5. Monopoly
Ah, the classic game of boardwalk domination, with real places, fake money, and the ultimate in real estate development. Didn’t you just adore those little green houses and red hotels on your properties, and abhor the ones on your competitors’ properties? And you know it always added up when you had two utilities and got paid 10x what was on the roll of the dice. The reason this game is such a classic is that each time through can be different, and because everyone feels like they have a shot to win (if they don’t spend too much time in jail and don’t get to pass GO or collect the $200 dollars).
4. Clue
It was Miss Scarlet in the conservatory with the lead pipe. Of course it was! But then you open the envelope and find out that it was indeed Miss Scarlet, but she was in the hall with the candlestick instead. Oops. Your game is over, but everyone else can still work hard to figure out who slew Mr. Body (ingenious name for the dead guy). This game is fun because it includes that element of mystery tinged with the glory of guessing and using deductive skills. Sadly, the movie didn’t do it justice.
3. Apples to Apples
The only reason this game isn’t higher is because, unlike the two games I’ve placed above it, it cannot be played with less than three people. It’s a party game, and that becomes pretty obvious once you first start playing it. One thing I absolutely love about Apples to Apples is that each round there is a different judge, so if you can figure out how each judge determines the winner of the round, you can get a leg up on the competition. However (and this is the funny part), if you just have no cards that fit, see how well you can argue that “Don Johnson” does indeed embody “Pure.”
2. Chess
Now, before you say anything, I want to remind you that chess is a thinking person’s game, and that it occurs not with the current move, but with several moves away. It’s all about the endgame, and this type of thought process is unique to it above most other board games. What I love about chess is that it’s complicated, but if you don’t have the high skill level, you can find someone else to play with who is also on your level. You don’t always have to get beaten like a red-headed stepchild (no offense meant, if you are red-headed, a stepchild, or a red-headed stepchild).
1. Trivial Pursuit
Like Monopoly, there are so many iterations of this game out there, and we own about twenty of them. From Harry Potter, to 1980s, to the amazing Book Lover’s Edition, and many more, Trivial Pursuit is really all about answering obscure or interesting trivia questions. I’m pretty good at it, but my wife is even better, yet I keep challenging her to each different edition in turn. I really enjoy the Book Lover’s Edition, even though she’s beaten me at it more times than I wish to count, because it pits me, the English teacher, against her, the librarian. I think the reason she has beaten me at it is because she has a broad knowledge of a lot of different books, while I have very specific knowledge of a small number of classics. But I read a lot more than that, and I can usually keep up somewhat. We’ll see what happens next time I extend the challenge.
Sam
Sam's Online Journal 