ACQUIRE

If you are at all interested in entertainment that requires you to think and enjoy yourself, then this is the game that you must find to play with someone. Acquire is an American classic that knows no equal. It is so rich, so engaging, and so close to perfection that you must play it to appreciate it. I tracked down the cool-looking version, and I must say that, though it is my most expensive game, it is worth every penny. Any boardgame site you care to look at will list it as one of the all-time greats, if not the greatest. It was introduced in 1962, and has been re-issued throughout the years, with the most recent (1999) version being the favorite.

Find it and play it. I got completely buried the first time I played it. And I absolutely loved it. If there ever was a game that was both merciless and graceful, this is it. After the first play, it became my favorite game. I am gushing now, but I am not ashamed. It is worth the effort.

For us, a classic

The first boardgame that Sheila and I ever played together was Carcassonne: The Discovery. This game taught us that there was life beyond Trivial Pursuit, Win, Lose, or Draw (who remembers that one?), and Monopoly. The Wal-Mart games, as I like to call them, are fine--I have no problem with the games that everybody knows. It's just that once I started playing these more complex, more elegant and rich games, I found it tough to go back. But Carcky (as we are want to call it around here) was our intial venture.

The Carcassonne series is pretty popular worldwide, maybe the most overall popular. It is relatively cheap, easy to learn, and can be played either cutthroat or multiplayer solitaire. During games, we whine, yell, throw game pieces, raise hands, and curse (friendly cursing, of course). But we never ever help each other out. When we play, we are at odds with one another. Though we are joined in holy matrimony, a thick black dividing line cuts between us like a ornery bolt of lightning, and we are sworn enemies. And we love it.

We have been known to knock out a few games in the morning, before the kids get up. Over coffee and cereal, we plot and weave, scheme and agitate. The sun has not even come up yet and we are young, in love, and playing Carcassonne as mean and dirty as we can.

Life is wonderful and painfully short.

If I only had sticks for fingers

Boardgames are not always relegated to boards. Some of my favorite games have no board at all. Carcassonne, Hive, and Gulo Gulo are some of the best example of games that lack boards but are incredibly entertaining. All have their charms, but by far, the one that is the most fun is Gulo Gulo.

I will spare the rules details, but the object of the game is to turn over tiles and then pluck a wooden egg out of a bowl whose egg corresponds with the overturned pile. Whoever gets to the last tile, and then is able to find the single purple tile in a stack of 5, and is then able to draw that egg from the bowl is the winner. The only thing that you must remember when drawing eggs: do not set off the alarm (a pole with an egg on the end of it.) Simple. You can learn in 5 minutes. But if you are an adult, you will quickly learn the extent that your age inevitably will increase your clumsiness. If you are a child, you should not be reading this blog. If your parents read it, they are cool. But if perchance you are a child, you will quickly find that you have the upper hand here. You have no fear. You approach the egg without trepidation, without any hint of hesitation. You have tiny little ninja fingers. Your fingers strike quickly.

Annie has beaten me far more times than I have beaten her. She is a good sport, "Good game, dad, good game." Easy for her to say. She always wins. I have fat sausages for fingers compared to her tiny surgical fingers. If I win, it is merely because she got antsy and impatient and did not pay attention to what she was doing. For this reason, it is one of my favorite games. I have rated it a 9 out of 10. Only one other game has that high of a rating by me: Ticket to Ride.

Lulu and I played a late night game of Gulo Gulo once. It was nearly 10:30--past bedtime--and we sat at the kitchen table, and played a game. It was hilarious. If I was a drinking man, (which I really am not--most of the time) or a Bob Marley fan (love his music, but....) then this game would always entertain. I would love to watch a bunch of drunks play this game. Now that would be entertaining.