Out of the Box Publishing is quickly becoming one of my favorite game companies. They were the original publisher of Apples to Apples, and have a fantastic current lineup including Cloud 9 and Word on the Street that we’ve reviewed here. Well up next is a set of 3 card games that came out in late 2009 that share a similar play style but each are different enough that getting them all won’t feel redundant. They’re also dirt cheap and come in a little tin to carry them around. So it makes sense to kind of lump them in together in one edition of the Analog Games Corner. Away we go!

So today we’re looking at three little card games called 7 ate 9, Super Circles and Run Wild. They’re three independent games but share many similarities. May as well get the similarities out of the way first. All 3 games can be played in around 10 minutes, 15 max. They’re also all played without specific player turns, but with each person playing simultaneously… similar to Spit. 7 ate 9 and Super Circles have you playing into a communal pile while Run Wild has you also working quickly but it’s more on your own. They all retail for 10 bucks and come in these great little metal tins so you can toss them in a bag to take on the road or to the beach… whatever.

While the games share a lot in playstyle however they are all pretty different and could all easily be a part of your game collection without feeling like you’re buying the same thing over and over. So let’s take a look at each one. (more…)

I’m a gamer, always have been. Problem is for a large number of years that’s really just consisted of the video variety. That’s a huge mistake on my part, to not enjoy the video game’s analog brethren… the board game. There’s actually a vibrant and intense board game world out there that’s been pushed to the sidelines by game players such as ourselves for too long. In this column I’ll be diving into this world, looking at games that hopefully you’d like to try out for yourself.

Time Travel can be a sticky proposition. Actually, time travel isn’t the problem so much as mucking around with the past is. As the great documentary “Back to the Future” taught us, is that it’s impossible to go back and time and make out with your mother without your siblings disappearing off your family photos…Unless you know how to play guitar like Chuck Berry.

What would you do if you could bounce around in time? What events would you visit? What events would you change? Of course everyone kills Hitler their first time jumping through time, but where do you go from there? Chrononauts explores what would happen if you went back in time and started changing stuff around all willy-nilly. To what end you ask? Just like in Quantum Leap, to hopefully make that last leap home. (more…)