Board Games

[lordkenmore]

I have been thinking recently of board games like Clue and Monopoly. When I was growing up, we had a good supply of games...and Christmas or birthdays often brought a new addition or two. One supposes games made an easy gift choice for relatives we had only occasional contact with. Also I'm thinking my mother might well have bought into an argument that games could improve my mind. (Obviously, that didn't happen...but one can't blame her for trying her very best. LOL) I can remember playing games with my family (mostly my father--my mother, herself, had very limited interest in board games). I can also remember the fun of visiting one set of grandparents and playing Monopoly. We had a set, of course, but their set was old enough to have wood houses and hotels, not the cheap plastic in our set.

 

In my life, games have fallen by the wayside. It's been at least 20 years since I regularly played anything. I just don't have anyone to play games with anymore...

 

Indeed, I wonder sometimes how about the popularity of games these days. There must be someone buying them--I noticed just the other day a selection at Target. But I get the feeling that they aren't the entertainment choice they once were for most people...

 

Even though my board game days are--at best--on hold, and maybe over, I've acquired a few over the years. All found used and cheap, and most of them are ones I remember from when I was young. Some photos:

 

<ol>
<li>Pegity--a 5 in a row game. I seem to remember playing a version that had wood pegs when young.</li>
<li>Inside of Pegity box</li>
<li>221-B Baker Street. A detective game. IIRC there are several cases included that one can solve just like Sherlock Holmes. Additional cases were IIRC available separately.</li>
</ol>
 

[this post was last edited: 12/3/2017-19:29]

 

[lordkenmore]

I have a weakness for Clue sets. It was probably one of the most commonly played games in my family. It was around for many years--it was something I was able to play when fairly young, and that was tolerable for older people, too. It was also one of the few games my mother was reasonably willing to play. (She never had much interest in games--I think the only board game she really liked was Scrabble.)

 

I have one vintage set, but I can't get to it right now. This is a modern set with a modern board. It doesn't feel right having a Clue mansion with a living room instead of a lounge. Or a theater instead of a library... Skimming the rules, it looks like other changes were made...and one wonders if the game didn't suffer as a result...

 

I'm not sure about this, but I think this version replaced the classic version--but it appears the classic version may be back.

[this post was last edited: 12/3/2017-19:30]

 

[lordkenmore]

Finally, a game with no personal history. But I'm guessing it has history for the 1970s when it was apparently published:

 

[cuffs054]

Sorry, but SORRY was the game to play!

 

[johnrk]

Sorry

was a favorite with my sibling and me. We rediscovered it by playing for years with her daughter as a child. I have no idea what Monopoly is like now on the computer, but the version in the 90's was actually quite fun to play alone and it moved so much faster than the board version. We also grew up in the 60's so the Game of Life was a real favorite. I bought a version in the 90's to play with my niece but they'd done so damn much to make it PC that it was a bore. We also used to play Careers back in the 60's.

My parents were bridge, various card games, and domino players. By the time I went to college--no more board games. Spades was the game that was hot at the Univ. of Texas. I also learned Clubs, which I liked better than Spades. I also played a lot of hearts. I can play poker, but never liked it that much, same for Bridge. I used to play an awful lot of Solitaire besides the usual Canfield, but don't play that much now.

Like Lord Kenmore, I live alone and so it's not like I can get my 22-year-old cat to face off with me...

 

[cuffs054]

John, Spades is the reason my four year degree took five years! There was always a game going on in the student center.

 

[lordkenmore]

I know we had a copy of Sorry and played it, but don't really have too many memories of it.

 

I remember Game of Life, but don't think I ever played it. But it was a title still semi-common when I was growing up in the 70s/80s.

 

As for card games, I remember my paternal grandmother often playing cribbage. I think she also played--or once played--bridge.

 

 

[lordkenmore]

Spades is the reason my four year degree took five years!

