What’s your favorite board game?
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BooMan
Martin Longman a contributing editor at the Washington Monthly. He is also the founder of Booman Tribune and Progress Pond. He has a degree in philosophy from Western Michigan University.
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after chess and go, I like Othello.
I hate Monopoly.
Go sounds interesting.
and a game board with carved out little pools for the marbles. I think my daughter has it and used to play it a lot before boys.
I guess…I had to go Google it.
Is it the same as Mancala? I love Mancala…
Go is great. Air hockey is fun too.
I like chess, but am not particularly good at it.
At the ripe old age of 46 my sons taught me poker at Mrs. K.P.’s suggestion, and I regularly beat all three of them, so now they all regret having taught me.
In “real life” I’ve found Monopoly way too slow, but I played it online for a while — it was a hoot playing with people from all over the world, even a pub owner in the UK — and that was much more fun. We had rankings and tournaments.
My all-time game: Bridge. So difficult, that no person can ever master it. Endlessly challenging. Also more social than a lot of games … and involving a tiny language of communication (bidding) between partners that has to be incredibly intricate in its meaning but with very few words.
I love Go- the Zen of it is what I like the most. complexity from simplicity.
I like monopoly, too but family plays it as a contact sport.
Scrabble!
Yeah! (Then chess.)
I admit to disliking Chess. Actually, I’m hopeless at any game that requires strategy. Except politics, of course, because that doesn’t require logical moves.
Really! Just look at wtf is going on now!
It doesn’t permit logical moves!!!
that’s my girl friend’s favorite, that and air hockey…why? ’cause she can beat me 🙂
Air hockey! :::grin:::
What is it w/men hating to lose at Scrabble?
hey, i don;t mind losing..it’s more a case of she can’t stabd it when i am winning (which is rare)
hey, i don;t mind losing
First man I’ve ever known to admit that!
It is the only game that my husband can’t beat my daughter or me at. He is so competitive that a vein in his temple starts to throb when he plays Scrabble with us. I can never beat my Aunt either, she is Scrabble Queen of the family.
of the words and stuff like that.
We have a mostly Dem weekly potluck and play all kinds of board games. Favorites?? hmmmm, probably Trivial pursuit, almost any version…Battle of the Sexes (just ’cause) basically any game that allows for trash talking 🙂
Well, since few people will play Scrabble with me, my other favorites are Trivial Pursuit and, with a large crowd, Encore. Have you guys tried that one? It’s silly, but fun.
No matter how many players you have, you divide into two teams. You roll dice and go around a board (all pretty peripheral to the action). There’re cards like Trivial Pursuit with a word or category. There’s a timer involved. Each team has to sing a song with the word in it. The play goes back and forth until you run out of songs.
It’s not so great for small groups, but really fun with a lot of people and especially good for involving different generations.
Encore…will have to try it.. Pictionary is a goodone with a group. We also have a game whereby you answer political and American history and win electoral votes…forget the name…might be the Constitution game
Few people will play Scrabble w/you? I kick ass at Scrabble!
Cool! I’ve been thinking of looking into playing online — do you know of any forums? I’ve noticed a lot of word game ones that aren’t called “Scrabble,” but I’m wondering if that’s just a cover so they’re not violating the brand name or something.
No, but if I find out something, I’ll let you know!
Thanks — feel free to email. In my looking around, I’ve found this site, I haven’t downloaded the software or tried it yet, but it seems popular. I’ve looked at some of the people who link to it, and it seems they know what they’re talking about.
After I finish w/my single payer health care system diary, I’ll probably check it out! Will get back to you–thanks!
Here.
http://www.deflexion.biz/
Hey – I work at a game store and I’m setting up an educational games section. If anyone wants some hints…
plays Battlefront better than his dad does? Any ideas that might make video games more mother approved.
I’m not a fan of video games, but there are several good games out there for folks his age- that the family can enjoy as well. Try Settlers of Catan, and for a slightly older gang, Take Off.
The Farming Game is a hilarious take on making it with crops. There’s nothing like investing in fruit only to miss landing on the harvest season.
Set and Sequence should be a hit with your 6 year old- and they address the curriculum guidelines in Colorado for some first grade math skills- patterning and attributes.
