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Thursday, March 24, 2016

The Art of the Game


“Oh, the places you'll go! There is fun to be done!

There are points to be scored. There are games to be won."  Theodor Geisel (Dr Seuss)

Have you done any gaming lately?

We've been doing quite a lot in recent weeks. Not the electronic ones like PlayStation, although we do have an older unit that my brother gave us several months ago and e've yet to set up.

Like so many others, we also play some card and word games on our tablets and computers. However, the games I'm referring to are like those we played years ago called board games or card games, which have no electronic parts and don't need batteries.

Remember those?

For the past couple of months, the Nashua (NH) Public Library has been hosting an Adult game night event on Monday evenings. We attended nearly all and have been having a lot of fun playing games with several others who have also become "regulars."


"It's not whether you win or lose, it's how you play the game."  American sportswriter Grantland Rice

In the past few weeks, we've played popular games like Scrabble, Dominoes, Pictionary, Trivial Pursuit, Rummikub, and Clue. Many of these are provided by the library. We've also played some "lesser known" games such as 49, TransAmerica and Hey, That's My Fish, which were brought by another gamer.


"Life is more fun if you play games." author Roald Dahl

These game sessions last a couple of hours and time passes very fast once folks start interacting. Many evenings we've only played one game depending on the complexity and the number of participants.


“We do not stop playing because we grow old, we grow old because we stop playing!”  Benjamin Franklin

What's been interesting is that although the library publicizes this and other events, there hasn't been an overwhelming number of folks attending. Not that we mind because there's always been at least 4-5 people and the time goes. A game evening has been scheduled here at our apartment building next week — we hope folks attend.

Do you play board games and, if so, what are your favorites?

13 comments:

Kathy said...

My husband and I love to play games. We did more of it when we were engaged than we do now. But we play Uno, Dominoes, Flinch and several other card games. He loves Monopoly although I hate it.

That is such a great idea for the library to do. I'm going to suggest it to the librarian where I used to work. He's always looking for ideas like this.

Anonymous said...

David and I used to play Scrabble quite often, but we haven't done so during the past 5 years or so.

DeniseinVA said...

Sounds like a fun evening. We used to play board games all the time when Our son was still living at home. Monopoly and Scrabble being favorites. Now I enjoy playing Scrabble on my iPad.

Anvilcloud said...

My Vancouver kids are really into gaming and have even flown to conventions. It has become quite a fad -- maybe that's the wrong word as it seems a little pejorative, which I don't mean it to be.

MadSnapper said...

this is a great outing and good for the soul and mind.. i played scrabble, monoply and checkers and sorry when i was a child but that is the last game i touched. i don't play games of any kind, no cards or online games.. the good news on that is neither does bob. but i do think this is a super fun outing for those who love games and it is good for the library to offer it. maybe not many people know.

William Kendall said...

There are a couple of cafes and bars here that actually cater to board gaming. I haven't done any of that in years, but I liked Risk, Trivial Pursuit, and a Dutch game whose name I can't recall off hand right now.

Lois Evensen said...

Yes, we enjoy games, too. Over holidays we sometimes used to put out a picture puzzle, then watch those coming through the house gravitate to it and put in a few pieces. Some great conversation happened over those puzzles.

My games now, though, are piecing together ideas, counting stitches, sketching, and designing knitwear. It's almost the same as playing a game, only I get something out of it at the end. Yes, I'm addicted to knitwear now, and when I do it in public I meet the nicest people who like to chat about what they've made and for whom, etc.

Red said...

I think our library has a game afternoon. It's time I check it out. I'm still "in the game"

Emma Springfield said...

Those game nights sound like a lot of fun. I play some of them on the computer.

Michelle said...

These nights sound like fun to me. We need more of this...real people interacting with each other!

Connie said...

I haven't played any card or board games in a while, although I do enjoy them. Pictionary and Scrabble are my favorites.

Rebecca said...

What a good idea. And a great way to make friends with like-minded neighbors!

Ginnie said...

When my daughter and her husband from New York come to visit the first thing I put out is Upwords ( a three dimensional version of Scrabble.)
We have an on-going competition.