Socially acceptable games
I cannot tell a lie. At various times during the day, I sat in a comfortable chair, very quietly. And then I napped. I may have even snored, although I can’t claim to have heard anything that qualifies as evidence. No matter; my rest time was goal directed. This evening (again), I stepped outside my comfort zone.
We went to “Board Games Night” at the Rec Centre, where I sat (quietly, without snoring) and gave my full and undivided attention to playing social games with people young enough to be my children. So many rules! No wonder most people choose one or two titles, and then practice in the privacy of their homes. Think of it as a series of moments to make me look silly.
We started with something that required tesselation skills; setting a series of Tetris-like tiles into a grid, while avoiding entrapment. I failed. It didn’t matter, because among strangers the scorekeeping is minimized. Once our interest, collectively, had run its course, we moved on to more difficult boxes.
There was something involving card with symbols, where you tried to outshout others. Actually, that goes with most card games. I couldn’t read quickly enough, and was soon “out of the game”. All the better to spectate, what. By the next round, I’d figured on a better strategy.
The game involved amazing others with your ability to illustrate catch phrases. I watched, nodded with great appreciation and managed to avoid any deeper involvement. Throw in a number of trips to the car to warm the dog and before you knew it, we were done. I didn’t have to shuffle any boards, or drink any drip coffee. On the whole, the evening was a success!