I am video challenged and don’t care to be any different, but I have a few ideas now for the Easter Basket. I wish that I could bag on video games more but his hands are weak and the video controllers have done more for his hand coordination and control than 1000 hours of PT.
Backgammon.
Doghouse with kids.
Cranium with a group.
Oh yes, Cranium is a goodie.
Backgammon. It’s like high speed meditation if you play often enough.
Does Twister count? 😉 No… I didn’t think so.
I love chess, but I don’t play it often enough, and I always need to review which pieces move in what way before I start to play. Yes, you can say I’m a novice, by far, but I do love playing. I love Cribbage too… Guess I’m not one for literal ‘board’ games. Trivial Pursuit can be fun though. Othello is a good one too.
Nobody at home will play cribbage with me:( Are you going to the Catskills?
Three of us for cribbage in NY? Cool!
YES!!! I love Cribbage, and I’ll be there. Has the Catskills been decided? Wherever it is though, I’m there. Even more fun now, cribbage time! 🙂
I once double skunked my grandfather when I was twelve and he was so pissed and distressed he threw the kitchen chair in the living room……hee hee hee.
Sherm., I will do another diary about the meet-up. My game: lately it has been Trouble with my 7 year old. He calls himself a “champion”.
But I absolutely LOVE Taboo! But you have to split up Mr. AP and me because we are fierce together! It almost feels like cheating, since we have our own vocabulary that wouldn’t even come close to the taboo words listed on the cards.
But OK, to be fair:
With young kids: Chutes and Ladders. Seriously.
With Mr. AP: Tie b/w Backgammon and Scrabble.
With other adults: Trivial Pursuit
Oh, BTW, would that be Twister with clothes or without?
Heh, heh, heh. I just HAD to ask, didn’t I?
:<D
but haven’t played in years.
No comment.
:<D
Tough call. It’s changed over the years. Risk when I was younger, Monopoly on and off, even Trivial Pursuit.
I’m a lousy chess player — too reckless.
I would have to be severely constipated in order to ever be a good chess player.
I just like it–not as good as some people…
I almost spit my wine out on the monitor! That’s too funny!!!
He told me if I didn’t like being at war with him all the time to “get off of that island thing that looks like Australia” and I think I said “over my dead body”. The two other people playing with us that night won’t play board games with us anymore. We love Cranium. I luva luva luva cribbage.
Notice the new book listed under “BUZZ BOOKS” — Keith Olbermann did a wonderful interview with the serious, scholarly fellow who was shocked to learn that his book is among Osama bin Laden’s favorites.
Anyone for Euchre?
I take it none of us is addicted to online poker? That sounds like serious stuff, from the news stories i’ve seen.
online poker. But I am addicted to that online Sudoku game that Brotherfeldspar put up once. Went there once and now I’m hooked.
Mrs. K.P. is addicted to Sudoku. I never would have expected it. But now I get the crossword puzzle to myself – Bwahahahahaha!
sites are Windoze only 🙁 — I was thinking of getting a Windoze laptop just for that purpose, but I’m too chicken. Would love to sit in on a live game; got a couple of card rooms not too far from here.
Let’s see — board games: backgammon is a favorite, also like Game of Life, dominoes, cribbage (though that’s both board and cards). Scrabble, so-so, just because my mom beat the pants off me; she had a remarkable vocabulary from all the crossword puzzles she did. And the Scrabble folks made a variation with number tiles called Numble — you had to make sequences that ended up being multiples of 3. My brother and I would play it on the weekends, and it’s one of the ways I got really good at doing math in my head (he wouldn’t let me use paper/pencil). With the in-laws, we play Rummi-Cube; it’s like Gin Rummy but with numbered/colored tiles.
I’m a handheld video game addict — love my Game Boy Advance and Nintendo DS. Picked up a DS gamepack yesterday that has four games on it: Battleship, Boggle, Yahtzee, and Monopoly. Never been a huge Monopoly fan, but the graphics are so cool that it’s tolerable, and on the top screen they have these funny running lines at the top (like, “Medical Alert: the cannon has misfired” or “Someone needs to clean up after the Dog on Pennsylvania Avenue”).
