<p>No I am not talking about WOW or the Sims2
But low tech games that you play with friends/family.
While I remember playing a lot of games when the kids were younger, it seems harder to get them interested now.
However, when camping or on our winter trip we often play team board games. This is actually one of the things that is most enjoyable about staying at a family run lodge- not only the meals are family style, but there is always time after/before dinner, when it is too dark to ski, when kids or adults play games ( although I do admit that there were at least 6 laptops at one point & several gameboys- as well as the reading and knitting)</p>
<p>I played Trival Pursuit in teams one night,which I hadnât really played for 20 years, and it was interesting, but given that many of the answers reference people or events from 50 years ago, some of us were at an advantage.</p>
<p>A traditional game * to the lodge* is Cranium, which is also played in teams- but aims to hit different intelligences- there are cards that are like charades- & pictionary & clay to model & even blindfolded drawing where your team tries to guess what you are drawing.
I was on a team with two boys, one 10 year old & one 17, the 10 year old guessed my drawing right away of Old Faithful, and the 17 yr old guessed my trying to imitate Julia Child, but no one guessed when I tried to hum âsweet Emotionâ ( not really very hummable- even if they had ever heard it before)
But it was a lot of fun.</p>
<p>Then the lights went out & while some of the kids were fixated on their gameboys ( which neither of my kids have - we didnât bring book lights either) one of the moms and the 10 year old taught me how to play Fluxx, a game I had never heard of, that they were taught by the creators.
It is a little complicated, especially when trying to learn it in the dark, but it was a lot of fun and I plan to buy it. 82 cards- as far as I can tell, each one different, with cards that change the rules , and even though it was my first time playing ( and it usually takes me a while to learn new things), I won the game- so of course that made it even more fun ;)</p>
<p>My own family played a few games- Yahtzee & Rook and my dad played Go, and I know a lot of families play chess and checkers- but I would love to hear about your own experiences with games & how you keep your family playing them when there are so many other distractions</p>
<p>We have had no TV for several months and rediscovered card games, from dueling solitaire, where you can play on each otherâs aces, to regular solitaire to cribbage to canasta, all are so fun, I am wondering whether I would even want TV when it does become available!</p>
<p>Oh man, I could write the book on Family Game Night, I think. Weâve devoted at least one night a week, since both our boys were small (probably ~ ages 5 and 8) to Family Game Night. We started with thinking card games that kids could play (Set, Kingâs Crown, Racko), some simple board/dice games (Battleship, Parchesi, Yahtzee), and some of the early construction or puzzle computer games (The Incredible Machine, Gizmos and Gadgets, and our favorite: Gazillionaire) which we would all take turns playing together. We progressed over the years into traditional board games (Life, Careers, Clue!) and card games (hearts, bridge, euchre, cribbage), and then more strategy-based board games (chess, Risk, Acquire). It was probably âAxis and Alliesâ that moved us into the more dedicated gaming world â among our many faves are standards of the âGerman strategy board/tile gameâ genre like Carcasonne and Settlers of Catan, and the longer-running thinking games like Puerto Rico, El Grande, Traders of Genoa, Tigris & Euphrates, and Princes of Florence. (Caylus arrived under the Christmas tree, we hope to dive into that tonight.) Thereâs also a whole string of âlow budgetâ games (including a fantastic bunch from a company called Cheapass Games) that are hilarious fun, like Give Me the Brain, Unexploded Cow, and Save Doctor Lucky. And I canât leave out special favorites like Bohnanza! and Texas 42 (sort of like a card game along the lines of bridge or euchre played with dominos). Older S is a serious student of Go now, but the rest of us havenât caught up with him on that.</p>
<p>Wow, that was a brain dump, LOL, sorry! I guess in a way, starting early with the idea that we were all enthusiastic about being together in our weekly gaming was what instilled a love of gaming in both our kids. I canât tell you how heartening it was to realize that one of the things both boys looked forward to this holiday was having multiple Family Game Nights â weâve had 4 so far, and expect more (plus 2 other nights when they got together with a bunch of friends for additional game nights). Itâs great fun for us, we enjoy our time together, we laugh and create warm memories. I hope it never stops, and I hope they pass their love of games on to the next generation.</p>
<p>My kids love games and will always take a few hours to play something whenever thereâs a family get-together. For years their favorites were Payday and Life; now itâs Taboo, absolutely, and theyâll play for hours.</p>
<p>I enjoy word games and trivia games, not board games. It just takes so long to finish a round of Monopoly, and Iâm always longing to go bankrupt so I can do something else, even the dishes. We do have an impressive collection of Monopoly versions, though - my youngest insists that weâll have to play the âFamily Guyâ version (yuck) she got for Christmas on New Yearâs Eve.</p>
<p>One d got âScene Itâ as a Christmas gift, which we played all Christmas afternoon. Itâs not exactly low-tech because some of the questions are on a DVD, but itâs challenging and lots of fun! emerald, as a movie buff, I think youâd love it.</p>
<p>I have a bunch of games that I like to play at parties. I heard a new one over the holidays. Itâs called Hoon Tin (Scottish for smething or antoehr) and itâs similar to Charades.</p>
<p>In round one, each team puts six to eight titles in the hat for the other teamâbe they books, movies, songs etc. They pull out titles and act them out with charades rules.</p>
<p>In round two, using the same titles, they act them out using three words only.</p>
<p>In round three, they act them out using one gesture only.</p>
<p>Sometimes during the Holidays my family will play Pictionary, and we have a great time (especially since weâre not artists!). Games like Catch Phrase are fun and easy to take places.</p>
<p>we do have the Seattle Mariners version of Monopoly, but it is a pretty dull game that can last way too long.
