones how they can manage their money. When your child plays this game, he/she can learn about finance and money management. The main difference between this and the original Monopoly is that the Junior version requires the player to buy 'amusements' rather than properties. Plus, they are compulsory to buy unlike Monopoly which is optional if you land on properties. It is a more streamlined version of the game and it does not require you to play with a big board. It comes with a rectangular board out of the box.

The Game of Life
The Game of Life is about, well, life. When you first play the game, you will have to choose which path you want to go to. The path consists of College and Career. When you go through College, you will have different options that will shape your life in college. Same goes for career. Just like Monopoly, this game has in-game currency and it teaches you how to properly manage your money when you are going through your career or college.

2) Games that improve your English and vocabulary
English is a universal language. No matter which country you go to, you will have to speak English if you want to communicate with the locals there. Especially in Singapore where all of us have to speak English properly so that we can communicate properly. Whatever method that you wish to carry out if you want to improve your English, here are 2 board games that may improve your English vocabulary. No guarantees.

Travel Scrabble
Just like the original Scrabble, you play this game by joining words in a crossword puzzle fashion and you will earn points based on how many alphabets you put on the board. Unlike the original Scrabble, there's no need for a pen and paper to track down your scores. They are all integrated along the edges of the board game itself. You can improve your vocabulary by forming lots of words with it.

Boggle
This game also improves your vocabulary too! Scrabble is a game whereby you will have to form long words in order to gain points, whereas Boggle is a game whereby you will hunt for words in the game. The longer the words, the more points you will get. All you have to is to shake it and there, you will hunt for the words like a pro. You can check my archives on the sidebar if you want to see a full review of this game.


3) Games that are just fun.
I don't really know what 'life skills' these two games teach. But anyway, these two games are great for ordinary family fun and they are great time-wasters. Plus, they can get very addictive and the instructions are easier to follow than the four previous games that I have recommended. So, here they are.

UNO Spin
This board game is a variation of the popular game UNO. (I have made a full review of the original game. Check the archives on the sidebar for the full review.) It's slightly different because instead of playing with just cards, you will also get to spin the wheel which lets you decide on the card that you have to play. Just like the original UNO game, UNO Spin has coloured cards that you can play with in the game.

Taboo
Taboo is a fun game which involves lots of guessing. How do you play this? All you have to do is to describe a the word using non-taboo words. You will draw a card with the secret word on it. Let's say the secret word is kitten, you can't say meow or purr. You will have to say something else to let the players guess what the secret word is. It's pretty hard to describe this game with words so you'll have to play this game with your friends to experience the full thing.

And there you have it! This article is for you to know how to choose a board game and if you are clueless on what board game to buy or what game to get for your family or friends, this article is for you. In short form, if you want a game that teaches you financial management, you have Monopoly Junior and The Game of Life. For a game that improves your English and vocabulary, you have Travel Scrabble and Boggle. Or if you want a game that is just fun and a big time waster, there's always UNO Spin and Taboo. No matter what kind of person you are, there's always a board game for you. All these board games are available at all toy stores, department stores and Popular bookstores in Singapore. Don't forget to browse around more board games at the store itself.

Monopoly Deal Card Game Unboxing

FINALLY! Duh Game Bored's very first unboxing! Today, we are going to unbox Monopoly Deal. It's a card game which involves a lot of trading, stealing and collecting to ensure that we have a lot of properties in our hands! This isn't a full review. This is just an unboxing. So, this post will be quite short. I'll have the full review coming up by next week. Monopoly Deal is actually slightly different than the original Monopoly. The original Monopoly involves a big board, plus Chance and Community Chest cards and you get what I mean right? If you own Monopoly, you will know. Monopoly Deal will just involve cards only. (Unless you count the instruction manual). Both games still meet the same goal which is to monopolise everything. I haven't played with it yet.

Just remember, full review will be released in the coming week. In the meantime, if you wanna pick up Monopoly Deal, you can find it at major bookstores, department stores and toy stores all around Singapore. You can even pick it up online. It will cost you SGD$9.90. Here are the unboxing photos.

Monopoly and Scrabble Chocolates???

You have heard of Scrabble right? Well, this is something different. It's chocolate Scrabble! I stumbled upon this sweet treat when I was shopping in the grocery store in Singapore. Actually, I don't really know the contents of this box of chocolates. But it seems to me that the letters are made out of chocolates and you can just open up the wrapper and just eat it! That's pretty much it actually! I am not sure if this is playable. All I did was taking photos since that was the first time I have seen such things. I didn't actually buy it as it was kinda "special". Oh don't forget to check out all the photos of the frontside and backside of the Scrabble and Monopoly chocolates. Available at all NTUC Fairprice grocery stores in Singapore.

