On Kelley’s Wii:

Super Mario Galaxy

Kelley’s maintaining my current star count, but she’s a little behind. I finished it — getting all 120 stars(!!) on 2/24. In fact, I even started to play as Luigi, getting 20 stars as him to match Kelley’s current Mario-played total. Some of those levels are WAY easier the second time around!

This game is awesome. Pretty much every review I’ve seen talks about how it’s accessible to hardcore “gamers” and non-gamers alike. You’ll also see tons of praise for the impressive visual aspects of the game as well as its ingenious level design. I wholeheartedly agree, so there’s not much else I’m gonna be able to add that’s going to break new “review” ground here.

I’m hoping to finish this soon, so I can move on to one of these:

Board/Card Games:

Mayfair The Settlers of Catan Board Game

Kelley introduced me to Settlers and I am totally HOOKED! I have no idea how I had never heard of this award-winning game before, but if you’re looking for a fun way to spend 1-2 hours with a few of your friends (up to 6 total if you get the expansion pack), definitely check out Settlers!

In addition to the base Settlers game, we’ve recently started playing the Seafarers of Catan Expansion and it’s totally fun.

Mike Groen won the first two games (both 6-person mega events) we played. We played again on 2/9 with Sarah and Tim. Sarah took the first game and I was able to win the last one. LOVE the different scenarios you can play with this one.

I also picked up the Settlers of Catan Card Game and Kelley and I played for the first time on 2/10. It’s a two-person variation of the board game that comes with a pretty intimidating rule book. Once you get started though, everything starts to make sense. I can see this getting some definite attention over the winter months!

Lost Cities is a really simple, quick-to-play game that ultimately includes a bunch of strategic decisions (and a certain amount of luck) to win. Kelley and I have enjoyed playing this one a lot — especially since a match (three games) takes only 15-30 minutes.

Still waiting for the time to play:

Other stuff I’ve purchased and may play sooner or later: