Although on my driving license it might say I’m 25, inside of my head I’m 85. At least. Don’t you ever go to bed at 7 with a warm cup of milk with honey? Don’t you ever go to a park or a caf just to people watch? Don’t you ever spend a whole day reading a book instead of sitting in a beer garden with your mates? I do. *hides face* Perhaps I shouldn’t even admit to this, but apart from having habits of a pensioner, I also collect smelly old books, freaky cat memorabilia & furry throws. At least Justin supports my odd whims by collecting board games.
Recently I’ve watched a movie called ‘Afterthe Dark’. It’s a dystopia but very different to what’s already out there. Basically a bunch of kids (about 20 of them) are sitting in a classroom and their teacher introduces various scenarios of nuclear holocaust survival strategy. Each student is given an identity (a doctor, a poet etc) and their task is to pick 10 amongst themselves whose skills would ensure survival in a bunker. Most of their choices turn out to be terrible fails but one struck me as particularly interesting – survival was more likely when they had entertainment. And by entertainment I mean a pack of cards.
Did you know that the first card game was invented in 800AD in China?! Makes you realise how people used to value games & playfulness even at times when they didn’t have a secure roof above their heads and regular income. And this whole theory totally justifies why there are about 10 packs of cards in our household, right?
What are your favourite board games, by the way?
I love Monopoly, Yahtzee, quiz games, card games & bingo. The other day my friend came over and I made her play some Czech card games, it was so much fun! We played Old Maid – apparently this game dates back as far as the Victorian era! And we also played my most favourite card game ever - Mau Mau. We played it with German cards (they look a bit prettier than your average deck) and although the rules are the simplest thing ever, it never gets boring. You basically just shuffle the cards; each player (minimum of 2) gets 4 cards. You place an extra card together with the rest of the card pack in front of you. On each turn one of you needs to get rid of one card (the rules are pretty simple: suit on suit) until one of is left with no cards. If you haven’t got a suitable card you pick up a card from the pack. Easy, right? Really effective though!! We play Mau Mau with Justin quite a lot and he always tries to say everything in Czech – bless him!
The geek inside me sometimes gets drawn to online versions of board games though - Freecell is the best Microsoft game ever, right?! Have you ever played any online quizzes or even online bingo? I’m dead scared to play them (I get addicted too easily!) but my friend plays online games like these all the time and he’s actually getting quite some cash out of it (that lucky git!). Actually a lot of online gaming companies (mainly poker & bingo, such as 32Red Bingo, BGO & 888Ladies) tend to give you a bonus when you make your first deposit. At 32Red for example, you get a £10 bingo bonus when you sign up – getting some free cash to start with is brilliant for scaredy cats like me who are not only worried about spending too much time on these games (can you believe they make these into apps? DANGEROUS! haha!) but also spending too much money!
For those who have tried online games:
Which one would you recommend me to try?
Bingo? Quiz? Poker?