Homeschool Review Crew - 'Unauthorized' from Chara Games

I was thrilled to get a chance to review Unauthorized from Chara Games which is a card game for 6-12 players. The age on the box is 12+; however, my youngest is 10 and the game play didn't seem to be above her head. 

Chara Games has a mission to build games that create joy by developing relationships with God and people. Chara Games was started by Patrick Lysaght and his wife in 2014. In their games, they have carefully tried to engage Christian topics in a fun way that welcomes people from all faith backgrounds while working as a resource for Christian growth. Discover who is with the church and who has loyalty to the state. It takes about 30 minutes to play. The theme of the game is social deduction and influence. The game is about the underground church. It comes with instructions, role cards, a dealer reference card, a player reference card, and the experience cards. Depending on how many players are in the game will determine how you set up the game. You are assigned a role - Either you are a pastor, a police, or one of the various neutral blue roles. Each of the roles has a specific role power.
Each game must have a pastor and a police. When you deal the experience cards, the police get 7 red cards while the pastor gets 7 green cards, and the other players get a mixture of 7 cards each. The experience cards determine whether the player is loyal to the state or to the church. The game is played over 4 rounds and each round has 3 phases. The Dealer action card describes how you play each round and phase. During the play, you may become imprisoned or a police can conduct an execution. Your loyalties are revealed at the end of the game. The state wins if there is no Christian majority or if all of the Christians in the church are in prison. The church wins if there is a majority of players loyal to the church and at least one player not in prison.

What is the Unauthorized game from Chara Games and How Did We Use It?

I received the box filled with all of the cards needed for play and instructions. The biggest issue we have when trying to learn a new game is reading through the instructions and actually understanding them. So, of course I watched the instructional video:

I asked my family if they would be interested in adding the game to family game night. They all agreed it sounded like fun. I set up the game for 6 and then called the kids.

What Did We Think?

Not only is this a fast-paced game, but what I enjoyed most about it is the real-life aspect of what an underground church really goes through. As you're playing the game, you forget that it's just a card game as it begins to emulate how the underground church has gone through.

FIND Chara Games ON SOCIAL MEDIA @:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CharaGames/
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/CharaGames/ @Charagames 

Read what other members of the Homeschool Review Crew thought by clicking on the picture below:

New Years Eve Game Play 3 Seeds from Chara Games Review

I was thrilled when I had the opportunity to review Chara Games 3 Seeds card game that is perfect for New Years Eve and into the new year to teach family values on finances and giving. I received the game in exchange for only my honest opinion in this review.

The game came inside a nice small, easy to store, box. Inside the box was:

• 30 Seed cards (5 sets of 6 cards)
• 20 Crop cards
• 14 Harvest cards
• 17 Event cards
• 3 Reference cards
• 1 White token "turn marker"
• 5 Colored scoring cubes
• 8 Blue 50-point tokens
• 1 Scorecard

The goal of the game is to earn the most points by using strategy to sow seeds into crops with high harvest returns.

Sow time, money, and labor seeds into crops to reap a harvest!

Use strategy to balance between short and long term strategies.

The game gets interesting with:

• Secret harvest values
• Special events
• Set collection bonuses

The game takes about 30 to 45 minutes to play.

It is recommended to be played with between 2 to 5 players, ages 12+

TO SEE THE RULES OF THE GAME ON VIDEO WITH CARD GAME SET UP - SEE THE VIDEO GAME PLAY HERE!

During Your Turn:

Draw the top 3 seeds from the deck.
Nonchalantly glance at the face-down Harvest cards in play, or swap the position of 2 Harvest cards.
Place up to 2 seeds on any player's crop.
Score completed crops
Place remaining seeds face down on seed deck

Buy the game on Amazon! It is currently retailing for about $19. If you are an Amazon Prime member, you still have time to receive it in the mail before New Year's Eve!

There are 3 types of seeds: Time, Money, Labor. Seeds care placed on the crops and returned and scored after the crop is completed.

The Crops have 3 numbers that reveals how many of each seed is needed to complete it.

The Harvest cards have numbers 1 to 7 that represent the point value of the seeds.

Earn Event cards when you score points on another player's crop.


I love the idea of teaching kids/teens the value of sowing and reaping, especially at the beginning of a new year. Turning these concepts into a game is brilliant as it is a way to engage your children who would otherwise be uninterested about talking about money or time or giving or thinking through strategies in real life. The card game opens up family discussion that may not otherwise happen so readily.

Check it out - Enjoy!

Homeschool Review - Chara Games Commissioned

The Bible is at the root of everything in our lives, including how we homeschool. So, when I had a chance for my older kids to review a new game based on biblical concepts and events, while using strategy and throw in a bit of church history, and I was excited to get a chance to review Commissioned from Chara Games.

   

What is Commissioned from Chara Games?

The people who run Chara Games are Pat and Kat Lysaght. They are a Christian homeschooling family. The company is named based on the Greek word for JOY! They named it Chara (Joy) because they believe games are a way to bring people together to interact and share joy together. They began their company a couple years ago and set forth to provide fun games directed towards teens and adults that would bridge the gap between the Christian and secular community as well as games that help Christians deepen their faith as they delve into exploring history.

Commissioned is a 2-6 player cooperative game. It explores faith, fear, and wonder of the early Christian Church. Game play is expected to take one hour and is intended for ages 14+.

Each player takes on the role of an apostle, using a unique skill in the Faith Deck in order to help the team grow the church. The goal is to collect the New Testament and overcome historic trials while strengthening their Faith Deck.

There is a huge historical element to this game, which gives your children an opportunity to explore more of history. The game includes 5 different scenarios that cover different periods of the early church with unique challenges in strategy.

This 25-minute video explains how to play:

There are several components, game pieces, and cards. I received a brand new, sealed board game in the mail. It consists of everything you need to play the game:

• A dual-sided game board with a map based on a Roman map originally drawn by Marcus Vipsanius in 20 AD.
• Game tokens
• Game cards
• Rule booklets
• Elements of the trial deck cards
• Faith deck
• Theme Appendix
• church member cubes
• missionary meeples
• scenario cards
• extinguish tokens
• stops
• converted city leader token
• Roman legion token
• message die
• elder staff
• apostle pawns
• starting elements of apostle decks

   

Here is how the game board looks setting up and while in play:

 How Did We Use It?

I showed it to my kids after I received it, and they were excited to give it a go. Not so surprisingly, my youngest was probably the most excited even though it's intended for ages 14+. My 14-year-old was excited to play a game based on the Bible, and rallying up my 16-year old son is always a challenge regardless of what the family event is. After playing and watching the video of how to play and pulling out the rule booklet to begin reading through the rules, we sat down and set up the board for play. I briefly described how to play, but my son always wants to read through rules himself, which is fine. I'd rather he have the full concept of game play down before jumping in and no one knowing what to do.

What Did We Think?

Honestly, as is the case with us for any game, the hardest part was reading through the rules to understand how it's played. I really appreciated that there was a "How To Play" video available on their site. Once the game begins, it plays seamlessly and opens your eyes as to some of the things the early church may have faced.

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ANOTHER GAME REVIEW COMING SOON - 3 SEEDS - A GAME ABOUT SMART TIME INVESTMENTS!

The game came with information about another game that was originally intended to be part of this review, but the game was delayed. So, hopefully, you will be seeing a review for the game, 3 Seeds very soon! It is a 2-5 player card game that focuses on smartly investing your time!

FIND CHARA GAMES ON SOCIAL MEDIA @:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CharaGames/
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/CharaGames/ @Charagames

Read what other members of the Homeschool Review Crew thought by clicking on the picture below: