I've been playing boardgames with a group of people (many but not all from the church I go to) for the last few months. This has been a lot of fun, and I love the table talk and social aspect of it. I also like the brain exercise to learn the strategy and have confirmed over and over to myself and others that I am more of an altruistic player than a cutthroat ruthless competitor. Maybe over time I can work on this, but winning doesn't seem to be the point for me as much as others, so why not just enjoy the game?
I've wanted to have some games around the house since I started playing with the group, and yesterday took Mr W to the local game store to get a few. He had one in mind called Munchkin, which seems to be aimed squarely at teenage boys (and pre-teen, too) so I bought that. We played it yesterday, and it was fun.
I also bought one of the Timeline games. Actually not the one pictured above. There are several and I think I got the original one. I love the idea of it, it's educational without being pushy, as you learn the dates of important discoveries and also where they fit into the scheme of things because the point of the game is to guess where your card fits into the timeline (without seeing the date).
And I also bought a game called Carcassone, which is described as a "tile-based, German style board game". Funny. I saw it being played once by others in the gaming group, and it wasn't too pricey (some games were $70.00!) so I got it.
But what struck me was that Mr W and I walked into this shop, and there were perhaps 8 tables set up for people to play games, and they were everyone of them, occupied. By males. Teens and adults, but all boys. I was the only girl in the shop. I know this likely isn't news to people who love board games and have done them for awhile, that board games are largely the bastion of geeky guys, but it seems to me there would be much to gain from getting girls/women involved. Social skills and interaction, and for the girls (I'm thinking teen girls) strategy stuff. Something for me to think about.
How times have changed. (And I'm sure the actual games, too.) When I was a pre-teen, my girlfriends and I spent countless hours playing board games. Sometimes just a group of girls, but often with the boys in the neighborhood, too.
ReplyDeleteMy son and d-i-l are total board game fans and introduced me to Carcassone a couple of years ago. She is more of a board game geek than my son is but has done a good job turning him into one! Makes for a fun evening!
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