Over the last few years, we’ve managed, in-between RPGs (games, not grenades), to more or less regularly play non-RPGs as folks come over. Which is great, because I just plain enjoy playing games (and, remarkably, have become a lot less competition-minded than I used to be) and it was thought to be a dying passtime.
But board games and card games and the like have made quite a comeback in the last decade. Defective Yeti has this year’s game suggestions, as well as suggestions from the past. Those looking for non-Amazon gifts for me or mine (or even our friends) might consider something from the list that’s short of Advanced in complexity, with a playing time of 30-60 minutes or so, and for groups of 4+ (or more, with teams).
48 view(s)
> I just plain enjoy playing games
> (and, remarkably, have become a lot less
> competition-minded than I used to be)
People who don’t play games on a regular basis tend to hold the same mistake impression about games they held the last time they played them (i.e., when they were eight): that the point is to win. People who play games often know better.
> something from the list that’s short of Advanced in
> complexity, with a playing time of 30-60 minutes or
> so, and for groups of 4+
You want:
>(or more, with teams)
And although you didn’t ask for 2-player games, Lord Of The Rings: The Confrontation is quite grand.
Margie and I are just not the 2-person game types. I think I let myself get too competitive with her.
And on the competitive note — well, it was an instinct drilled into me at an early age, with fierce Hearts and Zioncheck and Parchseesi competititions marking our family vacations. I’ve come to appreciate, over the years, the joy of simply having fun with other people.
Which isn’t to say that I don’t do a little inner victory dance when I whup someone’s ass …
As to the suggestions above — well, Apples to Apples is a frequent play for us (and for anyone keeping track, ahem, we have the main set and expansion set 2).
Other frequent ones for us include Fluxx (when we can manage to work up the brainpower — I think of it as Cosmic Encounters as a card game), various flavors of Munchkin, and the occasional Scattergories (when Margie convinces us to play something she always wins), Beyond Balderdash, and Taboo.
But I’ll certainly give your list a longer look. Have to find some gifts for, er, Margie, after all.