Since we're leaving today for a week at the lake I have doing a whole bunch of nothing on my mind. Of course I need to do nothing and keep three kids amused at the same time, which presents problems. I'm sure this shows my age, but the first thing I think of is board games. On a real board and everything. No computer needed. So the topic today is...
My Three Favorite Board Games
#1. Backgammon. I've been playing since I was a little kid and I still haven't improved much. I love it in spite of myself. Logic and strategy games really appeal to me, even though I can be spotty on both. This was my dad's favorite game and he taught me to play pretty early. He had been playing since he was a kid and was an excellent player. He died suddenly a few years ago after a lifetime of us struggling to connect and the sight of a backgammon board always makes me think of him in a very nice way. This besides the fact that in my entire life I never beat him. Not once.
#2. Apples to Apples. This is a relatively new game on the market, and it is absolutly fab. If you've never played it you owe it to yourself to look into it. It's hard to describe but very easy to play. Every player gets cards that are descriptors and you have to play them in response to a subject card. You can play it funny or straight, but either way you learn a lot about the people you're playing with. I've played with a group of people ranging from 7 to 50 and everyone had a blast. As a matter of fact my set keeps getting lent out because everyone who plays it wants to borrow it. Too. Much. Fun.
#3. Monopoly. If I had a dollar for every hour of my misspent childhood I spent huddled over a Monopoly game...I could buy three hotels on Boardwalk. My best friends and I would have these marathon sessions that only ended when one of us got caught embezzling money from the bank in a fit of financial despair. To this day I can tell you (by heart) the purchase price and rental charge on every single property. My kids didn't believe me and insisted on testing me on it. Let's just say they're believers now. As an adult I haven't played as much. Who needs a board game to go around and around in circles never having enough money? Really. For quite a while there it was a real drag. Lately though we've been getting back into it. It's fun to play with my kids and whip their butts. And I always know when someone is trying to take the bank for a ride. It takes one to know one.
Honorable Mention - Scrabble, Clue and Boggle. It really is awfully hard to pick just three.
#2. Apples to Apples. This is a relatively new game on the market, and it is absolutly fab. If you've never played it you owe it to yourself to look into it. It's hard to describe but very easy to play. Every player gets cards that are descriptors and you have to play them in response to a subject card. You can play it funny or straight, but either way you learn a lot about the people you're playing with. I've played with a group of people ranging from 7 to 50 and everyone had a blast. As a matter of fact my set keeps getting lent out because everyone who plays it wants to borrow it. Too. Much. Fun.
11 comments:
I cannot believe you didn't mention...TRIVIAL PURSUIT. It is my #1 and just becuase you only got 1 slice...don't hate!
#2- Gross Out! It is a science question game with dares that will gross even the bravest mom out. I love playing it with Matt.
#3- Life. I love the fact that in about 20 rolls of the dice you can retire!
LOVE YOU
RC have a fantastic time. Will miss your funny posts, but hope you get a good rest and have loads of good food, good wine and good company.
Here are my board game favourites...
1. I love playing Trivial Pursuit too happy in the abyss, especially the 2000 Edition as I can actually get questions in that one as I was alive for more of them.
2. Pictionary is fantastic. We have such a laugh playing it with mates.
It's so funny and frustrating, plus I like drawing so it suits me.
3. Boggle is great. I love word games and if it's against a timer all the better.
I'm sure there are loads more I've forgotten but those 3 come to mind and I still play then now.
x
P.S. I finished Harry Potter on Sunday. Kept forgetting to say.
My three favorite board games are:
1. Guess Who- I've had this game forever and i love playing it.
2.Pictionary- This is an awesome game! My grandfather and I are always a team and we never win, but I think it's more fun just to laugh together than to win.
3.Apples to Apples- I got this game for my 14th birthday and it's quickly become a favorite in our family.
I, and both the fifteen-year-olds, have finished Harry Potter. He-who-does-not-care, well enough said.
My three favorite games...three is just too hard. I LOVE games and this is a GREAT topic!!
1. Abalone - great simple strategy game.
2. Clue - I love this and I always win. The fifteen-year-old boy knows this and if he thinks I am getting close to guessing, he'll take a guess just for the heck of it to see if he can beat me.
3. Trouble - still have the one you gave the boy for his fourth birthday!! He and I play what we call double trouble where we each have two colors going at the same time. We show no mercy and have a great time.
Honorable mentions: Apples to Apples (since it has been mentioned twice I don't need to put it into my top three); Battleship; Parcheesi; Mastermind; Yahtzee (the handheld electronic edition as well as the regular dice type); Boggle (also been mentioned); Othello; Hi-Ho Cherry-O; UNO (we have the Harry Potter edition!). I think if I took a walk down the game aisle at any store I could remember a few more, too!
A good part of my summers growing up was spent playing Monopoly, but I can pass it up at this point.
P.S. I hear JK Rowling was on the Today show this morning, and will be again tomorrow, and there is a maybe an hour long Dateline about HP this weekend. I left for work before it came on, but the fifteen-year-old girl watched!
I love scrabble too and How To Be A Complete Bastard - bet you've not heard of that one!
Okay, I'm late to the party here (hope you have a lovely weekend away!)
1. The Game of Life
I loved this one (with the spinner), and I always tried to cheat when I played with my brother so that I could get the job of Doctor. And I loved playing with those itty bitty cars as a kid.
2. Monopoly
We played for blood in our household. But we also made up the "merger" rule, whereby if you were about to go under, another player could buy you out, and you could continue together. We used to tape the little pieces together and move them around the board.
3. Candyland
I played this when I was little, and TFYO loves it now. We play every other day.
honorable mention: Hungry, Hungry Hippos. Nothing but your quick little hand and a bunch of marbles being gobbled up by day-glo plastic hippos. Good times!
Chanced by your blog, thought id drop in a note.
I love monopoly myself and its always fun to play though my sis did have a tendency to steal more from the bank and swipe my houses when im not looking!
Once again, nice blog,
have a nice day
peace be
G
RC, have a great time and a good rest at the lake! (Warning - I'm commenting whilst drunk - hope I don't get arrested by the cyber-cops!)
I have to agree with many others that Scrabble is pretty fabulous. In our family we also play a variant called Take 2: You ditch the board and start off with 7 letters and as soon as you have managed to make a crossword grid out of the letters, you shout 'take 2' - and you all have to take 2 more letters from the pile (all the tiles are face down so you can't see what letters you're getting)- and you have to keep fitting the letters into your existing grid. Sounds incredibly nerdy but it's good fun. Honest.
Backgammon - love it, although I'm really crap at it. What's a strategy?
Masterpiece - a game I used to play when I was a kid with my grandparents. It's all about art and forgeries - great fun! I'm sure there's an American version.
I can't stand Risk. I'll always manage to accidently on purpose up-end the board if I'm playing. It can last for weeks. Men love it and it seems to bring their inner Hitlers to the fore.
I'm off for a rummage in the toy box.
Happy hols!
Mya x
Monopoly is my all time fave. I hear you about the bank heist players too.
Monopoly games had a somewhat detrimental effect on domestic harmony, in my home. Family tensions were often vented through squabbles that were seemingly about who had more hotels, houses, or money, but were mostly about other things. I still feel uneasy about the thought of starting a game. Travel Scrabble, however, evokes only positive memories. Enjoy your travels.
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