It was a weekday night with an hour gap in my teaching…perfect time a classic Knizia and some sweet treats for two! These are both super easy but worth it; read on for the details!

At a Glance…

Double Chocolate Cookies

This recipe from The Banana Diaries makes three giant decadent cookies! I love how her recipes use yogurt; I assume instead of eggs? I get a little extra spoonful of my favorite protein yogurt and get to keep it vegan. It’s a very simple batter to mix up, and I love how she includes the weight of things like butter and flour so you can just keep a bowl on the scale, push tare, and keep adding stuff. We had ours with some ice cream and it was the perfect pick-me-up treat!

Lost Cities

Lost Cities is such an oldie but goodie. It came out in 1999, but stands the test of time and is one of the most angst-y games. Turns are very simple. First you play a card, either to the middle where either of you can take from, or to your side. There are five different colors, with numbers ranging from 1-10. Once you start playing a color, you must only ascend from there. After playing, you draw either from the deck or from the middle where cards have been discarded to. Once the draw deck is empty, the game ends immediately. There are a couple of twists- 1) Once you start a color, you are immediately beginning with -20 points in that color (it’s hard to start an expedition!), so you have to decide if it’s worth committing to. 2) When you discard cards to the middle that you don’t want, you are making them available for your opponent. 3) There are handshake cards that if played, must be played before your lowest number. The double your score, for better or worse! Simple concepts, but a great amount of tension and timing!

Want to buy these games? Check out your friendly local game store (FLGS), Amazon [here], or get a first-order discount at Board Game bliss [here].