 

There is a Stephen King story "Hearts in Atlantis" in his book Hearts in Atlantis. In this story, a Hearts craze hits a college dorm--and some students flunk out or barely survive the term... (IIRC, there is no supernatural elements, but other stories in the book are more typical Stephen King.)

 

[johnrk]

Clubs?

Lord Kenmore-have you ever played Clubs? Much less well known and actually I enjoy it more than Spades.

 

[gizmo]

recent finds:

I have been getting interested in board games again.

It started when I found Monopoly on special at Big W (like Kmart) for $20. Bought the Classic (London) edition. They also had an Australian edition, but I stuck with the classic.

Soon after I found an old Scrabble set at Lifeline opp shop for $2. It was tatty but is the same version we played as kids in the 70s so I had to have it. Wooden tile trays.

We have several versions of Cluedo. (Called Clue in the USA, Cluedo in the civilised world ) A 1970s version, which I had forgotten we still owned when I bought a slightly later one at an opp shop. Later still I found Cluedo Simpsons Edition at a recycle centre. The people are Simpsons characters and the weapons are things like nuclear fuel rod... Still haven't played that yet...

I used to love Backgammon but haven't played in years.

On a recent holiday in New Zealand, we stayed at the YHA in Wellington. They had a few board games so Stephen and I played Scrabble. The scrabble set contained the letter tiles from the remains of 3 scrabble sets, way too many letters but we played on till the board was full and it was way past time for bed. As I am a bit OCD I sat up sorting the letters into one correct Scrabble set and one bag of spare letter tiles. got to bed about 1 am. When I handed back the Scrabble set the next morning I told them what I had done and got "one of those looks" from the young woman behind the counter. Though she did say "Oh, cool..."

 

[lordkenmore]

Lord Kenmore-have you ever played Clubs?

 

No. I never even heard of it before now. I have a vague recollection of playing some card games of some sort with my father. The one game I definitely recall is cribbage.

 

Then, of course, there was the uncle who trapped me into 52 Card Pickup, once...

 

[johnrk]

One of My Cousins

was a nationally-ranked Scrabble player and played countless times over the years when we'd get together. She had a PhD in library science and had the largest vocabulary of anyone I've ever known.

I forgot totally about Scrabble! I have the deluxe edition with the turntable but my favorite set is the travel set in bright blue shells. I have an even smaller one but it's hard to play.

 

[lordkenmore]

Both of my parents liked Scrabble. I recall them playing it together when I was young. Later, we played it as a family game when I was a teenager. I can't say for sure, but I am thinking that it might have been quite frustrating, simply because the chances of me winning were about zero. (My father was almost certainly the winner. He was addicted to crossword puzzles, which undoubtedly helped.) Later on, though, I came to like it when it was just my mother and me. Strangely, we went through at least 3 of the standard sets--the first set was my father's, and he took it when he moved out. That was replaced with the second set (technically IIRC mine). The third set was acquired at a point near the end of my mother's life when set #2 was unavailable, and we really wanted to play Scrabble.

 

I'm thinking I may have one of the ones with a turntable base in storage. I certainly remember that style, which seemed like a nice idea. Although I like the old plain version out of sentiment.

 

I don't remember my grandfather's Scrabble set, unfortunately, but it's possible he had one sets made in the early years.

 

 

 

[johnrk]

Lord Kenmore-

As you probably know, tournament Scrabble is played with timers. I got used to playing this way with my competitive cousin. In my younger years I wasn't very patient to begin with, and it'd drive me apeshit if I had to play in college with someone who would just stare at the board and make silly noises.

