The Dark Imp Blog
Update: Greetings Card Games
Greetings Card Games Launch on Kickstarter My 6 games on greetings cards have launched on Kickstarter this week. We hit the (modest) target very quickly and at the time of writing have 50 backers, which is marvellous. For each game, the game board is the front of the...
How to play Crazy Eights Countdown
Quick Links Introduction: Fun for the whole family How to Play Crazy Eights Countdown Thoughts about the game 'How to play' Video Get your free game Other great Family Games Introduction Crazy Eights Countdown is a fabulously fun family game, perfect for a rainy...
How to play Sevens dice game
Sevens is a dice game for 2+ players which relies on lucky rolls!You will need: Six regular 6-sided dice Pen and paper for scoring How to play The game takes place over a number of rounds. Every player has a turn in each round, but you must rotate the starting player....
Catch up with The Game School
I present a show on Teacher Hug Radio called The Game School. It's a show about all sorts of tabletop games and how to use them for teaching and learning. There's a new episode every two weeks. Listeners in the UK can tune in live through the Teacher Hug website or...
Family Board Gaming Rituals
This is a clip from The Board Game Family. To elevate board gaming to a fundamental part of the family identity, introduce some rituals. These rituals can be low-key and designed to make everyone happy and comfortable, or they could be quite elaborate and designed to...
How to play Farkle
Farkle is a push-your-luck dice game for 2-6 players. It's quite fun and there's something rather lovely about having super-high scores.Preparation You will need six regular 6-sided dice. If you can't find any, you can ask google to roll some for you. You'll need...
Winter Break
I'm having a festive break for a couple of weeks. Merry Christmas! If you're looking for ideas of card, dice and pen & paper games to play with the family, browse the collection of games on this blog. See you in 2022 with more content for your board game family.
Update: Gift guides, articles and a joyful podcast!
WORKjoy Podcast I had a great time being interviewed by Beth Stallwood for her show - the WORKjoy podcast. In each episode, Beth chats with people from different walks of life to share their professional perspective, personal advice and top tips on how to create and...
The Dark Imp Christmas Gift Guide
Christmas is nearly upon us! But don’t panic if you’re yet to tackle the Christmas shopping. The Dark Imp has you covered. Here’s our gift guide!To send out with Christmas cards: 120 Coaster Games (£24.99 + p&p) Each coaster contains a complete game. There are six...
Why you might want to avoid traditional family board games this Christmas
It’s nearly the festive season, a time of year well-known for inducing tension in the happiest of families. Here, I explain why some traditional games encourage arguments but that help is at hand in the form of newer games on the market.Why do we play board games at...
Clips from The Game School on Teacher Hug Radio
I present a show on Teacher Hug Radio called The Game School. It's a show about all sorts of tabletop games and how to use them for teaching and learning. There's a new episode every two weeks. Listeners in the UK can tune in live through the Teacher Hug website or...
10 ways to modify scoring to keep everyone in the game
This is an extract from The Board Game Family: Reclaim your children from the screen by Ellie Dix and published by Crown House in 2019. Modifying the official scoring to reduce arguments and increase harmony at the table can work for many games. Let’s take a look at...