Board Games
 

I will assume I am in the minority on this belief, but the delights of digital gaming and interactivity as manipulated by keyboard, buttons, motion controller, or touchscreen still can't quite fully emulate some of the enjoyment provided by an old fashioned board game. Choco and I really enjoy the battles we wage against each other in Carcassone - this game of simple plays often evolves into interesting strategies and hilarious, never-ending fights over land control. We've wasted away countless hours with family at the dining room table with this one. The beautiful part of it is that most children could easily pick up this game and become equally as adept at the gameplay as an adult, likely to the degree that they would give you a run for your money!

Any Cellarite recommendations for other games?

Settlers of Catan. It's really better with more than two people, but if you set the board up right you can still manage a reasonable 2-player game.

Also, in the "can be played by kids" and "games don't last for hours" categories, Blokus is a family favorite.

TransAmerica

Over a recent long weekend in the country, my father and I tried to invent ScrabbleKub.

And what, pray tell, are the rules of ScrabbleKub?

Well, it involves the creative problem-solving skillset of Rummikub, but you play with Scrabble tiles. It retains the scoring system of the Scrabble tiles, but operates free-form with no board. Because the number of possible tile combinations includes any Scrabble dictionary allowable word, as well as the crossword-style connections and tile sharing, it increases the amount of possibilites one has to weigh against when scrapping/rearranging the whole board and getting it back together before the sand runs out.

I thought this would make it more complex, and therefore more difficult, but in fact it was very easy to fly by the seat of your vocabulary-pants and throw something together.We set out trying to determine a set of restrictions that would make the gameplay more difficult, but not so difficult as to lock up the game and force too many "draw" turns or weak moves. In short, we got drunk and never developed a proper system of rules.

Valley of the Pharaohs, a bookshelf game from the makers of Dread Pirate. Same kind of idea ... wander around the desert, avoid the mummy, steal, er ... excavate ancient artifacts.

I was quite an avid Backgammon player, but I don't know anyone who plays any longer. I play Chess with great enthusiasm and little skill. Also don't know anyone who wants to play Chess, so mostly I have to play against my phone.

I'm too good at Trivial Pursuit, nobody wants to play with me any longer (usually devolves into a game of Me against Everybody Else on One Team, and I still win. Trivia has been a minor hobby since I was in high school.)

I very much want to learn to play Go.

I continue to have the problem of my work schedule interfering with my ability to play games like that ... although there was one very uneventful night where my cow orker and I got to play Scrabble for a couple of hours, then we switched to RummiKub (because I keep a set in my car).

I can't speak from experience, but I've been admiring that chesslike game with a laser in the board, and the game pieces are mirrors.

Ticket to Ride is a fun game for the whole family. It's fairly easy to learn, but then different levels of strategy open up as you get more experience under your belt. Your kindergartener is able to play with you too and have fun, even if the deeper understanding of strategy evades them.


Lost Cities is also very good, and uses a board, but is really a card game. Two players only.

Here too.

Sounds pretty similar to TransAmerica. there is also a TransEurope.

I agree with kitsune. Having grown up on board games I prefer them.

A couple months ago I bought chess and rummy table top games to be told that table top games are boring and pc games are better.

I am not returning them even if they have been religated to (precious) relic statis.

+1

We also like Apples to Apples and Loaded Questions.

I like Scrabble a lot but can't get Mrs. Dar or the darlets to play.

Mrs. Dar and the darlets like Monopoly a lot, but I don't care for it.

What? no one plays Candyland or Chutes and Ladders any more? Wtf?