As kids we played the paint off Careers, n we played Mille Borne, Battling Tops, the “dots game”, Connect Four, Parcheesi, Stratego, Battleship, (advanced) Sorry, tin foil football, 3-penny hockey, Chinese Checkers, Trouble, Monopoly, Mastermind, n card games like tonk, blackjack, n penny poker n Michigan Rummy ..& a game my brother & I developed called The Hallway Game (long story). I later reintroduced that to my sons n we had a blast until we were all too big for the hallway. Bro n I talked developing it for mass market, ..but then the digital age.
In the Corps, on free weekends, we got together to play Risk n “the dice game” (and..uh.. um.. D&D, although I never took it seriously n enjoyed the role of plucky comic relief n dice mojo with the occasional cosmic roll that sent the DM into fits of frustration). We still have a Risk game here next to me on the barrister bookshelf, with fairly early pieces (not the real early stuff..but good ones). It hasn’t been played in a while..but holds a lota, lota, weekend memories of party favors n girls dressed like Stevie Nicks n good friends gone by. (It’s like a museum piece to me now.)
Before the kids, Maya n I played Mastermind most every morning, before the grind, to get our heads init.
With friends/family, we played Pictionary (laughed our asses off), Taboo, Trivial Pursuit, and Uno, …until Balderdash came out. (I enjoy the heck out of toying with words, so) Balderdash is still a family favorite. And Chess now and then. We discovered Mille Borne (again) at a retro game/toy store n snatched it up as a gift for one o the boys. Played it for a few months, but somehow it has lost it’s oomph with maturity---just short of good entertaining game play. Silverbear digs Scrabble (on the Lazy Suzan board) n has a blast every night when either grandma is in town, as they are both Scrabble fanatics. Cranium is a very cool game if there’re enough reasonably smart n creative people to make teams. & we played Backgammon but I never got any good at it---not good enough to get out from under thumb of the backgammon snobs. And the other family standby for years is Texas Hold-um or Dealer’s Choice Poker (with the really cool weighted casino chips). & You Don’t Know Jack & Scene It on DVD. Although board games have pretty much always been trumped by games with balls or Frisbees when there’s daylight.
Yep, I think board games have played a significant role. (Although, I wish my ol' grandad or grandma woulda gave me a cryptex as a kid n schooled me in codes n puzzles n such..but ..nope)
