Close

Login

Close

Register

Close

Lost Password

Generic selectors
Exact matches only
Search in title
Search in content
Post Type Selectors
Väruld on Kickstarter
Generic selectors
Exact matches only
Search in title
Search in content
Post Type Selectors

Last week the Mensa Mind Games took place in Herndon, Virginia where 300 judges played 68 games over a period of 48 hours to choose five titles as this year’s Mensa Select winners. Granted, for many of us who take our gaming fairly seriously, the Mensa Select Award really doesn’t do anything to incent us to buy a game (mainly because most of our favorites aren’t even in the mix and Mensa mainly looks at very casual, family sort of titles) but I have to say at least the process is legitimate. Unlike many of the *ahem* “award” seals you’ll see on family games, members of Mensa are actually playing and voting to determine winners as opposed to a publisher simply sending along a large enough check to receive some meaningless seal…

From Mensa:

300 judges, 68 competitor games, and forty-eight hours of nonstop board game action later, five winners emerge victorious. Mensa of Metropolitan Washington hosted this sold out event in Herndon, VA. Members of American Mensa, the high IQ society, selected five Mensa Select winners at its 2012 Mind Games event. Out of the 68 entries in this year’s competition, only these five will have the honor of displaying the coveted Mensa Select seal. This year’s Mensa Select games are:

IOTA—A compact card game in which players compete to score points by adding cards whose 3 attributes individually are either all the same or all different. (Gene Mackles)

Snake Oil—How would you sell a Burp Balloon to a Ninja, or a Lava Cannon to a Rock Star? With Snake Oil, players invent crazy two-word products and quickly sell them to all types of wacky customers. (Snake Oil, LLC.)

Mine Shift—Move a jewel, rotate a tile or shift the board. Each turn gives you 3 moves to navigate your jewels around the mine walls and through the maze. (MindWare)

Coerceo—An abstract strategic game where the objective is to enclose and remove the opponents pieces. It has a dynamic board that shrinks during play. (Coerceo Company)

Tetris Link—This family, tabletop strategy game links Tetriminos (iconic Tetris pieces) of the same color to score, while blocking opponents, without leaving any holes in the game tower. (Techno Source c/o G.S. Schwartz & Co)

“Mensa Select games are fun, challenging games,” said Greg Webster, Chief Judge of this year’s Mind Games event. “You don’t have to be a genius to enjoy this year’s Mensa Select winners, but be prepared to have your mind teased while being entertained in the process!”

    Leave a Reply

    Your email address will not be published.

    Thanks for submitting your comment!