thursday three_26

The Thursday Three

Since we're leaving today for a week at the lake I have doing a whole

bunch of nothing on my mind. Of course I need to do nothing and keep

three kids amused at the same time, which presents problems. I'm sure

this shows my age, but the first thing I think of is board games. On a

real board and everything. No computer needed. So the topic today

is...

My Three Favorite Board Games

#1. Backgammon. I've been playing since I was a little kid and I still

haven't improved much. I love it in spite of myself. Logic and

strategy games really appeal to me, even though I can be spotty on

both. This was my dad's favorite game and he taught me to play pretty

early. He had been playing since he was a kid and was an excellent

player. He died suddenly a few years ago after a lifetime of us

struggling to connect and the sight of a backgammon board always makes

me think of him in a very nice way. This besides the fact that in my

entire life I never beat him. Not once.

#2. Apples to Apples. This is a relatively new game on the market, and

it is absolutly fab. If you've never played it you owe it to yourself

to look into it. It's hard to describe but very easy to play. Every

player gets cards that are descriptors and you have to play them in

response to a subject card. You can play it funny or straight, but

either way you learn a lot about the people you're playing with. I've

played with a group of people ranging from 7 to 50 and everyone had a

blast. As a matter of fact my set keeps getting lent out because

everyone who plays it wants to borrow it. Too. Much. Fun.

#3. Monopoly. If I had a dollar for every hour of my misspent

childhood I spent huddled over a Monopoly game...I could buy three

hotels on Boardwalk. My best friends and I would have these marathon

sessions that only ended when one of us got caught embezzling money

from the bank in a fit of financial despair. To this day I can tell

you (by heart) the purchase price and rental charge on every single

property. My kids didn't believe me and insisted on testing me on it.

Let's just say they're believers now. As an adult I haven't played as

much. Who needs a board game to go around and around in circles never

having enough money? Really. For quite a while there it was a real

drag. Lately though we've been getting back into it. It's fun to play

with my kids and whip their butts. And I always know when someone is

trying to take the bank for a ride. It takes one to know one.

Honorable Mention - Scrabble, Clue and Boggle. It really is awfully

hard to pick just three.