Happy Birthday, Milton Bradley findingdulcinea.com Take a look at an interesting article we found.
Hull City Monopoly is launched Daily Mail - UK Take a look at an interesting article we found.
Chess 'grandfather' honored for decade of tutoring Boston Herald Take a look at an interesting article we found.
Is love at first sight a reality or a myth? Recent studies conclude it's quite real.
 by nachista |
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 by OncDoc |
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 by Peter Lake |
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November 13, 2008
One of the best things about giving presents is that you can give someone their first Monopoly set. Watch their delight and fascination when you count the crisp bills together, set up the cards and go over the rules. Then you'll beat your opponent to the little silver car.
Of course, you won’t divulge the killer strategy you’ve developed through the years, gleaned from experience and studying the Markov matrices. So you know to always buy Railroads. Never buy Utilities (at full price) and if you can put a house on either Illinois Avenue or Marvin Gardens, you choose Illinois. Because you know it's the most landed on square in the game.
When I compete, I compete to win. Even if it’s against a 9-year old.
In 1933, Charles B. Darrow patented the game as his personal invention, making hand-made copies of Monopoly and selling them for $4.00 apiece. When demand for the game grew beyond his ability to fill orders, he brought it to Parker Brothers, who first rejected it on the basis of 52 design errors.
Eventually they didn’t feel those design errors got in the way. And in 1935, Monopoly became America's best selling game.
Years later, it was learned that Darrow's idea was based on The Landlord's Game and they paid off Lizzie Magie, the inventor, when she showed them patent 748,626. The game's object of demonstrating how rents enrich landlords and impoverish tenants could have quite a future today.
Board games have been getting under our skin for quite a while.
As early as 2500 BC, Senet was pictured in a fresco found in Merknera's tomb around 2500 BC. Backgammon, according to game historians, is a direct descendent.
Another contender for the oldest game is the English Nine Mens Morris or just plain Morris. (It’s like Tic Tac Toe only more so.)
According to Chinese history, Go was invented by Emperor Shun around 2200 BC to help develop the intelligence of his son, Shokin, and keep him out of trouble. It has the fewest rules and yet it's considered to be more intellectually challenging than even chess —which originated in India around the 6th century.
The origin of Mahjong is a bit murky; some fanciful historians put it in the time of Confucius, but there is no documented evidence it existed before the 19th Century. Chinese Checkers is a modern version of Halma, invented by an American professor from Boston. Alfred Mosher Butts, a Poughkeepsie, New York out-of-work architect came up with Scrabble in 1948.
And now there is a Monopoly Deluxe Edition with updated pieces. With twice as much paper money as the original, it's even fun to be the banker.
Board games are fascinating. They take you to another time and place. They've continued through the years, teaching kids hand-eye coordination, mental agility and a few social skills.
It’s usually the adults that need supervision.
So...what board games get you going? Care to pass on any of your favorites? Or would you just prefer a stimulating game of Charades or Pictionary?
Share the Eye:
Clue ideafinder.com Take a look at an interesting article we found.
Halma strategy.com Take a look at an interesting article we found.
Go xmp.net Take a look at an interesting article we found.
Ah, board games, one of my favorite subjects. I grew up in a rural area with only a couple of ot...
Nov. 13, 2008 2:09 AM
Favorite board game?
18% 27% 24% 9% 15% 6%
As a kid I grew up on Monopoly, Checkers, and alot of card games like Uno, Skip-Bo, and one my mother and I still play occasionally called Nertz (not sure on the spelling) Nertz is like multi play solitaire and everyone plays with their own deck. Other than that, it would take me awhile to post the rules...
My wife and I now play Trivial Pursuit 90's edition, one really old version of Life, and our favorite is Mexican Train Dominoes. And of course, Monopoly still rocks the casbah.
Oh, and Cranium. Love that game.
Ah, board games, one of my favorite subjects. I grew up in a rural area with only a couple of other kids around, yet board games always fascinated me. I had over 200 board and card games at the zenith of my collection, but I've since trimmed back to "only" around 150. The one that gets the most play by far is Fluxx, a simple card game where the rules are constantly changing. You can have the best laid plans, only to have someone else play something where you have to throw it all away. I've gone through five or six decks of it over the 10 years I've been playing; quite the testament to the fun I've had.
If you enjoy the games such as Chess and Go, pick up a copy of Gipf from your Friendly Local Game Store. It and the other five games in the Gipf Project series are together some of the greatest games I've played. They're all very simple, but their intricacies quickly make themselves known.
Oh, if you think Monopoly takes too long, do two things: 1) Play by the rules, and 2) Remember the object of the game. I've seen so many people do things like give a cash bonus for landing on Free Parking, putting more money into the game. If you keep doing this, people can afford more, and therefore the game drags into the wee hours. People have a tendency to be FAR too nice when playing Monopoly. The whole object of the game is to drive your opponents into bankruptcy! One does not do this by forgiving debts, one does it by being a cold, conniving, heartless bastard. Just remember, it's only a game, your opponents are pulling the rug from under you because they're supposed to.
