To mark the equinox we had a bit of a feast and played some forest-themed games.
If you’ve never encountered Waldschattenspiel or Shadows in the Forest, it’s a lovely atmospheric game of gnome hide and seek. You build the forest and then it’s lights out – except for the candle being moved around the board in search of little gnomes. Although it’s supplied with a proper candle, our risk aversion means we use an LED version. I also think it would benefit from a glow in the dark die and maybe a bit of glow in the dark embellishment on the play board. Honestly, you can tell how much I like a game by whether I want to tweak it!
We followed this up with a round of Tinderblox, a great fun dexterity puzzle that challenges you to build a mini campfire jenga-style, but with tweezers and (quite often) your non-dominant hand. It comes in a little tin so is a must-have for camping trips, and as my husband tells me every time we play – he saw Jun Sasaki (the designer of the cult Oink games) buy a copy at UK Games Expo this year so that’s a real seal of approval!
We were a bit indoorsy this year because it was blowing a gale but thanks to our marshmallow toaster we could still celebrate the season. All the autumn activities have kicked off now: leaf catching on a walk through the woods at Duke’s Drive, a clear out of old clothes and today a donation to the local foodbank for the nursery’s harvest festival celebrations.