I’m Game For Playing Games

Day 359

Mom, Jaimee and Jordan playing a family favorite:

SCATTERGORIES

It’s time to post some more of my favorite games that I’ve played with my family. I’ve already waxed poetic on how much I enjoy playing games with the family, how I am usually not that competitive and just play for the fun of it. And that is true…to some degree. Anyway, here are a few more current games we play.

Polish Poker

This is the perfect card game to play when you have time to kill, like waiting for your food to be served at a restaurant. In fact, I usually play this card game with my parents when we go out to dinner - it has become a fun little tradition. This game is essentially a memory/matching game, involving one deck of cards (including Jokers), and those playing each get six cards, all facing down, arranged in two rows of 3. Players are allowed to look at just 3 of the cards (either the top row or the bottom row). It is important to remember the 3 cards because once you have looked at them you cannot look at them again. During the game each player takes a turn in choosing a card from either the deck of remaining cards or a card from the discard pile. The purpose is to find a match in order to have identical cards. Each matching pair is worth zero points, as the object of the game is to get the lowest score.

With each turn you must turn up one of the six cards; the game ends when everyone has turned up all six cards, and then the score is tallied. The winner is the person who has the lowest total score (at least 50 points difference between 1st and last place). In order to help achieve negative points if you successfully collect four of one kind (four of Aces, Kings, Tens, etc.) you earn a -20 points. Fives are ideal cards to have because the value is a -5; the rest of the cards are their face value, with Jacks and Queens worth 10 points, Aces worth one point and the numbered cards worth their face value. Kings and Jokers are zero points and therefore do not have to be matched up to secure this value. This is one of my favorite card games!

Settlers Of Catan

My sister-in-law Erin introduced this game to our family, and my dad and I love playing it with Erin and Jordan. The rules are somewhat complex and lengthy, so I won’t go into the full details of the game. The purpose of the game is to earn 13 points, and points are gained based on resources you earn (such as wheat, lumber, ore, sheep, brick), roads/ cities/settlements you build, as well as other opportunities that can arise during the game (such as successfully building the longest connecting road).

Jordan, Erin and Dad in the midst of playing

Settlers Of Catan

When I first learned this game I was so confused and struggled to remember all of the rules and strategies, but after a few rounds I have grown to love this game, which is similar to games like Monopoly and Risk, but in my opinion even more fun. And there are expansion versions of this game that can be played, that build on the original game and add more resources, rules and challenges. It’s great fun!

Ticket To Ride/Ticket To Ride Europe

This is another game introduced by Erin to my family, and is a lot of fun. There are two versions that we play: the first/original version is of the United States, and the concept is to build various train tracks between corresponding cities. Everyone is given 3 “destination” cards which contain two specific cities (such as Phoenix to Atlanta), and there is a point value assigned on the card, By successfully building a track that connects the two cities you earn the points on the card. If you do not complete the track by the end of the game the points on the card count against you. There are specific cards that have to be collected first before you can begin to build your track, and there is the added difficulty of getting your track built before someone else blocks you, as all destinations have a way of connecting with one another.

The other version of this game is of Europe, and is even more difficult, mainly due to the fact that it is often hard trying to determine where each city is located. And there are added rules/specifications that make building the various tracks more complicated and less accessible. But again this is a lot of fun!

I could go on and on about the games I love to play, but suffice it to say that I am always game for playing games!