Family Gaming

Mark Johnson has recently turned his blog BOARDGAMES TO-GO into a podcast. The shows have so far been very interesting. I thought this might be a good time to start up my abortive blog efforts again. This time, instead of trying to come up with topics on my own, I'm going to take a que from Mark Johnson. I'll discuss whatever topic his latest show is built around. We'll see how this works out. So, for the first entry into this blog I will discuss Family Gaming.

Growing up, my family wasn't into playing family games much. Dad never showed any interest in playing games and we had to twist his arm to play a games like Monopoly with us kids. (In retrospect, that doesn't seem so strange any more...) My brother, five years older, didn't play "kids games" and after I started beating him at chess wouldn't play that game with me either. My sister... well, one just doesn't play board games with a little sister, does one?

I was the game player in my family. I played games all the time with my neighborhood friends. Monopoly, Careers, Life, Mille Bornes are the games I remember being played most often. I'm sure there were many others. Introduced to strategy type games when I found Milton Bradley's Battle Cry, Dogfight and Broadside (one of my life-long favorite games). Introduced to wargames when my brother received a copy of Avalon Hill's Waterloo for Christmas. Even though we were "too young", my friends and I taught ourselves to play games like Waterloo and Guadalcanel. Games like Broadside and Waterloo led to a life-long interest in wargames.

I'm still pretty much the only real gamer in the family . . .

My Wife, Theresa - doesn't usually play games, even when asked, except when we visit my relatives. This is very frustrating and she is a very good player when she does play. She Picks up on the rules and strategy quickly. It is a mystery to me why she doesn't play games more often.

My Stepson, Earl - Will play games, if I twist his arm, but doesn't seem to have the desire to play board games on a regular basis. Enjoys and plays video games constantly but only plays board games as "favor" to me. When he does play, he prefers games with a deep and obvious theme (Star Wars, etc.)

My Step Daughter, Jessica - Likes to play games but our personalities and lifestyles are so different as to preclude playing games together very often.

My Step Daughter, Amber - has no interest in playing board games. Will play only rarely and then usually only willing to play "party" games.

My Mom, Linda - Likes to play games and is willing to learn new games but often times has a hard time with a new game. Needs to play a game a couple of times before the rules start to sink in.

My Sister, Maggie - Enjoys playing games and almost always willing to play a game when our paths intersect, usually when I'm visiting my parents.

My Dad - Not a big game player. Plays cribbage and Zilch (a dice game). Almost always bows out when some other game comes to the table.

My Brother, Kevin - Not a big game player, as far as I know. Will join in a family game, but is rarely interested in the game, per se.

My Sister, Kathi - Never played games with my "little sister" (two years younger) very much. Will play "party" games, but shows no interest in strategy boardgames.