Dream Home

In Dream Home, players build rooms on their home player board. There are three floors marked off: a basement, a ground floor, and an upper floor. Rooms can only be built above existing ones, for support. The more rooms you build, the better the score, as they all have a point value on them. Some of the rooms score more points if built next to another of the same type of room. There are other enhancements to the game, but that's basically how the game is structured. It's not overly thinky, but it can be strategic. Either way, it's a LOT of fun. Think of it as the building part of the Sims, but you get rewarded with points. Depending on the price (I believe I paid around $30), I think most people would like it. I guess you could call it a filler, but I have seen it get pricey online, for what it is. I think it's a little more than a filler, but not a $40-$60 game.

We have a LOT of games (150+) and tend to play everything from 2-player 10minute games to 3-4hr heavy battle strategy games (though not as often on these long ones). In other words we play a lot of games and have maybe a different set of standards than non-gamers or casual gamers. TIME COMMITMENT: + Box says 30min and every time we played (except our 1st learning session) ranged 20-30minutes for sure. Thus it's nice that we can play multiple sessions in one sitting. EASE OF LEARNING: + Game box says 7+ and they are right, that this game is easy to learn at many ages. > I would say that there is enough math and strategy for adults though that some elements may be lost on the younger crowd THEME: > I'm torn on this one. The theme of building your home is pretty good. But the point rules encourage you to build certain rooms more than others. For instance, 2 points for a Play room, but points encourage you to make sure you have a bathroom, kitchen and bedroom (less fun!) in your home. + Theme is enhanced by getting bonuses for a matching roof, decor, and functionality. LUCK: + Luck is low. The cards to pick from are out on the table for all to see. Depending on who is 1st player and going clock-wise is as random/luck as it's going to get. STRATEGY: + Strategy is low-mid. There is enough planning on your selection that your strategy of "taking a chance" with one plan may get blow away with the changing of cards or other players are taking the cards or it could play out even better than you thought. Also, tracking the math of your scoring in your head throughout, really helps make better decisions. REPLAYABILITY: > Every game of turns is a different assortment of cards. Now there is a limited number of cards. I actually like games that give you 2-3 times more cards than you need for a game, so that there is more chance of getting something new the next game. Unfortunately here it could get boring after a while with only enough cards to fill the house for all four players. + Need an expansion please! A garage board. A backyard and a front yard or other landscaping decor. More room cards! A loft, a sunroom, a room addition, etc. Plus more decor like a pool table or dart board for the game room. Toys for the play room. There are many, many ways to expand this game...especially the need for up to 6-players, please!! OVERALL: Not everything above is a plus, so I feel this had to lose a half-star, but the game is liked. Specific feedback from my family. . . + Wife = Wow! That was easy to learn and fun to play. + Teenage son = That was much better than I expected. It was fun! + Pre-teen daughter = I really like the game. Especially since I'm the youngest and I can beat everyone royally. + Dad (me) = Normally I like high strategy, combat games. But this is one of the better, quick victory point games that we can teach to friends/family who aren't big gamers. This game is a winner for us.

This is a fun family board game. Basically you are building rooms in a house. The rooms you select work together to give you points. There also is a fun type breaker rule where you search for the children hidden in the art work in your rooms. it is relatively short, rules are straight-forward, and pretty easy to learn or teach to others. It lasts (12 rounds) that go by pretty quickly. Even hard-core gamer types will like it as a break/inbetween game. There is also lots of room for expansions in the future.

It works with of max of 4 players, but is our best family game and my wife isn't even a gamer. Very good strategy game to play while also keeping it simple for my 8 and 11 year old to know how to play easily. Not complicated and is 12 rounds. So time is only limited by the slowest players. Scoring looks difficult, but using the score cards makes that easy. After two game plays anybody can learn it. I can only hope for an expansion.

This is a nice card drafting/set collecting family weight game. The scores typically end up close which tells me the game design and scoring is tight, which helps its replay ability. Its easy to learn, quick to teach and plays in under 30 minutes...a nice family weight game, or next step kids game. My only complaint is $35, or $40 MSRP is too much for this game. The components are nice, but even at $35 my wife and I had a hard time pulling the trigger on this despite already knowing we liked it. 4/5 for gameplay 5/5 for components and art 3/5 for replay ability (you see every card in the game each time you play it, I'm not certain if this is good or bad however) 3/5 for price point

It's good and the family (wife and two daughters) love the game. The theme appeals to them greatly. I am a bit underwhelmed by the shear randomness of the card turning though. There's very little strategy. Just turn over the cards and what you get is what you get. Then do it again, etc... The production value is really good though. I just wish there was more game to it. UPDATE: We were playing the game entirely wrong! I am upgrading my original review from 3 starts to 5 stars. The cards are not meant to be unknown face down and turned over but rather face up and viewable. Each player, in turn order, chooses from the various available room cards. In this way, knowing what is available allows you to set up a strategy. It also makes perfect sense why there is the option to pick the single card and first player token. The game was so much better after we got that correct.

This game is super cute. It's easy enough for younger kids to play and yet still interesting enough that as an adult I enjoy playing it. Love the illustrations of the various rooms. It's a light play so easy to pick up in between more difficult games or just because on a rainy day.

Good game not great. Easy to pick up and play, but not heavily complex.