On Friday, GC and I went to the Raw Sugar Cafe for Board Game Night. We were meeting Woodsy and the Fourth Dwarf. It was only when we got there that we learned the event had been organized by the Young and Active Adults of Ottawa. According to the Young and Active Adults, a young adult is between 25 and 40 years of age. (“This will be our last year then,” said GC as we slipped past the raised eyebrows.)
We claimed a table, ordered some Beau’s beer and butterscotch-banana cake, and set about refamiliarizing ourselves with the rules of our games while waiting for Woodsy and 4D. Active young adults kept coming in, gaping at our board games, and asking us if we were part of the board game event. Some of them even tried to sit at our table. We had to spell it out for them that we were actually sluggish middle-aged adults waiting for others of our kind.
When Woodsy and 4D arrived, we immediately launched into a rousing game of Mousetrap. 4D was in charge of understanding and enforcing the rules and making sure nobody got any cheese to which they were not entitled. Cheese is an important commodity in the end-game, and somehow 4D ended up with a great big pile of it. But Woodsy, despite her meager collection of cheese, was both brave and lucky, and she took out GC and 4D in one swell foop.
But the game wasn’t over yet! No! I rounded the corner like a virtually cheeseless dark horse and sprung my diabolically clever trap on Woodsy. Here, see for yourself:
Next we played Clue. I got to pick my character first, since I won Mousetrap. I chose Colonel Mustard, which made 4D grumble a little bit, which made me even happier that I’d chosen Colonel Mustard. GC was in charge of the rule book this time, so the rules weren’t enforced quite as strictly as they had been under 4D.
4D Cleans Up in Clue
I’d like to do this again. Is anybody else interested in coming to an Ageless Games Night, somewhere, sometime?
Peter bought me a “Dogopoly” game we haven’t even cracked open yet. We should get together when it’s hot out and drink beer and play a game. You can even bring “the dog”.
Board games can be really fun! A friend of mine has some European board games, which are really neat, yet don’t take days to complete like many classic board games can.
I garage sale’d my Mousetrap game ages ago, but I seem to remember a rule that you can only win if the thing goes through without interference. (Probably more fun without this rule. Or most rules.)
Ever played “the Inventors”? It’s from the ’70s. I don’t even remember how to play it, only that it bored the heck out of my aunts and uncles when I begged them to play it with me as a child.
Now, Stock Ticker. Now there’s a deterministic game. Roll dice. Move counters up and/or down. Calculate stuff. Repeat.
An actual fun one that is good for adults and children is “Quicksand” from the early ’90s.
– RG>
I second Quicksand. I had that game. I think it’s still in my parent’s basement. I must check and bring it to my apartment.
A few months ago a few friends of mine got together and played clue. We prepicked our pieces and decided to dress up like our character, which ended up being dress in our colour, but it was still a lot of fun!
I hate board games, but I love Beau’s and old people so I’m interested in participating.(I’m not even sure Mousetrap and Clue can officially be considered board games.)
Those are my kind of board games! There are usually a few times a year when my friends get together and end up playing games – one of the favourites is Cranium. It’s relatively new, and good for groups as you can choose members of your team who would like to do the various activities – sculpting, drawing, etc. I have a few games from my (yes, they had cardboard then) childhood; and I think I have Stockticker; but I don’t think it got used to much by my kids….
What kind of games were the “young and active adults” playing?
I love pictionary but Bonnie has to be my partner…we rule.
I adore board games! I was the city-wide Clue champ when I was in grade 8. We just bought Mousetrap for the Captain for his birthday and it’s as awesome as I remember.
I’d love to come out for all-ages game night!
OMGYESCRANIUM.
– RG>
Pick me. Pick me. But about the math. Middle aged? If life expectancy is now above the century mark . . .
Clue and Mousetrap were two of my favourite games as a kid. But Clue isn’t as much fun with only two people, and it was usally just my brother and me. His favourite game was Scotland Yard, but that’s mostly because I never won. I got him back though because I’m the better Chess player. If I was closer, I’d love to play a boardgame with you
I love boardgames, and word games
Almost all my parties involve games. Scattegories seems to be the favourite amongst my friends, but I love nearly all games! I have to shamefully admit, I’ve never played mousetrap though! I always saw the ads and wanted to, but never knew someone with the game, and never got it myself!
And life expectancy is not above the century mark, it’s now just a smidgeon over 80, but that’s only for babies born in the last few years. The current average age of death is under 75, so the 40s really do fit into middle age perfectly, however, I don’t think that having people in their 40s or older should be a problem for an adult’s board game night!
If I lived anywhere near you, I would soooo be there. I love board games and being goofy while playing board games. Best. fun. ever.
How’s Duncan’s yoga going? Before you get too far into it, go and read this article: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4743741.stm You might not want to wake his vilent tendencies.
as long as Scrabble isn’t involved. I know your history!
Pictionary with Debbie sounds good though…
Your clock is off…wondering what Bonnie was doing here at 4:44 am and realised that I wasn’t hear at 4:29 yesterday.
Holy Henry. The last board game I played was the Ludo Matic. A dice was trapped inside a plastic bubble. You had to punch the bubble to roll the dice and move forward. The board games in your blog look dauntingly sophisticated, but sure, sure, I’m willing to try. You do lead an off-the-beaten-track life! I like that.
Julia, you’re on. (And my son gave me Catopoly for Christmas, so we can play that too.
RG, I don’t remember any of those – not Quicksand, not Stockticker, not The Inventors. You must be wedged in between my generation and my son’s.
Katie, now there’s an elaborate twist – Dress-Up Board Game Party.
XUP – But if you DID like board games, which one would you like best?
Nancy, I played Cranium for the first time a few weeks ago, at a friend’s Board Game night. I liked it! (I wasn’t particularly good at anything except perhaps backwards spelling, but I liked it.)
Gramma – I still can’t call you that! You’re my sister, for God’s sake!
Lynn, with credentials like that, you’re a must-have on the invitee list.
Grace, I’ll pick you! But as for the age thing, I think adulthood is divided into four categories: 20-40 is young, 40-60 is middle-aged, 60-80 is pretty old, and over 80 is really old. I reserve the right to adjust the boundaries as I age.
Valerie, when I was a kid I would burn everybody else out on different games and then I’d play alone. Try playing Clue by yourself!
Arden, I’ve heard good things about Scattergories, but I don’t remember ever playing it myself. Are you going to bring it to Games Night?
Melinda, do you ever make it across the ocean? I’ll check out your link in a few minutes, but it sounds like you’re suggesting that yoga makes cats violent??
Bonnie, Scrabble is just the tip of my competitive iceberg.
Deb, thanks for that – it needed a manual Daylight Savings Time adjustment. Which means Bonnie was here at either 3:44 am or 5:44 am.
Marta, here in Canada it was called Pop-a-Matic Trouble. I loved it. I don’t know how ‘sophisticated’ Mousetrap really is (4D actually drew a comparison to Candyland), but you haven’t lived til you’ve played it at least once.
Yeah, I could totally bring it
Cranium is fun! too.
I have sooo many board games, most of them unplayed, because I was an only child of a single mother (who isn’t a big fan of board games anyways, though she loves word games), so we never had enough people to play most of them.
So yeah, an all ages board game night sounds like a lot of fun!
wow! that sounds like so much fun. I’ll have to try that one night
I totally recommend board game night! I’ve also had a Wii night (surprisingly interactive) that was a hit. People who come should be prepared to be acting out in front of others though. Not everyone is up for it.
Please also start a writing contest for bloggers with big prizes. It can become hugely popular: perhaps the most popular writing competition in the world if you plan it well.