One more thing, my favorite strategies in Monopoly: The orange properties are your friend. If you count from Jail, the orange properties get landed on with either a 6, 8, or 9 (7, the most frequent roll with two six-sided dice is Community Chest), which gives you a 39 percent chance of someone landing there when they get released from jail. Since you *want* to be in Jail as the game comes to a close (you still make money in Jail, but since you're stuck you won't have to give your money away), the orange properties can become quite the landing strip. The other devious strategy is to buy up all of the houses and refuse to upgrade to hotels. Once you've created a housing shortage, you can get some very good deals on other properties.
more on the honor rollBoard Games were always a favorite of mine, something we did as friends and family every week on Fridays and Saturday, even after the time for Dating arrived ... A tradition I continued in my life and used to teach my eight children and spend as much time with them as I could. The tradition continues today and there are Grandchildren ... Love all Games, but I guess I have to say that my Favorites were always, CLUE and SCRABBLE ...
I have to admit that from early in the era ... when the last Play was made and the final contestants went to bed for the nite ....... it was time for me to slip out into the Garage and work on my Car, listen to the Radio/Tape Deck/CD Player, have a Coldbeer or three ...
Board Games are a Blast !!! And much less injurious than Soccer or Baseball, and a lot more energizing than Bocce(tho' I love Bocce and still play) ... and no matter who you are playing with or what you are playing, you can nibble on some fresh Rugelach and sip a beverage at your liesure, while keeping mind active and expanding ... What a happy time it can be .......
My first choice is Scrabble. I have a portable edition for travel and I can also play online with my son, away at college.
Chess is my second choice. I'm not very good, but I enjoy the game.
Welcome back Phony54 and celestial jester. Where you been so long?
Did anybody ever play a card game called Fantan? We used to call it "the game of abuse" because the ability of one player to strategically block the others would always lead to massive insults. You might think of it as a nastier version of Crazy Eights.
And now, for those whose brains catch and hold song fragments, I remind you of Joe South's immortal
People walking up to you, singing Glory Hallelujah
and they're tryin to sock it to ya
In the name of the lord
(everybody sing it now)
La da da...
talking bout you and me
And the Games people play...
have a good one, y'all.
wilie
There is always a Tic-Tac-Toe game going on our dry erase message board.
The kids enjoyed Chutes and Ladders, when they were young. Like reading, it was a great way to spend some time with them.
I love how board games come out of the closet when we lose our electrical power. Perhaps we should have power outages more often? (But then we couldn't be here)
Greetings: Just a simple, friendly game of checkers for me. I have and old Rum barrel top that has a charred bottom with a hand painted checker board on the top. The asthetics and quality of the board add a nice quality to the game. Years ago, JP sold an old worn, wooden bench with a antiqued checker board finish. I had it in the bar, but brought it home so my kids could use it. Again, the "board" adds so much to the game.
Have written down all of Mr. Peterman's Monopoly tips on the palm of my hand. Am so taking my seven-year-old down this weekend. He ALWAYS beats us. And ya know what? He ALWAYS buys the railroads first thing. Brilliant.
Clue was my favorite growing up. But I always won so my sisters stopped playing with me. So perhaps I'm not as bright as I thought I was whilst doing all my victory dances. I loved the pretty rooms.
My husband and I courted over backgammon. He always beat me. Still does. Have begun counting his moves. Slightly suspicious.
It seems I must have had a LOT of free time as a kid! We'd spend all day during the summer days playing Monopoly (several kids) and I remember when we introduced 'banking' to the game to keep kids who should have gone bankrupt 'in the game'. We'd loan money (with interest), or loan money with one of the kid's properties as collateral (of course we'd never heard that word; we just invented the concept and used it). No wonder sometimes the games would go to TWO days!
And then there was the discovery of Hoyle's Rules of Games! I don't even want to think how many games we learned... for awhile cribbage ruled, and then some of our gang moved on to canasta -- and I quit. I simply reached my intellectual limit with cribbage and couldn't grasp canasta.
Today I find my 'game fix' is simple: Sid Meier's 'Civilization' (Conquests). For probably 15 years I've been fascinated with the Civilization series. I can't explain why.
But the best times were when I was a REALLY little kid (four or five?) when the Branks kids and I discovered some old, wet and smelly 500-piece jigsaw puzzles in their garage, and we'd sit on the damp concrete floor putting the half-mildewed pieces together.
Yeah, time was then not a limited and very precious resource. It was an endless sea and we wasted it freely, with no conception that our fun was bounded. It was sort of magical.
Scrabble always seems to bring out the, ahem, "best" in my family. My grandmother gets pretty cut-throat and routinely heads to the dictionary to challenge words. That infuriates her daughter, my mother, leaving the kids to chuckle as they bicker. I then quietly go about the business of whipping their butts and leaving the silent table with a smug look on my face.
I enjoy a good game of Trivial Pursuit when in a large group. I would love to get me and my daughter involved with Cranium or Cadoo. Those games look like lots of fun.
To address a small point made in the original post, I can't see how a board game develops hand-eye coordination. Unless you're playing a game like Cranium, you're just rolling dice, drawing cards, and moving pieces around a board.
Unless that game happens to be Mousetrap. Now THAT'S a board game.
Oh dear, I feel a childhood flashback coming.
I was never good at math ~ still not that great at it. But my parents used board games to teach me to be faster at math & to help improve my skills. I got the game of Life for Christmas one year because it was educational not because I begged for weeks & wore my parents down.
Personally I alwasy liked Clue & I do well at the old (first version) Trivia Pursuit game. Up north I play against my mom & dad and beat them most of the time. Lately though I have been exposed to newer baord games & I LUFF them. One is called Blockus I bought it for my parents for the cabin. It's So much fun, they have a new version out base don the old game of Triominoes (my parents used to play that & backgammon on Sundays) I haven't had the chance to try it yet but I'm sure it will be as fun as the regular Blockus. http://www.blokus.com/
If you like Scrabble I suggest picking up the game Bananagrams. Its a personalized scrabbe game. I LUFF LUFF LUFF this game... Its great fun Plus its still played against people but at the same time against your own mind. B&N sells it for around $15. WOrth every penny. I played it against my parents, who were huge into scrabble & my dad kicked my butt. Very fun... http://www.bananagrams-intl.com/index-us.asp
I do find sad that all the Board games from my childhood are going towards the electronic card system for the Banking part. I feel that it in a way taking away the chance for the kids to learn/ horn their basic math skills the way I did.
Post script: In our family we never played games with mom and dad, but then there was the annual peanuckle every New Year's Eve at my Italian grandma's house. She lived in a brownstone in Brooklyn, New York, with my aunt Lucy and Nina (both unmarried), and -- on the third floor -- my Uncle George, Aunt Vita, and cousin Bob. My aunts would bring out a big jar full of pennies and the playing cards and everyone would play peanuckle waiting for the New Year to come in. It felt strange playing with adults... it was a family tradition. It's all gone now... mom and dad are gone.... the aunts are all gone... grandma passed away in 1956... my cousin is 75 and lives in Arizona (very happy, healthy and productive). But I still carry the memories of those days on Schaeffer Street... it was very nice playing peanuckle with the adults -- we were (temporarily) accepted as equals. Warm memories.
Rings,
Miss Ive did it, in the Frank Sinatra ballroom, with the Eartha Kitt piano. Game on. Next trip, we're packing Clue.
Agent,
No need for hand-eye coordination? The last time I played Monopoly, after one glass of wine, I couldn't get the Chance and Community Chest cards back to the bottom of the stack without taking out the entire pile. Seriously. Try it.
Doc,
My father is a cribbage man. He and my stepmother use to play it every morning before they got out of bed. Very romantic. She really held her own, too.
Battleship anyone?
MissIve,
I'm talking about board games developing hand-coordination in children. Not how difficult hand-eye coordination becomes when adults are impared.
Speaking of, I wonder what a robust game of Risk would be like if the participants were drunk with more than visions of power and world domination.
Ignatian said...
I guess it's not a board game, but I can't wait for Santa Claus to bring me SCENE-IT SEINFELD.
Dutchman said...
My favorite indoor game - when I couldn’t be playing in a pickup game
of “touch†outdoors - was “PHOTO ELECTRIC FOOTBAL. †At the time, it was considered high tech. You acutally had to plug it
in. “If remeber correctly, and I probably don't, it was light box about 10-by-14-inches
square with a translucent paper on top and a sliding cover that pulled
in and out.
A spinner and dice accounted
for field goals and points after and kick
off and punt returns. it would be laughed at today, in the days of John Madden football, but everything was more simple then,
including football itself. The non-electric version in baseball was All STAR BASEBALL. Another great game.
Do you remember the Seinfeld episode where they are playing RISK?
Jerry: Oh, it's Risk; it's a game of world domination being played by two guys
who can barely run their own lives.
Kramer: Oh, stop stalling. Come on.
Newman: I can't think, there's all this noise.
Kramer: Or is it because I've built a stronghold around Greenland? I've driven
you out of Western Europe and I've left you teetering on the brink of complete
annihilation.
Newman: I'm not beaten yet. I still have armies in the Ukraine.
This comment perks up the ears of what appears to be a Russian immigrant.
Kramer: Ha ha, the Ukraine. Do you know what the Ukraine is? It's a sitting
duck. A road apple, Newman. The Ukraine is weak. It's feeble. I think it's
time to put the hurt on the Ukraine.
Ukrainian: I come from Ukraine. You not say Ukraine weak.
Kramer: Yeah, well we're playing a game here, pal.
Ukrainian: Ukraine is game to you?! Howbout I take your little board and smash
it!!
The Ukrainian pounds the game board, destroying it and sending army pieces
flying.
What is it about Scrabble that turns sweet older ladies into cut-throat competitors? My two aunts that live in California always make me play scrabble with them and then they kill me at it. One of them gets so frustrated with me that she starts telling me what words I can and can't spell...not because the word is illegal, but because I'm not making enough points. It is insane.
However I enjoy Scrabble with my nieces and nephews, because I can actually win. I'm about 30 years from becoming my aunts.
Sir Boyscout's uncle owns a local toy store and for our wedding they gave us Blokus. No math, no words, just spacial reasoning and a little strategy. It is fun and addictive...kind of like an interactive version of Tetris.
There are games that I refuse to play with my husband because he gets WAY too competitive...that and the fact that I can't beat him at them. RISK and Battleship. It is rediculous how angry those 2 stupid games make me. The only RISK advise I can give is, you can never hold onto Asia, so don't attempt it.
