When I was a kid, we didn't have no stinking MMOs.
When I was a kid we didn't even have a Gameboy Advance.
We still played a lot of games. We played board games! I can think of many happy afternoons when I beat the pants off my friends. I can also think of many less happy afternoons when the beat me. We liked to play:
Monopoly
Oh gosh. I was a champ at Monopoly! One time I had to give money back to the bank! Hehe! When I say Monopoly, I mean the classic version. None of this "New York", "Star Trek", "Chocolate" business. Honest to goodness Monopoly. With the dog and the horse and rider and thimble!
Clue
I loved Clue! Granted, after about the tenth time it got a little old, because there's not that much to it. That's when you make up the confessions. "I did it. I killed him because I've always hated him since he stole my bike when I was four years old. When I entered the Library I saw my chance. I grabbed the candlestick and smashed it over his head!" (What makes you think I was a morbid kid?) If you'd like something that's a little more substantive, try Harry Potter Clue. I got it for a friend's birthday and we tried it out. It was much more involved and more fun for us. Plus we get to play as HP characters. I always play as Neville.
Candyland
Is Candyland the most annoying game ever, or the most fun? Yes. You have to get an older version with all the slightly creepy characters (I had one from the 80s for many years until it fell apart, that one is my favorite version). Like Plumpy. It's really simplistic game, so it's great to play with younger kids/siblings/cousins. I don't know, there's something magical about following the brightly colored squares to Candyland.
Uno
If you haven't played the card game Uno at least once in your life, you haven't lived as far as I'm concerned. You would think that Uno would be really boring because it's so repetitive but it's not. Just when you think you're about to win, three players give you draw two cards. Then the wonderful verbal sparring begins. We've had Uno matches that have gotten so loud... I'm surprised nobody called the cops! Then you get all the funny different versions. I had Hello Kitty and Harry Potter versions. They all have their own special ability cards. But no one can ever remember what they mean! So it's really all the same. Good loud fun.
Trivial Pursuit
We have this super old one from the 80s (although it might be from the early 70s). I would recommend getting one that is slightly more modern, unless you happen to know a lot about the 1974 olympics! I really like Trivial Pursuit, it's like my life, in a board game form! So much random useless trivia. Then there's always the fun of picking a really obnoxious topic when you're friend is about to win the game. "Name the swimmer who broke the world record for freestyle in 1967." "...Bob Hope! WHAT THE HECK DO I KNOW?!" "Heheh!" "Shut up."
(Here are some games that I've been introduced to more recently, but if I was a kid today, I would totally jump all over because they are SUPER fun)
Sleeping Queens
This is actually a card game that is ridiculously fun. It's kind of hard to describe, but it involves dragons, magic potions, and cookie kings. If that doesn't make you want to try the game I don't know what will.
Ticket to Ride Europe
This game is not based on the Beatles song (but you could always play it in the background!). It's about connecting railroad lines from destination to destination. My friends got it for me just a few years ago. I love this game! It has the right blend of concentration, competition, and imagination. It's kind of like the better version of Castle Risk. You know, the one that doesn't take four hours to play, and involve many tiny pieces that end up getting stepped on.
Bananagrams
It's the not-extremely-annoying version of Scrabble! I don't even really remember what the rules are, I just like to plop a bunch of tiles on my desk and try to make the words I can with them. But when you play with the rules, it's fun too. It's also achievable, unlike Scrabble. I can make words! Short words! Words that I know! Plus it comes in a pouch that's shaped like a banana, which is awesome.
It is so odd for me, who grew up playing the actually games to now be able to play everything on my mobile device. I have my Monopoly app with me wherever I go, no need for counting out paper money or little plastic houses. My friends often say, "Hey let's play Monopoly!" "Sure! I'll get the board--" "Oh, let's play the app. It takes to long to set up the board." But in all honesty I like playing with the board game. I like sitting around the card table with my friends. I like having to clean up all the pieces when somebody bumps the table with their elbow. It's fun. It's a way of connecting.
So, with all that said, I have a challenge for you. Spring break is about to start, why not invite your friends over and play some board games? If you do, please comment and tell me:
What game you played (it has to be a board game, a real one, not an app or computer version)
If it was a new game for you or not
Who you played it with (example: my friend Cassie, or my little brother, or my mom, etc.)
What you liked about playing it
And finally who won the game!
One of the people who comments with all the correct information will receive two Evil Magma Pea seeds! I will use a random generator to decide who gets the prize, so everyone has a chance. I'll end the contest on April 2nd at 12pm PST.
I hope you all have a great break and try some new games. Old school style!
Hehe... I love monopoly, but my family hate's it. (due to taking hours a game). But we've found a new home for Bananagrams (my mom's favorite) and Ticket to Ride. Will have to see if we can find some time to play one of them during my spring break in two weeks. ;)
ReplyDeleteI played Sorry! in my school's game room. I am one of the leaders there and so I constantly invite classmates and other people to play board games. I wanted to try something new, so I chose the multicolored shiny box labeled Sorry!.
ReplyDeleteI played Sorry! for half an hour with my friends Sydny, Dylan, and two people that I didn't know. I met those two through the game, Gemma and Nicole.
I like playing Sorry! because it was a little more complicated than other games that I had tried. I had to help Gemma read a few of the cards, like 'Go BACKWARDS 4 spaces'. It was interesting for me to think out my strategy of all my little minions, er, pawns.
In the end, I won the game because I had split so many spaces between my pawns. Dylan came in second, Nicole in third, and Sydny lost by forfeit before I had won.
Now, I try a new board game every time it's my shift at the game room, and it's been a blast! Sorry! was my first try at this technique, and it's proved to be useful. Awesome post!
Des
I played Labyrinth! I dont know if its an old game, but when I was in grade 6 when we had free time me and my friends would always play it.
ReplyDeleteSo this is how you play. There are 4 players.The game board forms a maze built of both fixed and moving pieces. The players rearrange the maze to their advantage by moving a row of pieces in turn. Each player has one game piece, which they move in the maze. The player's goal is to collect treasures in the labyrinth and then return to their own starting position. The treasures appear in the cards that are given to the players in the beginning of the game.
The player is allowed to see only the card that shows his current destination. The player has to reveal the card when he has reached the destination, and take a new card from his deck. The other players notice when the deck is empty, and then usually try to prevent the leading player from returning to the starting position.
At the end my friend won lol. But I came in second place. This is a fun game you should play it sometime lol. Good luck to everyone who entered.
See you in the spiral!
I played monopoly. I played with my brother and friend. At first it was boring because it took forever to start up. As the game went on though we started having more fun. One person would be winning but then they would land on another property and lose a ton of money and someone else would be wInning. Finally after about 2 and 1/2 hours my friend won. We don't play board games much but it was fun. We may start playing more often.
ReplyDelete