#4: Timeline Challenge [Cyril Demaegd, Frédéric Henry / asmodee] Used to teach my students that the order and approximate dates of most things is really what you need to know - not the exact date. This game is great for that. A great way to learn some history. Family loves the different challenges.

#5: Say Anything [Dominic Crapuchettes, Satish Pillalamarri / North Star Games] Quickly replaced Apples to Apples. Being able to write anything makes sure you can have a great response. Always have a great time when we take this game out. Betting tokens also makes sure you can earn points.

#6: Wits & Wagers: Party Edition [Dominic Crapuchettes / North Star] Eliminates problem with trivia games: needing to know the exact answer. Everyone writes a guess to the question [all answers are numbers], but, you get to bet on the one you think is closest - even if not yours!

#7: Codenames - series of games [Designer Vlaada Chvatil / Publisher Czech Games Edition] Family enjoys the basic edition - or the Disney one - more. But I like Pictures best. Fun, simple, team, deduction game with a spy theme. Nice word association game.

#8: 10 Days in . . . [series - 5 games] [Alan R. Moon, Aaron Weissblum / Out of the Box Publishing] Fun, educational, simple "travel" / geography game. We all have our favorites [mine is Asia], but we all enjoy all 5 games. Sometimes we combine 2 or more! Sometimes we play them one after another.

#9: Tsuro [Tom McMurchie / Calliope Games] Enjoy this simple tile laying, path creation game. Can play up to 8 and is best with 4 or 5 - perfect for my family. Very different from most other games I play with my family as this one seem much more relaxed and less chaotic and loud. Great alternative.

In honor of Veterans' Day, and all who served, including my great-grandfather, father, and sister, I am playing History Maker baseball with the very special "Those Who Served" set of cards. This is my 4th annual game.

#10: Wavelength [Alex Hague, Justin Vickers, Wolfgang Warsch / CMYK] Play this cooperatively instead of teams - making it more of an activity. Really fun and can generate some interesting discussions. 1 person tries to get others to guess where bullseye is between opposite words [ex hot-cold].

#11: Balderdash [Laura Robinson, Paul Toyne / Mattel] Silly fun. Became a favorite of my wife the first time we played with friends. Creating definitions for words you probably never heard of before. Can be pretty wild.

#12: Catch Phrase [Craig Clark Williamson / Parker Brothers] Fast, frenzied, "hot potato" inspired game. Not nearly as many restrictions and the timer makes it different than other games of this type. Never keep score - pretty standard for party games - play until want to play something else.

#13: Clue - 50th Anniversary Ed. [Anthony E. Pratt / Hasbro] Probably my oldest daughter's favorite game to play with the family. Classic detective game for families. Actually, still holds up as a solid game. This edition has amazing pieces. Doesn't overstay. Found memories from childhood.

With the holiday season coming, will post the Top 13 games I enjoy playing with my family. These are games my family agree on and like playing together. Wife and kids like many games that I do not and I have a list of games I would love to play with them, but they do not enjoy!

#1 Favorite Horror Board Game: Elder Sign [Richard Launius, Kevin Wilson / Fantasy Flight Games] Cooperative, solo-able, Mythos-themed, dice rolling, variable player powers, modular board, campaign or one-off adventures. Simple enough for causal gamers but deep enough for gamers. All things I love!

#2: Final Girl [Evan Derrick, A. J. Porfirio / Van Ryder Games] Great solo horror game. Mix and match final girls, killers, and locations - tons of combinations [especially if you have everything]. Very thematic. Hand management & dice rolling. Save the "victims" and confront the killer.

#3: Mansions of Madness, 2e [Nikki Valens / Fantasy Flight Games] Cooperative, app-assisted, Mythos-themed. Love this game. Was a bit worried about app, but so far it has really enhanced the game play. Very immersive. Search a mansion for clues, weapons, and, of course, Mythos monsters and cultists.