New Game Currency Design

Hello there! Long time no see! It's the weekend again and that means new blog posts. Okay today I am going to show you my new in-game currency for RossMossy. If you don't really know what's RossMossy, it's a homemade board game that I am currently working on. The project started on 3rd December 2010 but until now I still haven't finished it due to tight schedule. You can check out my article on RossMossy on the Archives sidebar widget. Let's get back to my new currency design.

As you can see my new RossMossy currency has slight modifications. The reason why I have gotten rid of my old currency design was because I found it difficult to 'stick' it to the currency template. Because of the white top and bottom, I don't really know where the edge is. My currency template consists of eight slots. Using GIMP (Free Photoshop alternative), I have to copy and paste my currency to the slots. Not only was my currency template inaccurate, I also found it difficult to paste the currency to the template.

Using this new design, I now know all my four edges and so I hope it'll make it easier for me to stick it to the template. Plus, I have already done my (sort of accurate) currency template and all I have to do is to scan it into the computer itself. I'll keep you posted when everything's alright. In the meantime, check out the old and new designs for RossMossy's in-game currency.

(This also applies to 500, 1000 and 5000 Moss Dollars.)

UNO Full Review

 

I know most of you have heard of the game UNO right? It's a fairly simple game. All you gotta do is to draw numbered cards and you will have to match the card with another of the same kind. If you have never heard of UNO before, you're in luck! I will be reviewing this game right now. UNO is a casual card game which requires you to get rid of all your cards before your opponents using techniques such as mixing and matching and sabotaging.

How to play?

Each set contains different kinds of cards. You will have numbered-coloured cards. Which are cards with colours and numbers on it, there is the Wild Card. Which has an oval shape to it and there's 4 different colours. There is also the Wild Draw 4 card which makes the opponent draw four cards, Draw 2 cards are similar and there's also the coloured cards which have nothing but the colour only. Each player will have to draw 7 cards from the shuffled deck of cards. Once all the players are ready, the remaining deck of cards must be placed on the desk or on the floor or on a flat surface. The first player will make the first move by putting a random card on a flat surface beside the remaining deck of cards. 

The next player has to place a card on top of the previous player's card. The player has to match the colour or the number of the previous player's card. If the player is lucky enough to have a Wild Card, he/she will have the privilege to choose a new colour. If the player has a Draw 2 Card that matches the colour of the previous player's card, the next player will have to draw 2 cards and put a another card that corresponds to the colour of the Draw 2 card. Wild Draw 4 card works the same. The next player has to draw 4 cards.

Is it fun?

YES IT IS TOTALLY FUN AND IT'S A TOTAL TIME WASTER! UNO is a very fun and addictive game. Your goal is to finish off all your cards. But once you have one card left on your hand, you will have to shout UNO! Although that won't declare you as the winner, you will only be regarded as the winner if you have gotten rid of all your cards. It's totally awesome seeing your friends and family getting sabotaged by your card choices.

Conclusion

If you have a soft side for card games, this is the card game for you. This game is appropriate for kids, teens, adults and senior citizens alike. UNO is packed in a small box and it's easy to carry around and you can even put it in your pocket. If this edition of UNO is not your type, there are variations to it. There is the UNO Stacko which is a combination of UNO and Jenga, UNO Attack which involves an electronic card shooter instead of manually drawing the card yourself and there are UNO themes too such as Cars (The Pixar movie), Disney Princess and more.

Pros

- Easy to play

- Small, lightweight and portable

- Simple instructions included in the box

- Great for people of all ages

Cons

- Cards may fly away if not handled properly

- Different variations will have different prices

- May make you frustrated

Pricing & Availability

UNO cost SGD$9.90 and it is available in all major department stores, toy stores and Popular bookstores. Variations of UNO such as UNO Stacko and UNO Attack may have different prices. It is totally worth it and you should really get the game if you are big fan of wasting time or maybe you just want some fun at home or on the go. Below are some of the photos and I'll see you on Friday!

Trip to Nanyang Polytechnic Open House 2011

Two days ago, I shared with you my trip to Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts. Today, I'm gonna share with you my trip to Nanyang Polytechnic on 8 Jan 2011. That time, I went to the Open House with my friends just to check out all the fun activities happening there and what kind of post-secondary courses they offered there. It was supposed to be only for those O Level leavers. But since it's open to the public, me and my friends decided to give it a shot even though we are actually taking O Levels this year.