 

[lordkenmore]

I know about Scrabble timers, but never used them. Indeed, I like a more leisurely pace with a chance to think. But, of course, if someone is too slow too much of the time, it's annoying for his or her opponents... (And if there are several players, and each takes too long, one may fall asleep before it's one's turn again. LOL)

 

[lordkenmore]

Another memory is my chess phase. I got interested in the idea in sixth grade. My mother obliged with a learn chess book, and, IIRC, at some point a cheap chess set appeared. I don't really recall doing more than learning the basics of the game at that point. Then, the next Christmas, I got a small electronic chess game. I played with that a lot...but I pretty consistently lost (even though it was set to the lowest possible skill level for the computer opponent). The only time I remember winning was when I invoked the change side feature so that my hopeless position became the electronic game's hopeless position.

 

I played my father once. He had little background with chess--he only barely knew how to play IIRC. And yet he won. The only other time I recall playing with another person was with some guy I knew at college. Again, I lost.

 

For some reason, I lost interest in chess. May it have been my lousy ability?!? Although chess sets are interesting, and could be fun decoration...

 

[rp2813]

Spades was big at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo when I lived in the dorms there.   We'd play bridge too, but I'd just make my partners angry with dumb moves.  Spades was a lot easier.

 

I remember games like Pit, which was based on being in the pit at the commodities exchange.  Lots of yelling in that one.  We also had a game called "Dig" where you had little mallets with sticky ends to pick up cards with letters on them (face down) and then try to use them to spell something.  The mallets lost their tacky surfaces fairly quickly, and that was that.  Another one I liked was "Across the Continent," which used small metal charms shaped like streamliner trains in various colors.  Roll the dice and make your way from one end of the country to the other.  It was a good geography lesson, and probably the first time I heard of many U.S. cities.

 

Our Scrabble game would probably be worth something today to a collector.  The "X" tiles were double stamped.  I don't know whatever happened to that set.  I only know one or two people who would want to play Scrabble. 

 

Backgammon was a big deal in the late '70s.  You could find sets everywhere.  I bought some kind of designer set at Marshall's, and also had a small travel set with magnetic pieces.  I've forgotten how to play, but it's easy to pick it back up.  I have friends who play, but in what they call the "acey ducey" version.  I have no idea what that is.

 

We never had "Sorry" or "Careers," but friends did.

[this post was last edited: 12/4/2017-00:51]

 

[johnrk]

You're Right!

I also forgot about backgammon! We played it addictively in the ER in a hospital where I worked 40-hour weekends in college. When it was quiet we would play behind a curtain on a stretcher. I haven't played it since the 80's.

I also knew a version of Mahjong with a set of beautiful tiles. I still have it. Haven't played that either in 30 years...

 

[tolivac]

Yes,remember board games as a kid.The Pegity game was used a lot by my brother.On one of our car trips he was playing with his Pegity game-I was sitting by him in the back seat of my Dads Packard.Youger brother and Mom up front-Dad driving.Then Don got carsick and techni-color yawned on his Pegity set.We stopped cleaned up my brother barf covered Pegity was left by the road.Remember Monopoly-Don didn't barf on that one-ours was old and had the wood houses and metal game pieces.Also someone gave us a Twister game for Christmas.We were all Twisted up over that one!Bet we couldn't play that today-when you are younger you can twist into more positions than now.

 

[circlew]

We had the following games: Life, Sorry, Clue, Bingo, Mouse Trap, Scrabble, Yahtzee, Parcheesi, Hungry, Hungry Hippos and a some others I can't recall the names.

When I was at my sister's for Thanksgiving, She, my nephews kids, and I played Garfield Monopoly, Free Parking, and Hungry Hippos.

 

[fan-of-fans]

I didn't play board games all that much as a kid, but I did make up some of my own. I remember we made some for a school project and I made a spinner out of a plastic spoon.

As far as actual games, I remember us having Chutes and Ladders, and vaguely remember Monopoly, but not sure we had it or someone else did. In later years I remember having Mouse Trap, which was my favorite because of all the moving pieces.

Not really a board game, but I did play Connect Four as a kid also. And that game that had fish mouths with magnets inside that sat in holes and spun around in a wind up wheel and you fished for them with a little fishing rod with a magnet on the string.