Before my top 3 horror games, my honorable mentions, in alphabetical order: >Cards of Cthulhu: fun, easy, cooperative / solo card game >Dead Men Tell No Tales: cooperative pirate game with undead & a burning ship >Stranger Things: Upside Down: tv show done very well, first 2 seasons, fun & easy

#4: Reign of Cthulhu [Matt Leacock, Chuck D. Yager / Z-Man Games] One of my favorite Pandemic games - love this theme. Really like how the Old Ones are slowly revealed as things go bad. Dice mechanism is pretty neat. Cooperative and simple, can play this one with my family.

#5: Night of the Living Dead: A Zombicide Game [Raphaël Guiton, Jean-Baptiste Lullien, Nicolas Raoult / CMON] Cooperative game based on the 1968 George Romero film, follows the movie through 10 scenarios. Try to survive the onslaught of ghouls as you search for weapons and meet specific objectives.

#6: Cthulhu: Death May Die [Rob Daviau, Eric M. Lang / CMON] Fun, over-the-top, thematic, episodic, cooperative game. Watch your character go more insane as you try to stop the summoning of a Great Old One - who wants to destroy the world. Lots of content to keep you busy.

#7: Arkham Horror The Card Game [Nate French, MJ Newman / Fantasy Flight Games] Own just about everything [and there is lot!] for this cooperative, horror card game. Really love the theme and mechanisms. Get to "improve" your character as you go through the different adventures in the campaign.

#8: Horrified [Prospero Hall, Peter Lee, Michael Mulvihill / Ravensburger] Actually 4, and counting, light, fun, cooperative games. Similar mechanisms with different monsters. Easy to teach for non-gamers, families, and younger players. My favorite is still the original - Universal Monsters.

#9: Eldritch Horror [Corey Konieczka, Nikki Valens / Fantasy Flight Games] Global struggle to save mankind from ancient horrors. Great, though long and sprawling, cooperative game. Find clues, travel the world, fight cultists, monsters, and Old Ones. Like this one more than Arkham Horror.

#10: Ghost Stories [Antoine Bauza / Repos Production] Very hard, almost brutal, cooperative dice game to win. Love the theme. The special powers on the tiles make for nice decisions on turns. Save the village from a never ending hoard of ghosts until the big bad shows.

#11: The Plum Island Horror [Hermann Luttmann / GMT Games] Very good game that will probably rise higher with more plays. Unique factions make for some nice choices as the horrors moves south. Rescue people, kill horrors. Fun art and story. Lived on a Plum Island in my 20s [not this Plum Island].

#12: Folklore: The Affliction [Nick Blain, Will Donovan / Greenbrier Games] Interesting solo / coop RPG-like exploration / adventure game. Even when you die, you continue as a ghost with different powers. Try to save the people from vampires and werewolves. Great miniatures. Lots of content.

#13: Arkham Horror [Richard Launius, Kevin Wilson, Nikki Valens / Fantasy Flight] Great game, but early editions are long to set up, play and take down and take up a lot of table space. 3rd edition, which I own, solves some of those problems, but not quite as good or immersive or thematic.

So, this month, in honor of Halloween, I will post my Top 13 Horror Games. Won't include RolePlaying Games [Call of Cthulhu is one of my top RPGs] or Collectible Card Games [really enjoy Mythos]. May do a few honorable mentions at some time.

#1: Concept [Designers Gaëtan Beaujannot, Alain Rivollet / Publisher Repos Production] Great game for students to figure out the component parts of a concept, person, group, event, things, etc. Make own cards based on unit being studied. Was VERY popular. Great for English language learners.

#2: Timeline Challenge [Designers Cyril Demaegd, Frédéric Henry / Publisher asmodee] Great trivia game to learn when things happened. Don't need to know exact date - more order of things - which I really love. Make own cards for unit studying. Great discussions by groups as they try to make guesses.

#3: New Bedford [Designer Nathaniel Levan / Publisher Dice Hate Me Games] Used in my Nantucket History class to teach about town building and whaling. Very effective. Students would research the role different buildings played & on the types of whales and the impact whaling had on whale population.

#4: Diplomacy [Designer Allan B Calhamer / Publisher Avalon Hill] Great game for teaching the subtleties of interacting on the world stage. Used in my Government, US and World History courses. Best to divide the students into teams for "domestic" debate prior to the international diplomacy.