Nanyang Polytechnic is located at 180 Ang Mo Kio Avenue 8. Nearest MRT Station is Yio Chu Kang and the nearest bus terminal is Yio Chu Kang Bus Terminal with bus services 13, 70, 70M, 76, 162 and 162M. Upon entering the building, we spotted a huge fountain and there's a Gloria Jean's Coffeeshop at the side of it. So far it was quiet until we went up the escalator. Once we have reached up the escalator, there was a performance going on with some guys and girls dancing on the stage.

The first thing we went to was the Course Exhibition. An air conditioned place with exhibitions related to the poly courses. There was Engineering, Health Sciences, Life Sciences, Information Technology, Design and more. We received a lot of brochures promoting all the poly courses the moment we entered the place. 


Next up, we went to the School of Information Technology or something like that, and we received a brochure. After we visit all the exhibits at the school, we were required to have all the stamps so that we can receive free fridge magnets. The students there were friendly and they will answer even the most ridiculous questions. (Not that I asked a ridiculous question) We even had live demoes of iPhone apps that they have developed. You CAN get the Nanyang Poly apps on your iPhone and they're all free. One of the app, helps you locate your way along Pasir Ris park using AR (Augmented reality) technology. You just have to hold up your iPhone up in the air and you will get a list of park facilities. It was indeed cool. Unfortunately, we didn't get all the stamps so we didn't receive the free magnets *sobs*.


After that, while passing by the School of Health Sciences, all the Nursing students ran up to us and asked us to check out their exhibits. We decided to just follow them and there we go! We learnt more about the human heart and how we can reduce the risk of having a heart attack. They asked us to play a game involving NERF guns. We had to shoot the target using the NERF bullets and the more points we get, the more prizes we get. I received a Pink file with a pen and a free sample of Acnes facial treatment cream all for FREE!


We decided to take a break after all that walking and we were hungry too. Fortunately, Nanyang Polytechnic has a fast food canteen. Just like a typical hospital canteen only that all the stalls serve fast food. One of them was McDonalds. Isn't it cool? McDonalds in an institution? Can't believe it right?


Immediately after that, we went to the School of Engineering to play some small carnival games and checked out the engineering exhibits. Some of the exhibits at the School of Engineering includes a table top touch screen quiz, a robot race (YES WE GOT TO PLAY WITH ROBOTS!), a demo of an Android app involving the use of GPS and we got free balloon animals!


We actually did even more than this. It's just that I don't really have that much time to explain everything in detail. So here you are, my experience at the Nanyang Poly Open House 2011. Even though we didn't get the free goodie bag *sobs*, we still received a lot of free stuff including files, pens and brochures. Check out after the post for the photos that I have taken at the trip. I'll see you tomorrow!

Trip to Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts

In today's post, I am going to talk about something different. Something unrelated to board games and card games. I will be talking to you about my trip to the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts with my art class yesterday. Why should I tell you about this? Well, I wanna show you my personal life too through this blog. I wanna show other things too other than board games. So, here I go!


Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts, otherwise known as NAFA, is a post-secondary education institute that specialises in the Arts. The institute has different courses for different people here. You can get diplomas such as Video Production, Jewellery Design, 3D Design, Dance, Animation and more. Since this school specialises more in the Arts sector, you won't find any courses specialising in things like Engineering or Business Studies. For that, you have polytechnics. The institution has 3 campuses. The one I went to was Campus 1. All three campuses are located in the Bencoolen area. Campus 2 and 3 are separated and they are not together unlike polytechnics.


Upon entering the building, you will see a group of the students handing out the NAFA goodie bags. The goodie bag is the one featured on the cover photo. Once we have entered the building, we went inside this particular theatre and one of the lecturers introduced us to the institution. He told us about all the different courses NAFA has to offer and all the awards the students won. After that, we went to check out the hallway which consists of artworks inside display cases much like a museum.


Other places includes the Video Production lab which showed us films Video Production students have made, Jewellery Design workshop for the Jewellery Design students, there's even a nude painting workshop there but there weren't any nude models at the time we went there. Who in the right mind would wanna see a nude model posing in front of the Open House patrons? Other than that, there's a studio, in which Art teachers have been trained. So, some Art teachers have been trained in this particular course at NAFA. What else? Oh, there's an art gallery too! It showcases traditional Chinese paintings and calligraphy.


All in all, the Open House was fun and it was totally worth it. If you wanna visit the place, you can go to the any of the three campuses at 151 Bencoolen Street. Although the Open House will only operate for two days, the art gallery at Campus 1 will constantly change and it will feature new artworks. If you wanna take up courses there, you can at the NAFA Admissions Centre, also located at NAFA Campus 1. Below are some photos of the goodie bag contents and some of the artworks featured.

Campus Website:  www.nafa.edu.sg