If you're bored, get a board

While I wait for my iron to warm up when prepping my school wardrobe, I sometimes spend time looking at our board game shelves. Over the years, we have accumulated quite a few games for people to play, ranging from the young children games such as Candyland up to games meant for an older crowd, like Clue.

 

There is a lot of dust on those games. They just don’t get used much anymore. When Michelle took out the Scrabble board to play against her mom recently, I wondered when the last time that game had been played in our house. 

 

Alas, the technology world has gotten the better of us. We spend too much time watching things and trying to keep up with the plethora of good shows. If we do agree to play a game, it’s a difficult step to figure out which game to play. At times, that’s harder than choosing a restaurant to visit. 

 

Some of the games on our shelves are ones we had as kids. I have the Sorry game from home. It’s stained and well-used, but is a family favorite. I also have an old game called Dungeon!, a roll-the-dice game, where your score helps determine if you beat a monster or evil creature; if you don’t, another dice roll tells you your fate from losing. It’s a game the kids really enjoyed when I taught it to them, which brought joy to the child in me.

 

We have updated versions of some games, which usually aren’t for the best. I’d much rather play the original version of Life than the newer one. We have a few varieties of Sorry, including Spider-Man Sorry. There are more Uno-tabbed games than you can shake a Wild card at. And if you can dream up a Monopoly set, someone will make it for you.

 

Monopoly has always been one of my favorite games. The funny thing is I don’t own a regular copy of it, just Star Wars versions. I like the game so much that I used to play against myself. I’d set up four playing pieces, and roll and pay and trade until one of me was the winner. In college, we had Monopoly games that lasted days! 

 

One of our favorite games that is a recent addition to the stacks is called Ticket to Ride. You try to form train tracks across the country, though it’s much more complicated than that simplistic summary. There is a lot of strategy and a bit of luck, which makes it a thrill, and every game is different. If you haven’t tried it, I highly recommend it, especially if you have four or more players.

 

The number of players is part of it, right? You only need two to play Battleship - and that’s the limit! Other games can be played with 2-3 folks, but they are much more fun with more people. If only two people play Uno, it can be entertaining, but a Reverse card isn’t quite the same. Monopoly is more fun if you have at least four people since the properties are more spread out. If you pull a Sorry card and there’s only one other player, you don’t have to make a tough decision.

 

Do you ever change the rules of a game? Many people change up some things on Monopoly. I’ve always played with the idea that any fines paid go on the Free Parking space. If someone lands there, they get the pile of fake money. But that’s not in the official rules. As long as everyone agrees to changes ahead of time, it can add a fun twist.

 

As the kids are getting to a point with places of their own, they’ve expressed an interest in some board games. We’ve invited them to come and claim some from our place so those tilting shelves can get cleaned. At the very least, it’s good to have games if the power goes out or the internet doesn’t work. Then you won’t be so bored! (Ha ha.)

 

We want to make sure we keep some of our favorites, such as Ticket to Ride. We also want to keep some of the young children's games, in case grandchildren arrive at some point. I don’t need to go buy another Chutes and Ladders or Candyland at that point. 

 

Chutes and Ladders was a favorite when I was young. There is nothing but luck to it, right? Yet, I once beat my dad something like twelve games in a row! 

 

Sometimes we want to hang on to those good memories, even when revisiting them shows us a different picture. Jayna used to love Disney Princess Monopoly, which was a version aimed at young kids. It was a lot of fun! She sold it when she got older, and now I kind of miss having it, again for potential future grandchildren. But I wonder if it really was a lot of fun or if it was just Jayna’s boisterousness when we played. 

 

With just Michelle and me at home most of the time, we should really make a point of playing the ones that work for two people. It’s been a while since I’ve said, “You sank my battleship!”

Word of the Week: This week’s word is effervescent, which means lively and animated, as in, “She was very effervescent as the game went on and it appeared she would win.” Impress your friends and confuse your enemies!