What Made you Smile/What Ticked you off Today?

[fastbilly1]

Jealous about your Dark Tower. That, like Fireball Island, are games that are just stupidly expensive now.

You just need to find the right game to get them to try. If your family likes drinking beer and goofing off, I suggest trying something like Tumblin Dice or Pitchcar. Both require minimal dexterity to play, but leads to lots of shouting and easy competition. It is a long process to convert people to play boardgames if they have little interest, but it is doable. Sadly most people just dont care to try something that is "childish," but they will follow any pro or college draft with fever.

[Luke]

boardgames.

I am ashamed.



Need to clean it up and add on. No Parcheesi? Really?

[Exhuminator]

Jealous about your Dark Tower.

It still works too! Game is fuckwin awesome, hence I've never gotten rid of it.

Sadly most people just dont care to try something that is "childish," but they will follow any pro or college draft with fever.

That's pretty much the rub there. The people I was talking about were my fiancee's family. They will play something like Pictionary or Monopoly, but the minute I pull out a fantasy board game with dice it's like kryptonite and everybody leaves. They honestly think anything involving swords or magic or sci-fi is childish crap (and think I'm weird for liking it). They have zero idea how strategically complex these games actually are but I'm preaching to the choir at this point.

[BoneSnapDeez]

Seriously. Last Saturday night I played Dungeon with said 11 year old and my 17 year old daughter and we had fun. The rest of the adults in the house were content to sit around a table drinking beers and talking about the most banal shit you could possibly imagine. As a 36 year old man I'd rather roll dice and collect magic swords than suck liver poison and discuss hospital hiring practices any night of the week.

I've noticed that many adults equate normalcy with "not having any hobbies." It's bizarre and stupid.

[Exhuminator]

I've noticed that many adults equate normalcy with "not having any hobbies." It's bizarre and stupid.

If watching endless TV and getting ever fatter is a hobby, it seems to be the de facto standard for most adults.

[prfsnl_gmr]

I've noticed that many adults equate normalcy with "not having any hobbies." It's bizarre and stupid.

If watching endless TV and getting ever fatter is a hobby, it seems to be the de facto standard for most adults.

You two must know some incredibly dull people. Nearly everyone I know has at least one hobby. It is not necessarily a hobby that I enjoy, but it is a hobby nonetheless.

Also - and for the record - I don't really like board games, and my wife doesn't enjoy them either.

[mjmjr25]

I guess i'm fortunate in that all my social groups enjoy board games of some variety at least. Our biggest "issue" is trying to play something longer / more involved like Tikal or Power Grid with little ones. We involve our kids and our friends kids in whatever we're playing, or if it's an older person game we try to set the kids up w/a younger game - but sometimes they just don't want to do that. Thankfully 3 of my 4 kids are now old enough for every game we have.

I stronly recommend entry level games as ice breakers - things like Skull, Cash n' Guns, Coup and recently Sushi Go! are great for this - quick and easy to learn, a ton of fun.

Some folks might prefer more of the co-op games like Pandemic or Castle Panic where getting "help" isn't seen as "ruining the competitiveness" of a game.

We play a lot of Tumblin' Dice and Pitchcar thanks to Fast - though we play it sober and still have plenty of fun We got our daughter a high-end carrom board and I can't recommend it enough - no dry or dead spots on the board, every edge and corner is true; makes for some really fun games.

[Exhuminator]

Castle Panic

I agree this is a pretty good co-op board game. It has a lot of variants to the rules too so it's got a fair amount of replay value. IIRC it has a single player mode as well. I had fun with it while I owned it.

[fastbilly1]

mjmjr25 you need to take some of your scrap wood and build a copy of waldschattenspiel (The Game of Shadows in the Woods):

One of the many homemade versions on BGG

It is played in the dark where kids play as little elves and they hide in the shadows made by the trees by the adult playing the giant with a lantern. For kids, it is a great bit of fun and gives you stories like Jack and the Beanstalk, but when played with adults it the elves will win every time.

I still want a copy of Ravensburger Pyramid, but cant justify the $100+ it will cost:


It plays kinda similar to waldschattenspiel, but one player is a mummy and the other players are tomb raiders. The mummy player does not know where the other players are thanks to the vertical playfield and magnetic pieces, but the tomb raiders have a mummy token on their side. When tomb raiders declare that they have picked up a piece the mummy knows exactly where they are and tries to capture them. When the mummy moves near the other player, the magnets click and there is no mistaking it.

Absolutely brilliant concept and I would love to turn it into some sort of RPG boardgame.

[Luke]

I stronly recommend entry level games as ice breakers -

Like- Don't Break the Ice!