List of good board games I will always play: The Farming Game (thought up on the seat of a tractor), Pit, Balderdash, Trivia Pursuit (I kill at the Warner Bros. addition), Husker Du (sp?), chinese checkers, and Rummikub.
Monoply and the blatant rip-off Trump just bring back bad childhood memories of my older siblings teaming up to boot me out of the game as quickly as possible. I am a BAD loser.
Kindlee,
I'm actually laughing out loud. And they make Jerry's apartment the neutral territory. So bloody funny. That's how I am about games, too. Love the trash talk more the game itself. Even if I'm losing horribly, all my properties mortgaged, by God, I'll still talk the trash.
Thanks for that. How's the cold?
Ignation,
You said huh? A Seinfeld game? Am all over that.
Agent,
Try to follow my cold medicine-induced logic. If one glass of wine impairs an adult's motor skills (and it does, for me), it puts them more on par with the small child. So, if it's difficult for me to then stack the cards, it means that the game requires motor skills. Follow? And if it requires them, it utilizes them, and practices them in small children. Is it just me and the Theraflu, or is that solid logic?
And now I'm warn out.
MissIve,
The cold is a bit better today. I still took another sick day. My head is clearer but maybe that's because I stubbornly refused to take any more cold medicine. Even the children's dose messes with my mind.
It reads like you are under the weather, too. Hope you feel better soon. (Now that I'm more clear-headed, to answer your inquiry, I added 2 of my "dreams" to yesterday's post)
My husband is a ruthless game player. Always plays to win. Always wins. Doesn't exactly do a victory dance but gets a very smug smile on his face. I just think it's cool if we can use up all the Scrabble letters!
No one will play scrabble with me because I am so vicious. I don't really mean to be, I just can't help it.
Oh ~ Miss Ive ~ hoes from the Ballroom back to ya ~ Poor Eartha Kitt Her voice will never match Miss B's at that Piano....
Whe I was in High School our group never really played board games except Risk I feel 15 yrs later I am still Risked out from it.. It was brutal & it was fun. We also played the Card Game Spoons A LOT. That was Life Threatening. Now 2 of the guys in our group were 6'3 and at my place the dining lamp (moms pride & joy) hung really low over the table. We were playing spoons were grabbed for one went slidding across the table, the guys also went sliding across the table as my parents were walking in the front door. All the could hear was abunch of girls screaming, chairs moving & a "THUD" then a "I GOT IT" ~ All I heard form my father was That Lamp BETTER BE IN ONE PIECE.... Thank god it was it was swinging for a while but it was intact.... My Paternal Grandfather was the MASTER at Spoons.....
Did anyone else have the board game Aggravation? it had marbles that you moved downthe board. My Maternal grandparents always had it & we played it a lot. Grandma was Great at that game. I think my parents may still have it somewhere but I haven't played it in years...
Sounds like we need to start a Scrabble Sharks anonymous.
Rings, your spoons story sounds like my family and Pit...you've never heard so much yelling before, and it becomes a full contact sport.
Nachista ~ I'm BEGGING YOU to go buy Banangrams & play it with your mom, aunts, sisters, Sir Boyscout ~ They will LUFF LUFF LUFF LUFF IT!!!!!!! I will admit I'm not HUGE on Scrabble so for me to LUFF this game is saying a lot.
Miss Ive ~ Palmer House Lobby..... That's all I can release.....
Okay, confession:
I do not like Scrabble. Not even a little. And I'm a writer. Maybe that's it.
I like games that, like Mr. Peterman said, take me to another place. And it just doesn't to it for me.
But Nachista, I will say that Rings talked the Bananagrams WAY UP at the ole' House of P over the weekend and everyone was sold.
Except me. Cuz I can't get on 'board' with Scrabble. I really do think there is something wrong with me. Although, am seriously digging TheraFlu. Is is possible to become addicted? I hope so.
Rings I bought Bananagrams to go with the SickMonkey I got SB when he was in the hospital for his third hernia operation. We put it in the hall closet and it got buried, we've never even opened the game. I'll get it out tonight and make him play it with me.
Miss Ive ~ I'm telling you I don't tend to willingly play scramble but this game I LUFF ~ I can tell you why ~ the only person screwing up the "board" is yourself. You can't bet on anything but your Inteeligence & Vocab to play the game. It's an like playing Independant Scrabble, excpet that your oppents can sock you by making you take a tile, which is the best part for me. I wil admit though its more fun with 4 or more people, yet it can be a great game of wits between 2 people also.
Agent666,
When we play our board game should I bring a bottle of wine??? Preferably Anomaly???
~Wheatgrass
Was just in the Master Controll room during a National Commercial Break. Milton Bradely's new spot was on promoting the Family Board Game nite. It's a neat commercial makes me wish my household had a designated one while growing up. It's quite a great idea to play on the Nostaligic angle to get more board than electronic games sold. Kudos to whoever thught up that campaign.
Wheat,
Given that you misspelled your name I can only assume you started driking without me.
What shall we play then? The Flying Dutchman's Treasure Hunt? Eels and Escalators? Full contact Stratego?
What say, for our next Peterman's Eye adventure, we go here
http://www.biltmore.com/
And play a real game of Clue? Yes?
And I get to be Professor Plum. Because I like tweed. And purple.