Our family was really big on games when I was growing up…sometimes I wonder how much we’ve lost with technology…
“Our family was really big on games when I was growing up…sometimes I wonder how much we’ve lost with technology…”
So was mine. We spent many an evening playing all kinds of games. That is probably why my favorites tend to be two-player games, like Backgammon, Gin Rummy, and Canasta. ;>)
But, now my daughter and I play a lot of video games together. We love RPG’s. Right now we have been playing Tales of Symphonia. It is a blast. We also love all the Mario Party games. The latest allows for up to 8 people to play and we often get to gether with other friends to play.
The gaming world certainly has changed a lot over the past 30 years.
ricochet robots!
Do they still make Ricochet Robots? Or do you have to get it on eBay?
not sure…you can contact the company directly, I believe – rio grande games.
Settlers of Catan rocks!
Charlie Rose’s guests tonight
N UPDATE ON
THE WAR ON TERRORISM WITH
BRIAN ROSS
ABC News Correspondent
MAJOR GEN. DOUGLAS LUTE
Director of Operations, Centcom
JOHN McLAUGHLIN
Former Acting Director of the CIA
Guess I’m old school.
Also, ya know, I think I realized I wasn’t like everyone else when I refused to play Monopoly as a kid ’cause I thought it wrongly promoted Capitalist ideology.
…of course, I didn’t have those words then. My adolescent brain just knew it was just like the stupid shallow people in my stupid shallow suburban town who were obsessed with money and cars to play such a stupid shallow game and get excited over fake money when people were suffering as a result of Reagan’s policies and kids in Africa were starving.
…Uhm. I wasn’t the funnest kid in the room… 😉
I never liked Monopoly, but did admire the game pieces. I always wanted to be the shoe.
My friend and I always took all the pieces out of Monopoly and Clue and played Barbie’s with them. Needless to say (I think) the knife and leadpipe got more use than the iron.
I use to play..
did not like play monopoly, because my little sister had to play the game twice just to make sure we didn’t let her win.
Gin Rummy… Wow. Wait a minute. Is that the game with chips, maybe, and an eight-spoked tablecloth or something? No, actually, it’s not. I remember more now. My parents used to play this chip-based game with their great-aunts and uncles. Gin something it was called, I think. Card-based… My memory is so bad… I should ask my mom tomorrow, as they are up here visiting now.
I think you might be thinking of Tripoley. Oddly enough, I’d never heard of it and just last week a friend of mine who’s older and computer illiterate asked me if I could find the instructions for her online. She had the tablecloth and everything and wanted to play it with the grandkids. I found them and they all had a great time.
Anyway, might be — I do know gin rummy doesn’t require a tablecloth.
Moose-up rummy, it was. I just asked my dad. They and my grandparents and aunts and uncles used to play it all the time when I was little. Phew, got it now.
Backgammon, definitely.
Also Chouette the three handed version of Backgammon…introduced to me by a long ago GF.
Great game
Peace
My dorm in college circa 1980 was really into backgammon. And pot. An interesting game to play high.
You must try it with 3 players (chouette) and high…verrrrrry interesting. :{)
Peace
Boringly Chess, Go, Backgammon, Othello, Bridge.
Differently, I also had a good time with a bunch of Brits playing subbuteo many years ago – a game where you flick little soccer players around.
Crokinole – played a lot at my grandparents growing up
Crib
Stock Ticker
Kingmaker, without question. It’s a board game based upon The War of the Roses. The game’s time-line also coincides with several of Shakespeare’s history plays, which adds a fun literary aspect to the game.
My suggestion is to rent, for background noise, a few of the film adaptations, such as Branagh’s Henry V, and the Olivier’s Richard III (now available on DVD), and dive in. The game takes anywhere from six to twenty hours to complete, depending upon the ruthlessness of the gamers.
Great way to spend a rainy Sunday afternoon (evening, into the wee hours, being late for work, etc).
Here’s an interesting fact: According to IMDB, there have been six-hundred-thirty-two film adaptations of Shakespeare’s plays, from 1899 to present. Too bad he couldn’t have stuck around long enough for those residuals, huh?
Players make up phony definitions for an obscure word, then vote on which is the real definition. Uproariously fun with a big group.
All-time faves– Clue! And Scrabble!