Oh and this is from the 90s, but some may appreciate "Dizzy Dryer" a game with a battery powered dryer drum with no door, that you threw foam clothes in and whoever had the least clothes spun out won.

 

[jakeseacrest]

Every other Saturday night my sister, her boyfriend and I play board games and have a few drinks. Our go to is Monopoly but we also play Clue, Trivial Pursuit and Life. My mother bought The Golden Girls Monopoly for Xmas so in a few weeks we'll play that

 

[wayupnorth]

I got dozens of Board games, but I dont think I can get my dog or cat to play with me as this place is now turned into a ghost town until the summer when people come back on Memorial Day. All my neighbors now are gone from the cold to either Florida or Arizona.

 

[DADoES]

 
<blockquote>LordKenmore:  Another memory is my chess phase.</blockquote> I taught myself to play chess by reading the article in our Compton's Encyclopedia set.  Got pretty good but haven't played in ages.  Have several chess sets, including a Star Trek and Dragon's Realm from Franklin Mint, and a cheap 3-D set from a Sears Christmas catalog.

Mom had a Wa Hoo board back in the day, don't know what happened to it.

We had the ubiquitous Monopoly.  Didn't otherwise much play board games.

 

[johnrk]

What Happened to Chess?

I played chess growing up. For decades, back when young people actually enjoyed school, we had a chess club at our local junior high and also at the high school. I think it was good because it forced active young people like me to have to actually sit and be still! I loved it for the mathematical side of it. I'd probably actually join a local club if I knew about it, and they'd re-teach it to me.

And thanks for sharing that photo of your beautiful set!

 

[cornutt]

When I was in college, in our building we had Risk parties. We'd take two or three boards and place them side by side, and you could move armies from one board to another at the edges. We sometimes had 20 people playing.

We played spades until sufficiently drunk. At that point, we played spoons. If we got really drunk, we substituted steak knives for the spoons.

 

[johnrk]

Battlefield and Stratego

I'm surprised no one mentioned these two games; both were really popular with boys back in the 60's.

 

[mikael3]

I remember all the games mentioned, also Chinese Checkers.  Remember that one?  I think Monopoly, Parcheesi, and Chinese Checkers are the board games we played the most—certainly an odd collection.  We also played Clue and Battleship and Othello, but I don’t remember those as well.  I don’t think I every played Sorry or Life, which is kind of crazy, considering my age.

 

I can’t say I was ever a big fan of board games, though, other than Backgammon.  I was a whizz at that game, back in the day.  As Ralph mentioned, it was a huge craze in the ’70s and ’80s.  But I liked card games, especially Gin, pretty much the best of the 2-player card games.  If we had a crowd, we played Rook, if anyone remembers that one.  And I LOVE to work puzzles—I had an unnatural attraction to puzzles, and I was unnaturally good at them.

 

These days we play dominoes (Mexican Train) or Rummikub, since there are three of us left for family get-togethers. 

 

[rp2813]

I forgot all about Spoons.  I'll have to look that one up to remind myself how to play it.  I think the grandkids, or at least the older one, would like it if she could get the hang of it.  One Thanksgiving when we were away at a beach cabin we taught her Crazy Eights.   She required a lot of repeat prompting and/or correcting.  She might be old enough for Spoons now, but today's kids' minds don't work the same so we'll see.  Right now she's into pig latin, which I'm having a fun time with.

 

I was never good at Chess.  Just like Bridge, I couldn't think that far down the road and still can't. 

 

We didn't have Battlefield or Stratego, but we did have one called "Conflict."  I can't remember the premise, but the name of the game probably said it all.

 

[johnrk]

Flash Cards

When I was in primary school in the early 60's, flash cards were a constant in school. I think that's why we loved Crazy Eights, Old Maid and the like.

And I agree--I think little kids' minds are wired differently for the computer generations.