I'm serious, all. This spring. When Miss Ive has replenished her bank account from buying up all of Trader Joe's Two Buck Chuck for the last adventure. And proceeded to spill most of it into the greater Chicago area's drain system. But that's another story.
Nachista, Kinklee, Olivia, save your pennies.
Kindlee,
Am giggling because I wrote your name as 'kinklee,' especially after I asked you to tell me your 'non-kinky' fantasies yesterday.
Oh, FYI, I did read your addendum regarding scuba adventure. No. No way. Miss Ive has few phobias, but sharks are the highest on her list. No.
When I swam laps at the university pool in undergrad, I sometimes heard the drain make 'that noise' and would jump out of the pool mid lap. The lifeguard always looked at me like I was crazy. Imagine.
One of my favorite movies form the 80's is Clue & it was well referenced at the P this past weekend... Particularly Miss White & her ~ Flames..... "I hated her... SO MUCH... it was flaming, flames, FLAMES... on the side of my face... heaving breaths, heaving..."
They just don't make'em like that anymore...
I like the Kimpton Hotel chain, most of their boutique hotels stock a myriad of board games that you can borrow during your stay. The manager's hosted wine reception every night at 5pm with free seated massage and cookies, doesn't hurt either. This is the one I like to stay at when I'm in San Francisco (its near the Drake)...
http://www.serranohotel.com/html/ServicesAmenities.html
MissIve,
How exciting!
Somehow I can see Olivia as Miss Scarlet ;)
I'll need a blue JP dress to be Mrs. Peacock.
Who could we get to play Colonel Mustard?
Doc Nolan,
My mom was a puzzle fanatic, when I was growing up. Every winter it was time for her to seek out and purchase a new huge puzzle. My dad made her a table out of an old wooden door, so she would have enough room to spread out the pieces. The more pieces the better she liked it. Sometimes it would take all of us months to put the puzzle together, stealing moments throughout the day to find a piece. The last piece was always saved for her. It was a triumph, yet also a disappointment, when each puzzle was finished.
rings90,
I had never heard of Bananagrams. Thanks for the link. Will have to investigate...
Rings,
Um, I have no recollection of that Clue conversation. PLEASE tell me I was not part of it. Puh-lease.
Isn't that the movie where one of the women says to another,
"What's the name of your lipstick shade?"
"Passionate pink. Why?"
"Well quit passion-it around."
See, we already have our lines for that film.
MissIve,
Sharks haven't been a problem...as long as one is careful not to act like a seal.
I have a little trouble with claustrophobia, so I avoid diving in swimming pools.
Kindlee,
Absolutely. NOBODY but Olivia could play Scarlet. NOBODY.
And you've got Peacock (that was always my favorite, btw!)
I'm Prof Plum. Cuz of the tweed. And the purple. And because I like to chew on a pipe, now and again. Not really. But I will.
Colonel Mustard? Oh, that's so Nachista. She's our military girl. Plus the color would be very nice with her hair. Me thinks.
Mrs. White? Who else is on this forum can't hold her liquor besides me? Could someone 'man' up? Rings? But you're a pretty good drunk. So maybe not. Jaime lynn can do this one. TRUST ME.
Mr. Green, Rings?!
How fun. . .
In my limited experience, it seems as though families fall into one of two categories; either cards or board games. My family had a well used deck of cards.
I remember spending many a late evening sitting around the kitchen table in our "The Honeymooner's" style apartment, playing game after game of Rummy 500 with my parents and a couple of sisters.
While the games were always intense, the laughter was almost constant. Nothing else in the world mattered than just being together.
I've gotta go find my Mr. Peabody's "Way Back" machine. It might be in the garage. If I don't travel back, well it's been really great here.
Willie T,
Thank you so much for the song Games People Play which now has me trapped within my memory warehouse and is playing loudly over the intercom in an endless loop.
Here's one for you to think about . . . . remember this classic by Napaleon XIV
They're coming to take me away, HA HA
They're coming to take me away, HO HO HEE HEE HA HA
To the funny farm
Where life is beautiful all the time
And I'll be happy to see
Those nice, young men
In their clean, white coats
And they're coming to take me away, Ha-haaa!
They're coming to take me away, HA HA
They're coming to take me away, HO HO HEE HEE HA HA
To the happy home
With trees and flowers and chirping birds
And basket weavers who sit and smile
And twiddle their thumbs and toes
And they're coming to take me away, Ha-haaa!
Enjoy! It'll strop eventually.
I would certainly join a game of PClue but our favourite board game is Parcheesi. When our grandmother moved into terminal housing, her favourite distraction was a couple of games every afternoon. It's a great game for young and old and can be played in genteel mode or killer mode. We also line dominos and go; there's something about the feel of the pieces in your hand...
We didn't really play too many board games when I was a kid. Checkers sometimes, and occasionally Trivial Pursuit. In Junior High, on Friday afternoons my English teacher would have us play group Trivial Pursuit, which my group nearly always won no matter who was in the group with me. As a result, I have a brainful of completely useless trivia, which may be part of the reason I have a non-literature English degree :P
The game I really loved wasn't a board game. When I started my freshman year of college, my dorm floor became famous for our pitch games. Any time, day or night, whoever was around would join in on a game. It is pretty amazing that any of us managed to make it through the year.
