Saturday Scribbles Vol 4

Welcome to another edition of Saturday Scribbles. This is where I share what's on my heart or just talk about whatever. 

I was thinking the other about games. When you here the word game/games? What's the first thing that pops to mind? For most people it is one of two things - sports games or video games. And while those are the two most common associations with the word game, I wanted to talk about another - card/board games!

Growing up, my family played a lot of games. Card games such as a version of Rummy, Spades, and one unique to my family called Tarock. That's a cross between Hearts & Spades. We also played Spoons, Battle, Go Fish, and most other card games. But we also spent time playing board games. Games like Hungry Hungry Hippos, Scrabble, Clue, Monopoly, Life, Connect Four, Payday, and then as we got older, Rail Barons, Risk, and Scotland Yard.

I wasn't pretty good at Risk. My armies kept being taken. And Scrabble was one that I struggled with mainly because spelling wasn't important to me.

 I remember one time when my cousin Amy and I were playing Monopoly at our grandparents' house. I don't know if either her brother or mine were playing as well but I do know that Amy and I were playing. We were pretty far into the game when out of no where, our brothers come running into the room with handkerchiefs tied around their faces and yelled "Bank Robbery!" Both boys then proceeded to steal the bank and ran off. We of course put up a fuss. Another time I was playing Monopoly with my brother, and I ended up going bankrupt because he had hotels on Boardwalk & Park Place and I kept landing on them. But what makes the story even funnier was that I'd "saved" money for those instances and I'd completely forgotten about it until I stood up.

As far as the card games went, I was pretty good at Spoons, Battle, Go Fish, Spades, and Tarock. But both sides of my family enjoyed (and still do) playing a version of Rummy we call Continental Rummy. I've never played any other version other than this one. It's long. I'm good at it, but I don't like playing it. There was one Christmas that my family was gathered at my parents' house. I was in a mood and didn't want to play, so I'm playing Super Mario on the Nintendo, and one of my cousins was sitting on the bar stool watching the game. There were spare decks of cards and cookies & M&Ms all sitting on the counter by the bar. Frequently one of my aunts would get up with her hand of cards and grab a handful of cookies or M&Ms and, unbeknownst to the rest of the family, a card or or two to fit in her hand. When her kids found out, they were appalled.

As I grew up, I started playing other games. I was introduced to Scotland Yard while I was in high school.

I love this game, though I don't get to play it too often. All of the players are running around London trying to capture Mr. X. The only problem? Mr. X is sitting at the table hearing everything the rest of the players plan their strategic moves. You see, Mr. X has an unlimited supply of movement pieces and the players are limited. They also have a certain number of turns to capture Mr. X before he wins. Still it's a fun game.

After college, I was introduced to the games of The Settlers of Catan (and all its expansions) and The Betrayal at the House on the Hill. Yes, I know. Why did it take me so long to discover Settlers?

I don't usually win at Settlers because I usually don't plan my placements. But it's fun. Every time I play it, I enjoy it. I think my favorite expansion is the Cities and Knights expansion because it adds so much more to the basic game. The most recent time I played this was at my best friend's on my birthday. We played Settlers with the Cities & Knights Expansions. Enjoyed it so much. I think we managed two complete games before we moved onto something else. Seriously, if you've not tried this game, find someone who owns it and ask to play.


Another one of my favorites as an adult is Betrayal at the House on the Hill. This is different because each player starts off as just exploring the house. You build it as you go. Certain rooms have things that happen and eventually one of the players turns into a traitor. Then things get really interesting. The traitor has monsters and the house working to his advantage. And the other players have to defeat the traitor before the traitor defeats them. Once the traitor is revealed, the scenario being played is specific to which room revealed the traitor. In all of the years I've played this game, I've not played the same scenario twice. It's a lot of fun. But it works the best playing with certain groups of people. Some of my friends and family don't like it. But that's ok, I've got other friends who do enjoy it.
I've recently learned that this orange box is the first edition and that the 2nd edition is a green box. There really isn't much of a difference between the two because the 2nd adds the various PDFs to the rules that were sent out as an expansion.

And of course I enjoy party games like Scattergories, Catch Phrase, Apples to Apples and other fun large group games. My Small Group had a game night a couple of months ago and it was a lot of fun.

I've had a lot fun times playing board games or card games with my family growing up. Because when we went camping, we brought  games to play. My parents encouraged us to play games or to read. I'm pretty sure that we did a family night thing where we would play games.

My best friend and her husband have recently started a family game night with their little ones. Lynnette, maybe you can share with the readers what games the girls enjoy playing?

A resource that I've found helpful with finding board games is Board Game Geek.

So tell me, what games did you enjoy playing as a child or as an adult. Maybe you've played one that I've never heard of before. You never know, I may just want to try it! Let me know in the comments?