We have something of a soft spot for the Family Game Night series here at Everybody Plays - there are very few Xbox Live Arcade games we've played as much as Boggle, and more often than not, we find a 'quick game' ends up turning into an all-nighter. Effectively digital versions of popular Hasbro board games, EA have recently announced the Family Game Night Fun Pack - a collection of Family Game Night 2 and 3 - but in order to understand exactly what you'll be getting, you'll need to know a little bit about the history of the series.
The Wii had 3 versions of Family Game Night - the cunningly titled Vol. 1, 2 and 3. Volume 1 was made out of the original six games of Boggle, Battleships, Sorry, Sorry Sliders, Connect 4 and Yahtzee; Volume 2 brought us Connect 4x4, Jenga, Pictureka, Operation and Bop It; and finally Volume 3 came with Mouse Trap, Cluedo, The Game of Life, Yahtzee: Hands Down and Twister Moves.
On the Xbox 360, things are a little bit more confusing. Starting out as a downloadable room, the Xbox 360 instead sold each game separately through the Xbox Live arcade, with a total of 9 games available - Boggle, Battleships, Sorry, Sorry Sliders, Connect 4, Yahtzee, Connect 4x4, Jenga and Pictureka - making it more like Family Game Night 1.5, as it missed out on Operation and Bop It. Straight after this 'original' collection came Family Game Night Vol 3, which was released on a disk, and was exactly the same as on the Wii. There was no Family Game Night Vol 2 for the Xbox 360.
The new Family Game Night Fun Pack aims to rectify the problem somewhat, by combining the games off Family Game Night Vol. 2 and Vol. 3 onto one handy disc, available on both the Xbox 360 and on the Wii. Should you buy the game, that means you'll have a whopping ten games at your fingertips, with Connect 4x4, Jenga, Pictureka, Operation, Bop It, Mouse Trap, Cluedo, The Game of Life, Yahtzee: Hands Down and Twister Moves all included. Phew!
We know what the more cynical amongst you are thinking right now - "I already own [insert game here] in it's board game form, so what would be the point of buying it all over again"? To be honest, it's a concern we had too, but we found there are several reasons to buy them again on a disk. For starters, there's less pieces to lose, and there's no way people can cheat - therefore less arguments and boards that end up being thrown across the room. But perhaps the best reason is the new 'Remix' modes, which take games like Boggle and Connect 4 and turn them on their heads, with whole new sets of rules. For example, Boggle's Portal Cubes mode makes the first and last letter change places every time you make a word, so the layout of letters on the board is constantly changing, meaning you'll rarely get stuck in that last minute or so when no-one can think of any more words.
And with not one, not two, but three awesome game collections on the way from EA - Family Game Night Fun Pack, the Monopoly Collection and Trivial Pursuit: Bet You Know It, we're starting to wonder if we'll ever have to buy a board game again. Each of these collections is due out in time for Christmas, making them perfect for the traditional post-Christmas dinner family board game.
