Saturday discussion post: board games (72/365)

[white_hart]

We have been watching The Queen's Gambit on Netflix, which is very good even if you know as little about chess as I do.

I don't really like any board games (other than possibly Trivial Pursuit). I never find that they manage to hold my interest, and they tend to stifle other conversation. I know lots of people who really enjoy them, though. So tell me, if you like playing board games, what do you enjoy about them? What kinds do you play? Or are you like me and don't like them?

Comments

[girlyswot]

Games have been a huge part of my support bubble time this lockdown and it's been brilliant. We laugh a lot, get a bit competitive, but ultimately know that it doesn't matter. You can't be worrying about work/life/covid while you're focussing on the turn of the next card. And it's social without having to find things to talk about.

Settlers of Catan is one of my long term favourites. It's competitive, but you have to trade with each other, so you also have to co-operate a bit. Every game is very different and the strategies are not so hard that you have to spend years learning them, but not so simple that you can guarantee to win every time.

We've also been playing: Uno Flip, Monopoly Deal, the Pointless game, Trivial Pursuit, Pictureka, Boggle and Flags of the World. I do not really recommend Flags of the World.

[girlyswot]

Oh, also Exploding Kittens. Content warning: kittens sometimes explode.

[antisoppist]

I do not really recommend Flags of the World.
Flags of the World was eldest's favourite game from about the age of 7. There was a point at which everyone gradually refused to play it with her any more but it is standing her in good stead in quizzing as a student. She also likes Mapominoes, which annoys me because the geography isn't right.

[girlyswot]

Yes, I have only agreed to play it as practice for Pointless (we have applied, but not yet heard anything back). As an actual game, there is no fun element to it at all.

[antisoppist]

Ooh. There is no fun element to it unless you are the one person in the family who has memorised all the flags of the world. And even then it can't be that much fun if no-one else had. It does make eldest very good at any Pointless question with flags in, to be fair to it :-)