Board Games

[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.

 

[tolivac]

I forgot Scrabble-My Grandmother liked this game.Played it at her house when we visited her for the summer.Sometimes a Scrabble game would go on for most of the night!She would put the game board on a lazy susan turntable to make it easier to use.

 

[lordkenmore]

She would put the game board on a lazy susan turntable to make it easier to use.

 

There is--or at least once was--a version that board with built-in turntable IIRC.


 

Although I've sometimes thought that having a large Lazy Susan might be better, since it could also be used for other games (and other applications).

 

[frigilux]

Had quite a few board games as a kid. My friends and I would play for hours!

Never did learn how to play cards, though--with the exception of Crazy 8's and Old Maid. As Ralph mentioned upthread, I, too, was not great at strategizing and looking ahead. Have never played poker or bridge, etc.

We played Yahtzee with close family friends almost weekly. The wife would always serve slices of round pinwheel bread smeared with cheese spread and dotted with sliced green olives. She also introduced me to Colby cheese. I loved both of those appetizers.

Perhaps these games will trigger memories for those among us old enough to remember the Ed Sullivan Show, LOL.

 

[johnrk]

Thanks, Frigilux!

I'm sixty-two and played every one of these games as a kid. 'Operation' came out when I was in junior high. The Game of Life was just one of my favorites back then, with those little plastic cars and pegs for family.

I think one thing that you and I can count as a benefit from that time is that these games required more than one child. Today, children sit like zombies interacting with computer games. It's already been documented that those coming along now lack certainly skills that you and I learned and now take for granted.

Thanks again!

 

[frigilux]

I agree: Although kids have amazingly (frighteningly?) real-looking video games to play, they seem, for the most part, to be more isolated than we were. They don't play outside most of the day with the "gang from the block" the way we often did.

Of course, much of my childhood was spent in a town of about 2,000 with many other tail-end baby boomers. We'd head out in the morning on our bikes, have lunch at someone's house, then take off again for the rest of the day. All our parents required was a phone call to let them know our plans.

It was time to head home when the street lights came on.

 

[johnrk]

You are so right-

I was wedded to my bike in the town of 10K where I grew up. As it was a relatively new city then (about 15 years old) the streets and sidewalks were all excellent. It started a lifetime love of cycling that only died when I had my spine ruined in an infection several years ago.

It was such a blessing to have those friends, a couple of guys who grew up on my street now go to my church since I moved back to that town (now 30K), and though our looks have all changed, we are still the same. We played together, swam together, cycled all over the city together, and grew up together.

I truly can't conceive growing up in some huge-ass anonymous city without green grass and trees, without seeing friendly people who knew me, and having to worry about getting kidnapped. Even today, though people are more careful here today (even locking cars now!), it can be an idyllic place to raise children.

 

[lordkenmore]

Well, it's not just the youth of today who are isolated... I was pretty isolated when I was growing up in the 70s/80s. I had a few "friends" here and there...but the relationships tended to be shallow and flawed. Most interaction was at school IIRC. When our paths diverged, most often that was that.

 

My experience was different from what kids might experience today, of course--we didn't have the video games that they have now. (And my exposure was very limited to video games. I only knew about Pac Man by reputation!)

 

 

 

[askolover]

Trivial Pursuit was my favorite.

 

Funny story about the Operation game that involves me.  When I was little I was terrified of the dark and frequently had nightmares as well as sleep paralysis.  I don't know why (to this day I can't sleep in a room with the closet door open even a crack, nor will I allow any body part to stick out from under the covers..childhood fears run deep).  Well, my sister and I had an Operation game.  It was under my bed, and the lid was off the box.  Batteries were in the game.  It was cold weather as I remember a blanket being on the bed and it hung down almost to the floor.  I turned over in the bed and that game started buzzing.  I screamed bloody murder thinking the Devil was coming up through the floor with a chainsaw!  I laugh at myself now that I'm 46.5 years old, but back when I was 3 or 4, it was a traumatic experience!

 

[gizmo]

Concentration

That Concentration game rings a bell. I reckon my childhood friend Colin had it and we played it often, but I can't remember it clearly.

Some sort of memory game, wasn't it? Didn't you have to remember where pairs of things were behind a face card? You scored points by collecting pairs?

 

[johnrk]

Gizmo-

The Concentration board game was a take-off of the long-running TV quiz show of the same name. Go to YouTube and search 'Concentration'. It made a household name of Hugh Downs.