Ok I want to figure out how to play bridge and start a bridge club.
Cards are a whole other story. I love to play speed, trash, scum, Kings corner, solitaire, texas hold 'em (never for real money, I suck), etc. I need a book on how to play Rummy, Peanuckle, hearts, and bridge.
PurpleWitch said...
Hot summer afternoons of my childhood were spent playing Monopoly or Clue with my best friend. I still prefer the actual board games to the electronic versions. Monopoly remains the board game, either the original or the variations on the theme, I buy most often as a gift for children.
I'm going to have to go to my parents' house tonight and dig out their old Clue VHS game. As kids we could never figure out how to play the video version, maybe now that I'm older and possibly wiser, I can get the better of the VHS tape.
ooh I love bridge it is a thinking card game, I wanted to mention it earlier, but it seemed we were speaking of board games as the topic and it is really hard to find four willing participants
Board game: my vote is for good old fashioned monopoly. It's fun to play like I am a big real estate tycoon. Cards: Straight 5 card stud!
I have the perfect Jacket for whoever wants to be Ms. Violet, its a J. Peterman one too.
I'd like to try Bridge, too.
There was a time when I knew how to play Hearts, but it's been so long I've forgotten. I do remember liking the game, though. My aunt used to enjoy playing Gin Rummy.
My little sister used to talk me into playing Sorry. Everything would always be fine until I'd bump one of her pieces back to the start, then she'd get mad at me and wouldn't talk to me for the rest of the day. For some reason, I'd still let her talk me into playing it again...kind of like Lucy, Charlie Brown and the football. I can be so gullible.
PeterLake,
Used to hear that song all the time on the Dr. Demento show!
Welcome PurpleWitch!
As a child, my brothers taught me how to play poker for some odd reason. Then they wouldn't let me play anymore after I started winning all the chips or matches. Five or seven card stud (why do they call it that?), draw poker, High Chicago-I was deadly. Good poker face. The boys were mortified teens, so I switched to Canasta with my parents. I did ok, but Monopoly and Clue were THE board games of the day. Somebody(s) guessed who I imagined myself as in Clue. Why do I SO love JP's RED dresses? Hmmm...
In college, I'd hang out with the boys sometimes, and they'd play Risk in their dorm rooms. I liked that game, studied its strategy, and when I was invited to sit in, I drove all before me and conquered the world. I learned very quickly to start off in the south, where borders are easier to defend, and grow mighty before storming out of my stronghold and sweeping the board. It helped that the guys were usually stoned out of their minds...
Never played cribbage, or Go or Chinese checkers, or pinochle. Did ok at chess.
We used to take family vacations, my parents, my brothers, and all the spouses, to some resort or other, and for a time we played Trivial Pursuit. I was soon excluded from those. My sisters-in-law developed a real animosity for me at these times, due to all the useless trivia I wielded so effectively. The rest of the time we got along fine. It's been a long time since I played any of those. I can hold my own with my son at Halo or WOW, God of War, those driving games too, but my favorite video game was always Tomb Raider. Me and Lara were tight, baby, and we kicked ASS. T Rex? No problem. Raptors?-I'm there. A room full of demons? Watch me jump, 45s blazing, and stay out of the way. Nothing gets my aggressions out better than that. Now, Max Payne comes close, and Mona and I agree on a lot of things. But that's a story for another day.
This morning I taught a second/third grade music class at the local school. In the corner of the room was a game that consisted of putting together pieces that allow a marble to wander around whatever pattern that was built. I instantly thought of Rube Goldburg and the Rube Goldburg Machines, complex devices that perform simple tasks in indirect, convoluted ways. My favorite board game as a child was "Mousetrap", where you would move around the board and make a silly contraption that caught the mouse. The game was silly but the "Rube Goldburg" effect was fascinating. Fun stuff.
OK, why is this "game" typing different than this morning?
I learned how to play hearts, with the best. (& they really were THE BEST) Was taught how to count a deck also.. Now if I could only remember how....
Nachista ~ Have the VHS Clue also could never figure it out, watch te the movie instead, laugh more.....
Games have always been an important part of family get togethers for us. Everyone has their favorites but what we look forward to most is someone coming up with the latest thing on the market. Over the years, favorites have included Balderdash, Scattagories and Tribond. We always seem to find a way to make it work in teams even if it's not intended to be played that way. It's more fun and competitive!
Never mind, I must have hit the wrong something.
Trivial Pursuit.....that was my thing. At a party in college, my boyfriend and I were playing with two blustery fellows he sortof knew from high school. He winked at me every time I answered correctly. After I cleaned their clocks and the game pieces were being pitched petulantly into the bos, I politely asked if I could have their names, please. My boyfriend roared with laughter......you know the old "kick ass and take names later."
Olivia,
I have a movie-style vision of you, dressed as Miss Scarlet, in a cigar smoke-filled room, giving the gentlemen a sound thrashing at poker.
PurpleWitch, Welcome!
Also, welcome, racingyogagirl.
Also, welcome, racingyogagirl.
I can't keep up with my son's computer games...World of Warcraft, Halo, Call of Duty, Command and Conquer...but they have a good time when I try...mom is so lame...although, I can handle Super Mario Bros.
