The Family Gamers Interview

The Family Gamers have some great board game content for your family as well as a delightful podcast! I hope you enjoy the interview as much as I did!

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Tell us about your blog?

Our site is The Family Gamers. You can find us at http://www.thefamilygamers.com. Our Mission is to provide family-friendly content on board games, video games, and more, through a weekly podcast and occasional articles. We have reviews of new games to play, ideas on how to keep things fair at different skill levels, train your kids in good sportsmanship, and more. Our motto, which we always say on our show, is to: Play games with your kids!

How did you get started in the board game hobby?

We’re geeks, so we’ve always loved gaming. From video games to board games, we love them all. I (Andrew) started with online video games journalism about ten years ago, and I worked with a few different sites. I was at one such site when our oldest was getting to the age where I’d rather spend time with her than play video games, so I ended up being the board games writer for their site. As they faded, my wife and I spun up The Family Gamers. That was four years ago.

What board games are you enjoying right now?

There are a lot of games across a lot of genres that we’re playing. If I look at my BGStats app, Draftosaurus is probably getting the most play right now. We just got Ship Shape in from Calliope for review, and I have a feeling that’s going to be a popular one in the near future.

What is your favorite family board game of all time?

For this, I’m going to lean back into our reviews at The Family Gamers. The best rated games we have there are Drop It! and Dinosaur Tea Party. They’re both really, really good family games. (Check out their reviews of Drop It! and Dinosaur Tea Party)

What board games are your favorite right now when you have an adult game night?

Do adult game nights exist anymore? I’m kidding! Playing a lot of family games has definitely shifted my focus towards more casual games, but I still like heavier stuff sometimes too. We recently played Kemet at a friend’s house, which I (Andrew) liked a lot. We also picked up Die Hard: The Nakatomi Heist Game, which was a lot of fun. Of course, there are the old faithful games like Lords of Waterdeep as well. Anitra’s favorites are games with a more puzzle like abstract feel, like Sagrada and Seikatsu, while I (Andrew) lean into heavier games like T’zolkin and Through the Ages.

What got you into blogging in the first place? What keeps you around?

I mentioned the amateur video game journalism. We’re really dedicated to creating a community around board games where families can play. We created a Facebook group called the Family Gamers Community (thefamilygamers.com/community) where parents can join and talk about what they’re playing with their kids. We absolutely love it. The dining room table isn’t just for eating! We really want to encourage people to look at each other and do things together, not sit next to each other and experience something (like a movie) “together”. To that end…..

If money and time were not an obstacle, what would you be doing right now?

We’re looking into opening a board game cafe in our area. It’s terrifying and exciting, all at the same time. The biggest concern is, as usual, money.

What is something that people would find surprising about you?

I (Andrew) am just about the worst nerd, I like working out, working with my hands, and generally doing a lot of blue collar things. I also don’t really watch TV anymore, unless it’s sports.

Anitra had never done any podcasting before in her life before The Family Gamers and is a huge introvert. I’m super proud of her for joining me on this journey!

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