my H also isnât too interested in games- we used to play Feudal and other board games when we were first dating, but he is really competitive, and not in a good way.</p>
<p>Before I married, I did have a Sunday night poker game ( friendly) with mostly male friends, for some reason some of my girl friends thought it was âfeminineâ to not to be able to learn the game </p>
<p>Now I have friends who are learning bridge, which sounds complex- but seems to be enjoying a comeback, perhaps given a boost by Bill Gates who apparently is developing into a strong player.</p>
<p>Maybe I will bring Cranium to my bookgroup tonight, it will give us something to do, instead of being competitive about our daughters boyfriends
Another thing I liked about Cranium was that you can mix ages on the teams and it doesnât matter- age isnât necessarily an advantage.
( one of my questions in Trivial pursuit for example was Mae Wests last movie-which I didnât get- but when another team had what author did Hal Holbrook portray in his one man show- they missed it- even when the man across from them made a point of covering up his white MarkTwain style beard )</p>
<p>I also liked that both of Ds classrooms played games- even in high school, one of Ds assignments last year in marine biology was to make a board game- which does sound a little lightweight I guess, but she really got involved, and spent a lot of time not only designing the board ( which she made out of an O from Lamborgini sign that her sister had been hanging onto for some reason) but making the cards.</p>
<p>I am not that great at chess, although I think it is great that so many schools have chess teams, I even know autistic kids who are on their schools team and do really well.
( I also have a kids chess game on my computer, that will remind me of plays- I suppose I should play it more to keep my brain cells going- I really donât have the patience for crosswords or Sodoku and you have to start somewhere)</p>
<p>We love Cranium, but need a critical mass of people who can hum and hear hums and know enough songs. Weâve played nearly all the games mentioned here. I like word games - Pick Two and Upwords are my favorites. Scrabble takes too long. Kids and Dad used to play alot chess, but I absolutely canât think that way. We like all sorts of card games (Fluxx was a great one for long train rides), Set (but no one wants to play with me!), Five Kings. But in the end our all time favorite is bridge. We are extremely mediocre players. In fact mathson wrote about our ineptitude for one of his essays - we managed to play almost an entire rubber without realizing that one of our decks had two kings of spades!</p>
<p>My family canât have a holiday (or vacation) now-a-days without playing the game Apples to Apples. Itâs a great game to play if you have more than 4 people to play. </p>
<p>There are green apple and red apple cards. Each player is given 5 red apple cards and the object is to win 5 green apple cards. Each round has a new âjudgeâ. The green apple card is overturned with a word on it, such as âtimelessâ or âwackyâ. Each player (excluding the judge) has to put out a red apple card from their hand with the word/phrase on it that best fits the green apple card. The judge then judges which red apple card best fits (they can do whatever they choose, even something that is completely opposite from that card) and the winner gets that green apple card. This repeats with a new judge (who hands out a new red apple card to each of the players from the last round).</p>
<p>This year I got a new game for the family called âBlockumâ. I bought it because it was âMensa-certifiedâ and in my experience they certify pretty interesting games. Itâs sorta a tetris-type game that is played with up to 4 players (3 or 4 is best, but you can play in teams or individually). </p>
<p>There are a bunch of randomly put together pieces of blocks. Each player takes turns putting their pieces on the board. The object is to get rid of each of their pieces. The catch is that the blocks of each color must touch each other, BUT only at corners (not by sides). You try to block other players moves so they canât place anymore pieces, but get all of your pieces played. </p>
<p>I also learned how to play Euchre a year or so ago. It was a favorite card game of my friends in North Carolina (most of them originally from the midwest) and we had Euchre parties every couple of months.</p>
<p>Our family plays the card game âRook.â Itâs especially fun with 6 players and you âcall your partner.â We played this game every night during the holidays. Another game the guys play is Risk, but Iâm not too crazy about it.</p>
<p>When my parents were alive we played the domino game, â42.â</p>
<p>I love board games but not all of the family agrees. A family favorite is Upwards. We just got Blockus this holiday season. It is really fun and like upwards can be played by all ages.