#5: Wits & Wagers [Designer Dominic Crapuchettes / Publisher North Star Games] Great trivia game - for things with numbers. Don't have to know the answer, just have to get the closest. Even then, you can "bet" on someone else's guess. Make cards for the topic or time you are studying. Very fun!

#6: 10 Days in series of games [Designers Alan Moon & Aaron Weissblum / Publisher Out of the Box] Great series of games for teaching geography! Simple design makes it easy to teach - short play time makes it workable in the classroom. No real need to change anything. Good for language learners.

#7: Trekking the National Parks / World [Designer Charlie Bink / Publisher Underdog Games] Great games for teaching geography and history. Art work is amazing. Students can research the sites as part of the lesson. Simple enough for younger students but enough strategy for older ones.

#8: Codenames [Designer Vlaada Chvatil / Publisher Czech Games Edition] Great game for building vocabulary & word association - used to make cards with vocab from the unit we were studying. Pictures could be used to help students recognize key events, people, things.

#9: Fauna [Designer Friedemann Friese / Publisher Huch!] Trivia games can be frustrating - unless being close counts! Great game for younger & older students to learn about animals. Also a great game to learn about world geography.

#10: Just One [Designer Ludovic Roudy, Bruno Sautter / Publisher Repos Production] Very good game for English language learners [and all students] for teaching synonyms, word groups, definitions, creative thinking, connections, etc. Made cards based on unit we were studying.

#11: Origins of World War II [Designer Jim Dunnigan / Publisher Avalon Hill] Used this game in my US, Modern World History, Government courses. Divided the students into groups to rep countries - each student played a different role. Great for discussion and learning about why WWII started.

#12: Votes for Women [Designer Tory Brown / Publisher Fort Circle Games] Great game - covers the US Women's Suffrage Movement. Cards have great information and visuals. Comes with replica artifacts. Great for US History classes. Plays 2 - 3, easily divide students into groups for discussion.

#13: Spectrum [Designers Dann May, Brenna Noonan / Publisher Jubilee Media] Used primarily in my Psychology and Government courses. Great way to explore issues and get students talking. Need to make sure you choose appropriate prompt cards. Also, a great ice breaker activity in any class.

2/2: Courses: US History, World History courses, Psychology, Sociology, Government, Philosophy, Religion, Nantucket History, and History Through Film & Music. I also taught English and MicroEconomics. Most courses were taught a variety of levels - basic, college prep, honors, and advanced placement.

1/2: On Thursday I will start my Top 13 Games I Used in My Classroom. Today, my parameters: taught high school social studies, used these to review facts and teach skills - critical and creative thinking mostly, many students had English as their second language.

2/2: Just seems natural to start off my Top 13 lists with games to use in the classroom with the beginning of the school year. I will try to explain why and how I used each game.

1/2: Having taught for 34 years and being a serious gamer, using games as a teaching tool was something that just seemed natural. I never really liked "educational" games, but there are many great games that can be adapted to teach skills and facts. I will highlight some of my favorites this month.

Going to start to post my Top 13 Favorite Games in different categories. Will start with an intro, then, maybe, some honorable mentions, then the countdown from 13 to 1. Will spread it out over the month, so won't be everyday. For September, will start with my favorite games for the classroom.

My 3rd new to me game of 2025 is At the Helm from Button Shy Games. A really neat 18-card, nautical themed, solo, deck building game.

Next Nantucket reread: The Island Steamers by Paul Morris and Joseph Morin. Excellent look with amazing photos at the history from 1818 - 1974. A valuable resource. Being an island with no way off except by boat or plane, the “steamships” are literally the life-line for the island.

In honor of Law Enforcement Day, playing Police Precinct from Common Man Game and designed by Ole Steiness.

For the 191st anniversary of the start of the political struggle in Canada for independence from Great Britain, playing Prelude to Rebellion: Mobilization and Unrest in Lower Canada. Really like this area majority, card driven game from Compass Games and Marco Poutre.

New-to-me game: Antietam 1862 from Worthington Publishing. Great, fairly simple simulation of one of the pivotal battles of the American Civil War and the bloodiest day in U.S. history.