Best Toys

Rio Grande Games has been in business since 1998 and began when the creator of the company realized that the family strategy games once produced in Germany weren’t available in the United States. Now the company focuses on creating fun strategy games for the entire family to play and enjoy together.

RA: The Dice Game

The original Ra game was such a hit that the company decided to create RA: The Dice Game. In order to play this game, players try to score by collecting Pharaohs, floods, monuments, and even civilizations. They roll the dice and are allowed to choose which dice they want to keep and which ones they want to re-roll. As with the original Ra, disasters can happen at any times and can completely ruin a player’s strategy.

This game is absolutely wonderful for anyone who enjoyed the original Ra game and should probably only be used by families who have children who are ten and older, as the strategy can get a bit confusing at times if you’re not paying close attention to what is going on. It’s also a wonderful game for the entire family because it brings history into the house. The game spans 1500 years of history, from pharaohs whose names you may know, to obscure ones that you’d never heard about until you began playing the game. We believe this to be a great historical game for any household that has members in it who enjoy history and who also want to conquer an entire land based solely on their wits!

Fast Flowing Forest Fellers

With a hilarious name, Fast Flowing Forest Fellers by Rio Grande Games brings a little bit of silliness to the world of family strategy games. This game is all about trying to get ahead in the lumberjack world. Each player controls a small group of lumberjacks whose job it is to make sure that their load of lumber makes it to the finish line first. Every player gets to control up to three lumberjacks – the twist of the game is that they only get a handful of cards, and their cards have to work for all of the lumberjacks, making it necessary to plan your moves ahead of time.

What’s great about this game isn’t just that it’s perfect for children 8 or older, but that there are six double-sided game boards that are included in the box, which means that you can play dozens of different races down the river, making the game different every time you play. Let’s face it: we’ve all wanted to be a lumberjack getting their load down the river at some point in time or another, haven’t we? Okay, maybe not, but Fast Flowing Forest Fellers makes the idea of traveling down a river to deliver lumber an exciting prospect.

The 3 Commandments

We’ve all heard of the 10 commandments, but The 3 Commandments? It’s true! There are three commandments – at least in this game. The 3 Commandments is a very unique game. The game starts when one player becomes the High Priestess, and in this game, the High Priestess is the one who is in charge. The High Priestess is supposed to watch all of the other players while they participate in a religious ceremony. At the beginning of play, the High Priestess draws four cards that all have rules on them. He or she designates two rules as good, and one rule as bad. Then, during game play, the priestess keeps track of which player gets points for doing something that was on the card, and which ones lose points.

The fun thing about this game is that the cards don’t only give points for moving things on the board, but even for doing things such as taking a drink or smiling at the High Priestess during play, allowing players to have to pay close attention to what is getting the attention of the game’s ruler! This is a great game for families who enjoy games that have one person in charge and the rest trying to figure out what they’re doing!

Bonnie and Clyde

With Bonnie and Clyde, Rio Grande Games has taken Rummy, as well as the story of the notorious outlaws, to a whole new level. Bonnie and Clyde is a strategy game that’s all about earning points using your cards, much in the same way that you would earn points in a Rummy game. But this game is a bit different. Players are trying to make melds, which is three or more of a kind, using evidence cards that are the same color in order to score points. There are, however, Gavel cards, and these are what takes this game from being a simple card game to being one of strategy.

Card games are great for family members of all ages, but we found that this one is best understood by children who are at least over the age of eight, as there is definitely some strategy necessary in order to gain points in the game. It’s a quick play, taking under an hour to complete, and because two to four players can play at a time, it’s a great addition to any family game night. While we do wish that there were a bit more mystery in the game, it’s definitely a solid card game.

Burger Joint

Who doesn’t love a burger and fries? Rio Grande Games has taken the love for burgers and fries and has created a strategic game that is all about earning victory points through owning restaurants. Players start by owning one basic and two advanced restaurants on their own board, which is known as a development board. One player owns a chain of burger joints, while the other owns a chain of pizza joints. Players need to share their available resources but while the player needs to have all of the resources they can get, both players need different things, making it necessary to use your head to figure out what you need and what you can get from the other player.

Being only a two player game takes this down a notch in our eyes, as most families have more than two members in it, and it’s really only a game for children who are over twelve. Because, however, it takes only about a half an hour to play, it is definitely possible for two players to play for awhile and then to switch off to two more. This is a very unique game that is actually much more difficult to win than it first seems.