A little Twister, anyone?
I remember when Pac-Man and Frogger were cutting-edge.
GEORGE: Hey, Jerry, remember Frogger? I used to be so into this game. Gettin' that frog across the street was my entire life.
JERRY: Hey, look at the high score--"G.L.C." George Louis Costanza. That's not you, is it?
GEORGE: Yes! 860,000. I can't believe it's still standing. No one has beaten me in like 10 years.
JERRY: I remember that night.
GEORGE: The perfect combination of Mountain Dew and mozzarella...just the right amount of grease on the joy stick...
Pam-we share that vision-thanks! I didn't do Frogger-I was a Galaga girl. Kicked it.
Welcome yogagirl.
My brothers saved for months to buy and original Nintendo system. Before that we had a CollecoVisin, Atari, and Commadore 67. Those were the days.
MissIve,
Glad we're off the bathroom floor. It was making me uncomfortable
Couldn't agree with you more about Scrabble. I do hard crosswords but stink at it.
When I take my pocket sized mother-in-law to the Senior's Center for some service or another, it isn't unusual to get hooked into a game while someone takes a lavatory break. It can be a while.
Being rude and objectionable doesn't get me a pass: When an elderly woman with tremors held the dice cup in a Yahtzee game for what seemed like forever, I suggested: "Okay, we know you know how to shake 'em. Will you permit me to help you tip the damn thing before all the corners are rounded off?"
"I was just waiting for someone to offer," she laughed.
Here's a relatively unknown game I stumbled on many years ago in a book written by Martin Gardner.... It's called 'Hex'. http://mathworld.wolfram.com/GameofHex.html It's a lot of fun to play with kids, who find it fascinating.....
I think of Hex as the poor man's 'Go'. Ah, Go... a deceptively easy looking game which is actually much harder than chess! I first observed 'Go' being played a warm evening in DuPont Circle (Washington, DC) back in the 1960s. I observed the couple for awhile and then we chatted. He was a motorcycle rider and told some hair raising stories of near fatalities on Harley's (his motorcyle of choice), and it was from him I first realized the absolute imperatives: (1) wear leathers (or your skin may abraid instead of your pants/jacket, (2) wear a helmet (or your Humpty Dumpty may never go together again), and if you go over, get your leg out from under the bike and hang onto the top so that when it finally hits something solid it takes the force (not your bones!).
A year ago I tried my hand at 'Go' and decided it's simply too dang hard -- but those of you with more brainpower, more perseverence, and more motivation may find it 'the game for you'. One thing for sure: there are thousands of websites and a lot of simulators online to use for practice! And a lot of clubs where you can learn humility as folks totally destroy you.
Stoney,
I'm technically not allowed to post at night. Have rationed myself in order to work on the book. Had to pop on to giggle at your horrendous (yet applaudable) Yahtzee etiquette. Here, here.
Love the senior center. I've always wanted to edit an advice column that is completely written by a senior center. And maybe a preschool. It seems the sagest advice comes from the 'book ends' of life. Perhaps it's for the very reason you mentioned. They aren't overly concerned with the rude and objectionable bits of life, and get right to the heart of things. Yes?
I've always loved Risk. Scrabble too. MissIve, I'm a writer and I think Scrabble's great. Wonderful place to use your SAT words. How many words might I get for a word like ubiquitous? As for cards, I've been the biggest Uno fan since forever. I also like normal card games because they're simple. All you need is a deck. I like rummy best.
All of you have given me some great ideas for Christmas gifts.
Thinking back, I also remember Cathedral and Candy Land.
Did anyone else have a Ouija Board? I think that would have worked better with wine but I was too young at the time.
The door whooshed back, and I stepped onto the bridge as the klaxon warned of a yellow alert. The Captain was speaking to a helmsman, but he immediately rounded on me, with an exasperated look. He always did have eyes in the back of his head.
"Where have you been?' he demanded.
"Three dimensional chess with Mr. Spock", I replied. "I was on shipboard leave, as you know, Captain. How may I be of service?" That was a bit flippant, but I knew he'd let it go. He did. I also knew where he'd been last night, or what passes for night aboard ship.
"Take a look, Commander." He gestured toward the viewer, and I spun on my heel. There, a few klicks away to port, hung a Romulan Warbird. They had no business in this sector, but they often broke treaties whenever it suited them.
"What are they saying, Captain?"
"Nothing-this is all we have. No com contact at all. Sensors show a full crew, but nobody's talking."
"A standoff, is it? Have you tried closing the gap?" I tapped my com and got a report from the computer. Up to speed, I felt a bit better. Spock had destroyed me twice in three, but it was only a game. I pushed it away, and addressed the current situation.
"We hailed them repeatedly. I stopped here to re-evaluate. If we move closer, they raise shields and arm their weapons. Assessment."
"Kobayashi Maru variant, Sir" I replied, which got me a sharp look from the Captain. "I think it's a trap."
"I don't believe that any situation is no-win, Commander" he replied, drily. "We've scanned as far as the sensors can range, and there's nothing. Nothing but this mute ship."
"Recommend engagement, Sir," I stated flatly.
"In the mood for a bit of sabre-rattling, are we? Reasoning?"
