A game with 'family' in the title isn't necessarily a write-off, is it?

What's better than playing pen and paper games with actual pen and paper? According to Icon Games, playing them on a living room television. The reasoning? It's fun as well as environmentally friendly, saving on all that wasted paper. Well, except the electricity you'll be using.

From the makers of Stunt Cars comes a WiiWare collection of games that the majority will probably be familiar to you. Numerous train journeys and Saturday nights that are deprived of spending money have undoubtedly seen many of these pen and paper games in action. Family Games - Pen & Paper Edition will include the following:

  • Squares (aka Dots)
  • Nine Men's Morris (aka Mill)
  • Safecracker
  • Matchsticks
  • Noughts & Crosses (aka Tic-Tac-Toe)
  • 4 In-A-Row
  • Battlefleet
  • Hangman

The compilation will include a number of different rule-sets and game variations, so in some ways, there's more than the eight to choose from. The Tournament Mode supports up to four players, with over twenty game achievements for players to unlock.

It seems strange to us that this release is coming out on WiiWare and not on DSiWare, as the portability of these quick and easy games would suit the portability of the handheld just right, not forgetting the obvious parallels between the act of writing and the use of the stylus. Hopefully the communal aspect of gathering the family around the TV will be enough to justify the big screen appearance, although the use of the word "edition" in the title suggests we could be seeing more in the Family Games series in some form or another.

Family Games - Pen & Paper Edition is waiting to be rated, with the pricing and release date still to be confirmed.