Terminalcoffee discussion

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/st...

I remember we talked about board games about a million years ago on Miniam...but this article got me thinking about them again....

Why do you think board games sales has soared? Are you a board game person? Are you a competitive board game person? Which games?

Hate 'em hate 'em hate 'em.

How can you hate board games, Larry? That's like saying you hate ice cream!

Scrabble and Monopoly are my 2 favorite board games ever. And, surprise, I am extremely competitive. More so with Monopoly, especially when my wife and I play each other, and there's been plenty of alcohol involved.

One reason board games sales may be up is they can be played by several people. Playing a video game, you usually have only two controllers, so only two can play at once.

Also, board games are fairly inexpensive compared to electronic games. Also, perhaps many parents, remembering how much they enjoyed them, are buying them for their families.

I like board games, card games, video games---I love competing in games. Even those I am terribel at--like Monopoly.

Gus wrote: "How can you hate board games, Larry?

Just like this. Watch me. And let's not confuse the issue by throwing around ice cream.

i like scrabble and the question/trivia games like trivial pursuit. i like a game where you can sit and play somewhat fast paced and yet cerebral. i mean i will play twister down at the VFW on quarter beer night every once in a while but generally i like thinking games the best

The librarian claims she could defeat me in Trivial Pursuit. Apparently she thinks all Trivial Pursuit questions involve Vincent Price movies and young adult literature.

:)

rereads Kevin's last sentence, tries to tamp down the images of aging veterans stretching at "right foot yellow"

I love board games. Scrabble & Boggle first and best, but also the new party games like Apples to Apples or Cranium, since those are fun for actually interacting when friends are over rather than putting on a movie or something.
My family is also big on some of the geekier board games, like Settlers of Catan and Ticket To Ride and Munchkin.

We've been playing a lot of Banana Grams lately. I like all board games that have to do with words. Catan is fun, and so are lots of card games.
I tend not to do well at the strategy games like Monopoly, as I just don't care all that much.

monopoly takes for-ev-r. i have never understood risk and i only played life when i was young and had to with my girlfriend.

right bun. like when playing monopoly and someone lands on your property and you look across at your grandma and yell "PAY UP SUCKA!!!!"

Kevin "El Liso Grande" wrote: "monopoly takes for-ev-r. i have never understood risk and i only played life when i was young and had to with my girlfriend."
Heh. I HATE Risk. The last time I played was in college when I played against a friend's teenage brother. I somehow managed to annihilate him. He begged me to play again, but I said he wasn't good enough competition, and I was retiring on a high note. That was years' worth of cool points right there.

I like the premise of Risk but I don't like board games that take seventeen hours to play.

Have you ever played Settlers of Catan, Mr. Man? I bet your youngins would like it too.

Older youngin, at least.

No, but it's funny you mention that, because I had a pic up for a while with my kids playing Heroscape and people said the game looked like Settlers of Catan. So that one's fun?

My youngest son is obsessed with nano hex bugs now.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ttGxtp...

That looks somewhat cool, but also a bit termite like.

Settlers of Catan? is that like Oregon Trail - Donner Party Edition where you may have to eat your neighbors to survive?

Settlers of Catan is lots and lots of fun. It's nice because it can be as cutthroat or as cooperative as you want it to be, and because the board is different every time. It also has nifty expansions, such as Seafarers, which makes the board even more changeable, and Cities & Knights, which adds some very satisfying layers. My cousins and I once made up an expansion of Monopoly that had stores and universities and stuff in addition to houses and hotels; Cities & Knights is kind of like that, but with pillaging. My cousins and I didn't think of pillaging.

I like Uno, and I RULE at Trivial Pursuit. I would totally beat RA into submission.
Bun, on the other hand, I'd want on MY team!

no doubt. bun is the ringer

what is the oldest fish in captivity?
Bun: Grandad - an Australian lung fish
what is the german word for desk?
Bun: schreibtisch
who was the voice of Drizella in the 1950 Cinderella?
Bun: Rhoda Williams

Yeah, I suck at sports questions too, but I don't do too badly at the drink questions, which are in the same category. :)

I also like Trivial Pursuit and find myself becoming competitively evil at Monopoly or Uno (Attack preferably).

Recently I found a Pocket Farkel game stored away in some junk and that has become all the rage at family functions. It is a lot of fun to yell things like "Mother Farkel!" when you Farkel your turn...

