Fun and games
No one ever fondly
remembers the times when they were bored out of their minds .
During my years as an exterminator I used to take an
unofficial poll of the board games homeowners most had in their closets. It didn’t surprise me that Monopoly,
Scrabble, and Yahtzee seemed to be in almost every game closet I opened.
Ironically, none of those three are on my personal list
of indoor games, best played in air conditioning, I am about to share with
you. Without further adieu here is my list….
Wii
Bowling. I never
thought there would ever be a video game that virtually simulates the bowling
experience so well. And you don’t even
have to rent a pair of shoes. Yet, Wii Bowling is so much fun and so many can
play at once. It’s a great bonding
experience as we all look goofy together
flinging our arms up in the air, as we
taunt one another . My favorite
moments however are not when someone throws a strike, but when someone
inadvertently throw the ball backwards and almost kills someone in the peanut
gallery.
Hangman.
This is a classic game that Lia, my youngest daughter loves to play. It’s simple and is a great boredom buster in
our house. Hangman forces you to think, all the while keeping yourself from
hanging high. Again, another game great
for taunting your opponent and you can play it anywhere you have paper or a
white board. No wonder the Wheel of
Fortune does so well.
Stratego. This is a game my middle daughter, Sianna and
I love to play from time to time. The game’s premise is a lot like chess in that
it requires strategy and much thought, however the goal in Stratego is to capture your opponent’s flag. Normally, my daughter could
not figure out my strategy and I beat her.
However in the last month she has beaten me twice. I could see the joy in her smile as she
captured her dad’s flag and finally reached the elusive milestone of beating me
in Stratego.
Can’t
Stop. A friend bought this board game for me on my
13th birthday, which happens to be in the shape of a red stop sign. I’ve
been playing Can’t Stop ever since. This is a highly addictive dice rolling game
that requires just the right amount of luck, nerve, and knowing when to quit. The
object is to be the first player to reach the top of any three columns,
numbering from 2 to 12. Be warned that
in every game, without exception, there
is always someone who always yells, “Ugggghhhh, why didn’t I stop.”
El
Dorado. This is my
dad’s favorite board game from when he was a kid. Invented in 1941, on the original box lid Parker
Brothers describes it as “Game of the
World’s Hidden Treasures.” A fascinating aspect of El
Dorado is all the destinations are real sunken treasures or hidden fortunes
from Bogota in South America to Ulan Bator Koto in China to Kumasi in West Africa,
plus almost a hundred more. My favorite feature of the game is rolling the dice
and then moving the metal lanterns (markers) around the board in search of
treasure. The object is to get to your location, pay the digging fee in bars
and then roll the red dice to determine if you win treasure or not. Playing El
Dorado is just something we always do in my family.
APBA Baseball. This is a board game I used to play every
summer with my childhood friend Joel. Then
starting playing it again as adult with friend, Rob and have since passed on to
my son, Jordan. It includes every Major
League Player from the previous year.
For instance, last year it would have include players from Chase Utley
to Derek Jeter to Justin Verlander. One
of its best features is it allows you to pick the best of the best and make
your own team. Each player comes with a playing
card and correlating numbers which believe it or not make for realistic play. APBA
Baseball allows you to make the same decisions
real-life big league managers face every day.
You can choose to hit and run, give the starting pitcher the hook or
just swing for the fences. APBA is a game that takes me back in time
to when my biggest care was whether Cal Ripken, Jr. was batting third or
cleanup. Just for the record, definitely
without a question, always bat Cal third.
Paydirt
( also known as Sports Illustrated Football). During my days as a limousine driver this was
a NFL themed board game I played religiously with my boss, Steve, who was
around my same age. Sadly, I haven’t played
it in years, however I still love it. At
first, we played it to unwind in-between trips and then it became an obsession.
Paydirt is a two player game where you
both have charts with corresponding numbers and then you pick a play and roll
the dice. Amazingly, when played with a
worthy opponent like my friend, Steve, it quite nicely simulates a real
professional football game. Too bad,
unlike Paydirt, real life doesn’t
include the razzle dazzle play.
Settlers
of Catan. Some
friends introduced us to this board game several years ago and it has become
something we teach all our other friends.
This is a game of discovery,
settlement and trade that is one of two games our family gathers around the
table to play during holidays. Settlers of Catan is never the same game
twice since the board is comprised of puzzle pieces comprised of elements such
as brick, lumber, ore, wheat and sheep which you shuffle each game creating a
fresh board each time. If you are
feeling cordial you can trade with you opponent, however if your opponent is
unwilling to trade you can rob and pillage from them. The object of Settlers of Catan is to be the first
player to record ten victory points and then be heralded Lord of Catan. That is at least until the next game
starts.
Nintendo
Baseball Stars.
What I love about this game is there is only 2 buttons on the controller,
it’s a baseball game and it is so simple. There was a time when my son was much
younger and I could always beat him at this classic video game. However, currently he is a college student and
the opposite is now true. There is
nothing quite like competing head to
head with your son and yelling and hollering at the screen and him. Especially, when you know it was your fault
anyway. By the way, just this past week
he beat me again in Baseball Stars, twice
to be precise. I guess some things never
change and why should they.
Ticket
to Ride. The name Ticket To Ride is not only a Beatles’ song, but in this case is an
exhilarating board game thirty to sixty
minutes long worth of fun, cross country train adventure and crushing other
people’s dreams. I bought this for my wife about three years ago and now is the
other game we love playing at all the family get togethers and when we have
friends over. It’s a very addicting game
of intrigue that comes with a really cool, colorful map of North America circa
1910, during when it was fashionable to travel via the railroad. It also comes with forty five brightly
colored box cars per player, which are your makers for the game. Another awesome feature is the board’s six
sections fold into one making it easy to carry. The object of the game is for players to collect
cards of various types of train cars that enable them to claim railway routes
connecting cities throughout North America such as Duluth to El Paso , New York
to Seattle and Atlanta to San Francisco, just to name a few. Ticket
to Ride is a rare game that win or lose it’s just fun to get your ticket punched
and enjoy the ride.
When it comes to
playing games everyone wins when you do things together with the ones you
love.
Swavel
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