"Provoke a response. They are currently in violation of the agreement regarding sector impingement, so we are within our rights to demand an accounting. We should give them the opportunity to explain themselves before we eliminate the threat. If this is a strategy for some purpose of entrapment, they will certainly be prepared to wait us out. It's our move, as I see it, Sir. And our chessboard, too." The Captain permitted himself a small smile.
"Captain?" said the helmsman. We looked up, and the Warbird was sinking slowly down the screen. Then it disappeared. Cloaked!
I thought about Spock again. He had wanted to play some ancient board games, and I was happy to indulge him. We sampled holographic copies of a property trading game, a murder mystery, a dice game, and various others. When we moved to chess, he wished to use the medical scenario. He always seemed to derive some wry amusement from the pan-cultural derivations. He beat me easily at first. I put up a better fight in the second game, but still lost. On the third, however, I clearly challenged his logic, and we enjoyed ourselves a great deal. When my Proctologist threatened his Principal, he was momentarily at a loss until he recalled the Nixon to China gambit. I had anticipated that move, however, and my trephine mated. That ruse resonated. I decided I was seeing it again, by the Romulan skipper.
"Shields UP!" I barked, and it was done. Only just in time, too, as the ship materialized and Z-beams deflected off our command module. A brace of torpedoes followed, but we had anticipated that tactic, and the Captain raked the Warbird's exposed nethers with an almost leisurely phaser barrage. Game over. The bird was crippled, and an away team was already forming to board. Now we would have answers. The screen changed to the transporter room, and I growled "You in the red shirt-back to Engineering!" I gave Scottie a wide-eyed, thin-lipped WHAT WERE YOU THINKING? look. He answered sheepishly.
"Ach, I'm sorry, Commander. Won't let it happen nae more."
"So, looks like the proctologist got to do his exam after all!", laughed the Captain. "Where'd you learn to intuit so fast?"
I gave him a quick glance. "In the library. With the candlestick. Spock did it. And how'd you know how our game fell out?"
"I talked to Spock while you were on your way-he told me you'd sort it out. Like I didn't know that."
You gotta love these guys. Spock was half of the ideal man-so stimulating, intellectually. I raised an eyebrow at the Captain.
"Fascinating."
On the other hand, the Captain was more than able to fulfill the physical aspect that Mr. Spock could not.
"Will you be round again tonight...Sir?" I suppressed an unprofessional smirk. "I'll leave the chessboard out."
"I'd like, that, Scarlet, but I had another game in mind."
"Later then, Jim." I sashayed off the bridge-he was the only one looking.
belleball said...
as one of Miss Ive's "bookends" I have now been officially invited to join the Bunco Club that has met every other week for the last 35 years "up the canyon" in our quaint area. I am riding with #1 daughter to "sit" with 2 young grandsons while their parents journey to the big city to acquire holiday gifts for them. Santa drops them off there -
While I have played most of the games previously mentioned above (as an elder I had some of the original virgins of those - and as I was helping to move #3 daughter recently I have now cleaned up myriad white Go tiles from the trunk of my car although that is one game I have never indulged in)
But since I am new to Bunco I inquired about the skill required and was told: "Yo ma - it involves rolling a dice (die?) with a partner. No skill - just roll it - although we all talk about practicing a lot - and you also need to know how to giggle and laugh a lot." She assured me there is no public humiliation involved (unlike Chinese Checkers - a great board game from the original Depression).
Always a new adventure just around the bend of the Santiam River up the canyon -
Olivia, most excellent new photo.
Thanks, Peter! Taken at the Arkansas State Fair by a friend while I shivered by the Ferris wheel. I just love your various pics.
Thanks for the welcome back, Willie. I've been popping in and out lately; the discussion here is always one of the most rich I've seen almost anywhere on the web.
Doc Nolan: You don't need to make up your own banking rules, they're already part of the game. And strangely, my folks never did mortgaging either (or charging double rent for monopolized color groups with no houses, for that matter); it took me sitting down and reading the rules to start playing that way. You can mortgage properties to create extra cash, but it's at a 10 percent interest rate payable on un-mortgage. You can even sell off your mortgaged properties. The buyer can either un-mortgage the property on the spot with the usual 10 percent interest rate, or keep it mortgaged and pay a 10 percent interest charge right away, and then another 10 percent when they unmortgage the property.
And I will take on all comers at Scrabble. It's been long enough since I've played that the Powers that Be have added words to the list, but I think I could still hold my own.
Olivia,
Oh my stars, Star Trek, too!! Just where have you been hiding all my life?
McCoy: "My dear girl, I am a doctor. When I "peek," it's in the line of duty."
Not to embarass you, but I adore your fantastical allegories. They are rapidly becoming addictive and I'll be smiling over this one for the entire day. (I'm also quite jealous of your ability to weave these yarns!)
I, too, like the new photo. I must work on getting one of myself, in Peterman dress. Almost exclusively, however, I am to be found on the other side of the Nikon, where I'm much more comfortable.
Pam-Thanks, girlfriend! I think we've always been friends, we just hadn't MET yet.
McCoy: "Dammit Jim, I'm a doctor, not a writer!" Wait, I think I may have that backwards...
I get a kick out of writing down my little fantasies, and yes-I AM Miss Scarlet!!
Yes yes-a picture! We wants to SEE you, my preciousssss *laughing*