Game Review: Hasbro Family Game Night

Justin Hoeger - Sacramento Bee

Party games often find a home on the Wii, a system designed for drawing in people who might not otherwise play video games.

Such games are usually fun, fast-paced and simple to play - almost anyone can pick up the basics in moments - or even quicker if the game in question is familiar, as with digital versions of classic board games. (Keep in mind that games such as these usually need multiple players to be much fun - few of us like to party alone.)

"Hasbro Family Game Night" gathers six board games under one banner: "Battleship," "Boggle," "Connect 4," "Yahtzee," "Sorry!" and the new "Sorry! Sliders." The games can be played in the classic manner or with special rules, either preset or customized by the player.

"Battleship," for example, can be played in salvo mode or super-weapons mode. In the former, each player gets as many shots per turn as he or she has ships remaining; in the latter, missed shots have a chance of finding special items instead, such as missiles that travel through a whole column in search of a target or bombs that hit a wider area.

(And in case anyone is wondering, this "Battleship" duplicates the tabletop edition's blind play by allowing players to randomize their ship layout and by hiding both players' ship locations.)

Other games have their own twists. "Boggle's" advanced mode shakes up the dice as the round progresses; "Connect 4" introduces special power chips that blow up or increase the score, along with a "Tetris"-like option that clears the grid of four-chip chains but leaves the rest standing; and "Sorry!" uses bonus cards during play.

"Sorry! Sliders" is a variation on "Sorry!" in which each player rolls pawns toward the center of the board, trying to get as close as possible to the center while knocking opposing pawns away if possible. It's also the only game that makes much use of the Wii Remote's motion controls, beyond pointing or dice- shaking.  

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