Two more new 'games' for me recently.
1. Villainous. I was returning Root to the local game store for credit after my experience with the app and some friends. Root really needs 4, and I struggle with rules even within the app. When and how cards are played by each faction is something I can't ingrain. Plus I don't find it fun. I decided the physical game would probably never get played.
My daughter (8) spotted Villainous and I had heard good things here and other places. I let her pick whatever version looked most interesting to her since they didn't have the original game. She chose Wicked to the Core. My wife daughter and I played one game today. She did great, but got crushed by mom (we both did). It was all she talked about for the rest of the day. There's a lot of strategy and variation within a simple overarching ruleset. I'm pretty annoyed it seems you can't add in the Star Wars or Marvel expansions, and it seems like it would be easy enough to mix universes with the ruleset as I'm familiar. But overall I thought it was really fun, and I'm glad my daughter is excited about it.
The other games I got with my credit were The Crew (still haven't played) and a Rubik's cube. Which brings me to 2
2. Rubik's cube. I picked one up a little while ago on amazon. It feels pretty good, and after a while of just messing around with it, I decided to learn how to solve it. I did, and then I worked on getting faster with that same method. I started down the rabbit hole, and while I'm not interested in getting too deep into it, I do like learning new moves (algos) and really like it as a fidget toy, especially the higher end versions. If anyone is interested, here's some info.
How to solve:
Cubes: First, I'd recommend avoiding the official Rubik's brand. Second, https://speedcubeshop.com/ seems to be a really solid place to get them that isn't amazon.
Cheap cube for 5.99. It feels a lot better than the original rubik's brand to me, and for a lot cheaper. I think it's worth it just to mess around with, and pass off to a kid or someone else if you decide you want something better. My house will have 6 cubes when my speedshop order comes in.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B06XW75KZW/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title
More premium cube for about 25. This is the amazon link I used, but use whatever retailer you prefer. This one feels amazing with a really fluid movement and some light magnets that help the cube snap into place. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B085Q7NNMP/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title
People also really seem to like the RS3 which is in the 10-15 range. I have one coming, but can't speak to it for now.
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