You mean, when you're in the middle, with all your pie pieces already? Yeah, I play that way - where you have to answer the category picked by your opponents.

I figure, I can always just say "Babe Ruth" until that's the right answer. ;)

Kevin "El Liso Grande" wrote: "no doubt. bun is the ringer

what is the oldest fish in captivity?
Bun: Grandad - an Australian lung fish
what is the german word for desk?
Bun: schreibtisch
who was the voice of Drizella in the 19..."

Heh...awesome...I wouldn't take on Buns, either...but the librarian is toast.

Tad, my sons and I play uno a lot...will I go to hell for the glee I feel when slammin' down a draw four on a nine year old?

I love Risk! But that's because I only discovered it late in life. I have only one strategy to start with - get Australia!

I just love all board games and cards as well. I'll have to look into that Settlers game, Sarah, thanks for the tip. It sounds like something Jake would like, and it would be great if I could drag him away from computer/video games.

You keep dreaming, professor...

Have you ever played Uno Attack! RA? It is the one that shoots cards at players. Oh...you won't go to hell for that. My older brother was and still is the worst board game cheater that I have ever encountered, and I consider those arguments as having been very character building for the young me. Strangely enough, he's a preacher/youth minister now...

Whenever Risk comes up in conversation does anyone else immediately think of Kramer, Newman, and the Ukraine?

Lori wrote: "I just love all board games and cards as well. I'll have to look into that Settlers game, Sarah, thanks for the tip. It sounds like something Jake would like, and it would be great if I could drag him away from computer/video games."

THen we won't even tell him that there's a computer version :)
I'm sure it's not as good, anyhow.

Sheesh, I must have missed that Seinfeld, is that possible?

well, i am on the team then. i am a font of useless sports info

We could SO lick the Hater's Club in a Goodreads tournament!

I can do all the horse racing questions. That's how I get through the sports category.

I'm pretty decent at the rest.

Can I be on the team?

oh yeah. music knowledge is your specialty. i want tadpole too

Sarah - no no to the computer game! Say I've been investigating, and it seems players of the older edition are not happy with the newest one, cheap very thin cardboard pieces that don't fit together. Which edition do you have?

I'll just sit in the corner and talk to The Ficus.

The ficus is bored, Larry, good idea.

My friends and I had a bar trivia team for the last couple of years, although we took 2009 off. I'm pretty solid other than sports, but for some reason the question-makers favored these ridiculous Billboard questions like
(not actual questions)
"What six artists whose last names begin with B scored Hot 100 hits during the 1970s?"
or
"What five country artists have the top selling sophomore releases of all time?"

We learned that the answer to most questions was Frank Sinatra, Mariah Carey, Carrie Underwood, or Cher. It was very dispiriting, from a music fan's point of view.

Yeah, Cher's had number one hits in three decades, I believe.

That sounds like a Saturday Night Live skit. It would be set up as a game show hosted by Mark Wahlberg.

Are you sure you're not just really into him, Misha?

were you playing with the funky bunch?

now that is ironic. i was playing with the local Densa chapter and all the questions i got were about Larry the Cable Guy

Is the Mensa chapter game crazy competitive? Like, "in your face! You think you're smart? Suck it!"

to pass the DENSA test we had to get ourselves out from the inside of a locked pick-up using a coat hanger

I do fairly well at trivial pursuit--best in history and literature--absolutely lousy at sports.

I've played Settlers of Catan--it's fun.

For those who think Monoply is too long, there a new card game called Monopoly Deal---no house or hotels; collect cards with property names--first to get three groups wins. Average game length 25 minutes and LOTS of fun. I've played over a dozen times this week!

If you avoid playing Monopoly because it is too long, look into this.

Hey, Mary, that does sound good!

Lori wrote: "Sarah - no no to the computer game! Say I've been investigating, and it seems players of the older edition are not happy with the newest one, cheap very thin cardboard pieces that don't fit togethe..."

Hey Lori I missedyour questionearlier but we've had our copy for about ten years.

I have the newer, flimsier version, and I think the pieces fit together just fine! What were the older models like/made of?

I guess thicker pieces. But thanks for your opinion, now I'll just go ahead with the newest. I thnk the only people who are disgruntled have the older one, and since I have nothing to compare it with, I'll be delighted. I see that it has to be 3-4 players, which means Richard will have to be roped in, the string to the TV severed!