I have recently rediscovered a love for playing board games. It’s the perfect activity to do when you have any free time because it easily keeps people entertained without the use of a screen. I also love playing games because it’s a great brain exercise while still being fun; you can also choose a simpler game that doesn’t require strategy based on how you feel that day.
In addition, playing board games makes for a great activity to do with family and friends that you can later bond over. Whenever I go to see my cousins and grandparents in Florida, we always play a board game. Sometimes we’ll stay up late in order to finish our 4+ hour long game marathon of Risk and Monopoly.
The type of person I’m with and the number of people I’m with both factor into deciding on what game to play. For example, whenever I’m with someone I haven’t met before, playing a simpler game is typically the best option. It prevents any awkward small talk by providing a topic of conversation and an activity to occupy people’s brains with. My favorite games to play with new people are typically easy to explain as well, such as Ticket to Ride or Backgammon.
Drawing games and word games such as Scattergories or Telestrations are usually great in group settings. They tend to be easy to understand and they are often crowd favorites. These are my favorite types of games because they allow for personal interpretation and are more social games. It gives the opportunity to talk about the game itself more rather than silently keeping your strategy to yourself as demonstrated in other types of games.
In smaller group settings with a few close friends, I love to play more complicated games such as Risk or The Settlers of Catan. The Settlers of Catan is one of my all time favorite games. It’s a newer game, but it’s surprisingly widely known. It requires more strategy and is a very competitive game. Although luck can be a large factor, skill is also necessary to secure a win.
In addition to board games, card games can also be fun to play with friends and family. Spades and Hearts are some of my favorite skill-based card games. They are both fairly simple games but require the use of strategy as well.
Although I love to play games, learning how to play a new game is one of my least favorite tasks. At first, nothing makes sense and it feels like learning a foreign language, and the process of learning how to play almost makes the game not even worth playing. However, after surpassing the period of confusion, playing a new game offers even more opportunities for fun times with family and friends in the future.
