Bored? Games!

Like many people, of my generation, I grew up with a few board games at home - Ludo, Monopoly, chess and draughts etc. We had a couple of less common ones too - Chinese Checkers, Motorway, Fox and Goose… During our Sixth Form years, my friend and I played countless games of The Great Game of Britain, and I still credit those hours with my knowledge of British geography! (Sadly my parents don’t still have the game, and I’m not quite convinced enough that anyone would play it with me now to buy a new edition, although it’s apparently still available!)

Over the past 15 years or so, we’ve built up a collection of newer board games (using the term very generously!), and have quite a range of styles depending on if we want something cooperative or fiercely competitive, grown-up or childish fun, familiar and easy or more challenging - and of course depending on who will be playing. Although our children used to sometimes enjoy playing family games all together when they were younger, nowadays I usually only get to play games with one other person at a time. On the bright side, this means we now have quite a collection of two-player games - some designed specifically for two players, and others which work well with two players but can have more. We also have a few games which have a solo player version (Wingspan and Isle of Cats) which is handy when I want to play a game but don't have anyone available or willing to play!

Co-operative games are great for those times when we want to play something but without the competitiveness - post-chemo when my brain wasn't working anything like well enough to form strategy or plans, in particular. Pandemic, and the various versions of Legendary have been reliable for this - and with the number of extra versions of Legendary we have, there's no risk of getting bored with using the same sets of hero and villain cards!

Several of our games (Wingspan, Century: Spice Road, Dominion) are 'engine-building', whereby the cards you get can work together so that each turn enables you to gain more than one thing, or carry out more than one action. Although I do enjoy these, I generally struggle to get an effective engine going so almost inevitably lose to my husband who rarely fails!

Odin's Ravens is a lovely, simple but fun two-player game which we first came across in the board games shop in Gothenburg. A path of sixteen cards is laid down the centre of the table, and each player's raven has to travel to the far end and back again. Players use their journey cards to move their marker along, or can play 'Loki' cards to help themself and/or hinder the other player by moving cards along the path, adding or removing steps. Such a simple mechanic, but with lots of choices for each player to decide whether they're just out to make their own route as straightforward as possible, or whether they want to actively try to sabotage the other. Yes, we bought it as soon as we were back in the UK!

My current favourite games are simple to learn, fun to play, and great to share as I’ve introduced them to a colleague for a bit of lunchtime relaxation when I’m in the office. So far we’ve played Patchwork and Ticket to Ride: Nordic Countries, and Gartenbau is next on the list! Maybe one day we’ll get some more colleagues involved and have our own little games club :D