My youngest still loves to play Life. And when my kids are feeling like a fun quick game they will pull out old favorites like connect 4 and donât break the ice.
When I was in high school my favorite game was called Dark Tower. It isnât made anymore but we spent hours in high school playing it and Risk.</p>
<p>Just got one of my kids a game called âImaginiff.â It is a bit like Apples to Apples, (another favorite) but the subjects are people, not adjectives. The questions are very funnyâwe enjoyed it. You need 4-8 people to play, and it helps if you know them pretty well. Good for older kids and adults. No skills required=stress free. You donât have to draw or hum anything or keep track of $. We also love good old Scrabble and Chess and any kind of word games.</p>
<p>Not much new to add here. We really like Scattergories, Taboo, and Scrabble. Can play gin rummy for hours (mostly on airplanes though). Rook was also very popular for a while as was Apples to Apples. This year everyone seems to be too busy with schoolwork to play gamesâŠHusband was a big fan of Risk, I was too lazy to play it! My dad and I bonded, for years, over endless Cribbage games!</p>
<p>Hereâs another parlour game invented by some English friends. </p>
<p>âCheersâ UK Friendsâ Gameâ Good for groups of 8 or more</p>
<p>Pass out a piece of paper and pens to all participants.</p>
<p>One person is the âhostâ and has a large bowl.</p>
<p>Host names a Category. Can be anything. Cars, movie stars, dogsâŠwhatever.</p>
<p>Each person writes down what type they areâŠwiener dogâŠscottie etc.</p>
<p>The object is write down something that no one will guess. Spouses must be especially careful not to write down one of their faves.</p>
<p>The Host collects answers in a bowl and then reads out all answers throughâtwice.</p>
<p>Then the participants take turns guessing who is who. For eample, âCheers, are you the wiener dog?â<br>
âNo, I am notâ Then it is my turn.</p>
<p>If you guess correctly, that person is out and you get another turn.</p>
<p>Most often, people forget one or two of the types.</p>
<p>I grew up in a game-playing family. Cards, puzzle games, word games, etc. The family card game was âOh Hell.â The adults (parents, aunt, uncle, grandparents) stayed up every holiday and family get together and played this for hours. As the kids all got old enough, we all played it incessantly, too. When I met H, I was thrilled to learn his family played it, too, but then devestated to learn that their rules were somewhat different from ours. There was no compromising, it was like playing with the DH or not, to me!</p>
<p>Quel sad! But, I have taught my kids the ârightâ way to play it. ;)</p>
<p>Someone mentioned Setâthat is a family favorite here. The kids also really like Settlers of Catan and bring it on vacation to play with their cousins. We went through a Fluxx phase for a while.</p>
<p>As I write, S is running a Texas Holdâem game in our dining roomâdefinitely his favorite game, now.</p>
<p>We love Scrabble too. D is an amazing player. When the extended family gets together we love the game Balderdash (based on the old game Dictionary) - itâs fun for people of all ages and always a riot. Some of my friends and I have a weekly mahjonng game - lots of fun. Iâd also love to learn how to play bridge one day!</p>
I guess in a way, starting early with the idea that we were all enthusiastic about being together in our weekly gaming was what instilled a love of gaming in both our kids. I canât tell you how heartening it was to realize that one of the things both boys looked forward to this holiday was having multiple Family Game Nights â weâve had 4 so far, and expect more (plus 2 other nights when they got together with a bunch of friends for additional game nights). Itâs great fun for us, we enjoy our time together, we laugh and create warm memories. I hope it never stops, and I hope they pass their love of games on to the next generation.</p>
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