News

School's Out For Summer! As Alice Cooper so wisely sang, 'No more pencils, no more books, but you can still play a bunch of board games'. That's what the Year 5 class of St Francis RC Primary School found out recently when they visited Rules of Play and caused (tidy) havoc and brought (polite) mayhem to our otherwise very tidy and quiet upstairs room (I wish). Cappuccino was a strong favourite, and Kittens in a Blender went down a storm - we were hesitant that the game subject might be a little too grisly, but pfft, we needn't have worried! Snake Oil, Pitch Car and King of Tokyo were a few more favourites, but why take it from me?! Yazmin, a pupil from the class, wrote this review on the school's website - click the link to read the review and to see some photos from the day, featuring some very triumphant winners! Brilliantly, Mr. Boyd - teacher and trip organiser - didn't think the kids would choose to do board games, but out of about four choices including the cinema and rock-climbing, they chose to spend the afternoon with us. Thanks, everyone; we had a brilliant time too! If you're a teacher or the long-suffering spouse of one, and you know of some school kids who'd love board games, then get in touch with Rules of Play! We love doing school stuff, and the kids love NOT doing school stuff! Hurrah for all!

Pass Go. Collect 200 Seagulls. A woman in New York has created a board game based on New York, called 'I Know New York'. Will I say it again? I will. New York. The writer of the article says that if you want a cheap and easy way to enjoy New York, you can play the game instead - while I'm not totally sure that'd guarantee tourist satisfaction, I couldn't help but think of what an 'I Know Cardiff' game could consist of. 'If you see the guy with blonde dreadlocks drumming on a bin on St Mary's Street, pick up a Community Chest'. Maybe 'Move 3 spaces forward every time someone starts talking to you on the bus', or 'You've been successfully accosted by someone with leaflets - go directly to jail'. How about 'You accidentally bumped into one of those kids with black hair hanging around outside Blue Banana. Pay £40 to wash the eye liner off your jacket'. I'm well aware there's already a Monopoly Cardiff and a Monopoly Newport, but thinking of these is far too entertaining! 'A seagull has attacked you and your family eating ice creams in Penarth. Harbour a fear of feral sea birds until the end of your turn.'

If you've got a good one, let us know in the comments!

Couples With Cardboard. Do you struggle to round up your wildly inefficient friends for any kind of gaming plans? Are you left with no one to play games with but your partner or best mate? Good news - you don't need those extra guys! Screw 'em! There are plenty of fantastic 2 player games out there, even if your one solitary buddy isn't that heavy a gamer! Love Letter's a great one for girlfriends, until they realise the whole thing's based on suspicion and lies. Good luck with that! Then there's Splendor, where you play merchants in the renaissance, desperately trying to win high favour and impress others with your display of gems and diamonds. Every guy's been there - am I right, ladies?! Why not try some team-building with Pandemic, the co-op game of human survival that sees players attempt to save the world from a deadly virus - this game makes even the most vindictive of players play nice! For the full IGN article with more 2 player gaming ideas, click here! They keep prompting you to buy from Amazon but I don't need to tell you guys that we have every single one of those games in the shop. Screw Amazon! And screw all your mates who never show up, too!

Crikey, That's A Collection! Rules of Play fave James Hazell popped into the store today, with some pointed fingers. 'You did this to me!' he bellowed. 'Now I have a game collection too big for Narnia and it's ALL YOUR FAULT. Thanks, guys, I love it. I'm poor now, but I love it.' Check out James' vast collection - could you beat it?!

Game Of The Week - Spyfall. Staying true to its elusive nature, Spyfall came in to the store... and then disappeared pretty quickly! Snapped up by a few lucky customers, this game has been making waves among those who love stuff like Snake Oil, The Resistance and Coup, and lucky for us, it's back in! This quick 3-8 player game gives every player a location card, like a school, a zoo or a pirate ship, except for one player who will secretly be given the role of 'Spy'. Then it's time for interrogation! Players will ask each other vague questions like, 'What time did you get here this morning?' and 'Why are you wearing that funny hat?'. The Spy has no clue where they are, so they must listen carefully and figure it out, while the other players can try to deduce who's giving duff answers! This game is a race to cover your tracks first, and after some guessing, finger-pointing and hopefully no fist fights, points are awarded to correct guesses/good disguises. Then it's on to the next location, Mr Bond!

Origins Awaits! This weekend, Rules of Play are hosting the Magic the Gathering 'Origins' pre-release weekend, where you can get your hands on brand new cards a week before everyone else! If you're new to Magic or fancy giving it a go, pre-releases are the best place to jump into the action with a fresh new set - contact us to book your place!

Join us for the Board Game Bar this Monday! Last week we had 77 lovely Cardiffians in Urban Tap House, playing games, drinking beers and humming indecisively as they looked at the brand new food menu. Why not join them this Monday? Come see what all the fuss is about! Urban Tap House, 5-10pm, £3 entry.

New Releases / Restocks / Coming Soon!

New Releases Coming Next Week! expect an MTG Origins bonanza; YGO Dragons of Legend 2; and Broom Service!