Game Night

When I was a kid, I Ioved playing games. I have great memories playing all types of games with my grandparents, parents, brother, and friends. One friend who lived down the road from me had an entire wall full of board games in her basement, and I was always so envious. I grew up playing Battleship, Mastermind, Operation, Guess Who?, Hungry Hippo, Score Four, Trouble, Checkers, Scrabble, Monopoly, & Pictionary to name a few. As I got older, I stopped playing games other than at the occasional family gathering. With the winter months ahead and staying at home all the time, I thought it would be a nice change of pace from Netflix watching for my husband and I to play some board games. We didn’t really own many games, so when I found the Game House above for $19.99 at Target, I decided this would be a good way for us to try a bunch of games out to see which ones we enjoyed the most. So far from this set, we have played Checkers, Chinese checkers, and Mancala. This is a great little starter game set that has so many options. The pieces are really tiny though, so if we find we are playing some of the games more than others, we will probably purchase full size versions of those games.

While looking for games, I saw this retro version of Mastermind available at Target for half price. The great price coupled with the nostalgia of remembering really enjoying this game as a kid resulted in me purchasing it as well. This one is a code-breaking game for two people and is a quite challenging reasoning game. Definitely not one to play after a long day of work; however, on the weekends or vacation days, it is a great one for the mind.

Yahtzee is probably the game we have enjoyed playing the most. This cool vintage bookshelf edition would make an excellent gift. I played this game a few times as a kid, but I had to watch some Youtube videos and consult a friend the first time J & I played it together because neither one of us remembered how to play. I find that I especially enjoy games that involve dice, and this one is my most recent favorite!

As I was nostalgically contemplating the games I played most as a kid, I could see one I played at my Grandparent’s house in my mind, but I couldn’t remember the name of it. After texting my dad and brother, who also couldn’t remember it, a day of thinking later, it popped into my head: Score Four. I remember loving this game. I don’t know why it is no longer made, but I was able to find a vintage set on ebay for $20. This beat the price of the $300 collectors one on Amazon, so the ebay one it was! This game is similar to Connect Four, but you have 4 rows to play on instead of just one. We are still waiting on this game to arrive in the mail, but I am looking forward to playing it again when it does!

Backgammon is on my list of games to learn to play next. I don’t have any childhood memories of it at all, but it was recommended by a friend. After watching some Youtube videos about it, I think it looks fun. It is one of the games in the Game House, so it will probably be the next one we try, and if we love it, I’ll order a bigger board like the one above.

Do you have any games for two players that you would recommend? I’d love to know!