test run photos

tikal

betty won.

Remembering the dead

My brother Jordan and I played about 5 games of Memoir '44 last weekend. I taught him on Saturday night, after we had all played a game of Bohnanza, and neither of us wanted to stop playing after our second game got over at 1 am. There is something about moving army guys around on a board that just makes sense to any male of any age. If there ever were a game that dads should play with their sons, this is it.

The premise of the game is simple: one side is Axis, the other side is Allies. Cards in your hand dictate where you can move, and battle dice decide the outcome of your action. Seem kind of boring? Not when you add in historical accuracy for each of the 60 something scenarios, plastic army men, tanks and artillery, and a fully customizable double-sided board that is laid out in a hex pattern. The game plays fast, there is much to remember regarding modifiers, but once you play, it makes sense.

The realism in certain boardgames is staggering. When I play Memoir, I hear the shouts of young men who may someday be our grandfathers. I hear the dull clanking of steel track on tanks as they move through the woods. I can feel the heat from a mortar gun firing, and feel the percussion from the rounds battering the earth in the distance. But I can't help but smile as I see the joy on my brother's face as I know he is enjoying this as much as I am.

There have been many lives lost throughout history so our country can not only exist, but thrive in its existence. Too many Memorial Days pass where I do not tell my father-in-law "Thanks for enduring Vietnam for me". The history in Memoir '44 shines into far deeper reaches than the simple playing of a game. And any time that I can share that with another person, especially one of my brothers, the depth of my happiness knows little boundaries.

Thanks Jordan for playing a few rounds. I can't wait to play again. Don't lose that youthful joy.

ps One of my favorite things that June ever did for me was to learn how to play this one night. And she liked it. Then, as if that were not enough, she sewed me army green bags with hand-knit stars on them to store the army men in.

Lost in Manhattan

Manhattan is one of the truly underrated games in my collection. I think that this game plays great--very good mix of strategy and interaction with just a hint of luck involved. Quick to learn--about 5-10 minutes of rules, but mastering the game takes a while. There is no such thing as a guaranteed win, and one-upmanship plays a key part. This game looks very 80's--cheap art and bad colors, but man is it fun to play. Great with spouses, non-gaming friends, and more intelligent household pets. Rudy would love it.

Zena thinks that this game plays better with 4 than 2 or 3, but I really believe that it is worth playing no matter how many people are playing.

The Confrontation: I am the lord

It was a busy night. After hamburgers on the grill, we took a walk & let our 4-yr. old exhaust herself on the walking trail by our house.; she has an insatiable love for "getting sweaty". We took turns pushing the other two kids in the stroller, while "Caitlyn", as she likes to be called these days, ran ahead as quickly as her legs would go. By the time we finished our mile plus route, her cheeks were bright red & her hair was wet with perspiration. A little friend stopped by & the kids did flips in the front lawn, played "tag", ate cookies, and had baths afterward.

I fed our 3 month old son & put him to bed, Jason took care of some correspondance, and by the time we were done with family time, it was nearly 10pm...our usual bedtime. And just when Jason probably expected me to say, "Let's go to bed", I confessed my recent thoughts:

"I've been working on a winning strategy for that "Lord of the Rings". Sometimes I think about it a lot."

You see, this game isn't a trivia game & you don't need any familiarity with Tolkien to play. It's a fantastic, quick-moving strategy game to keep the good side (Frodo) from getting to the evil side (Mordor). You have characters with different strengths & special abilities, and the real trick to winning this game is knowing how to move your players at the right time. Simply, a chess match. And this game, "Lord of the Rings: The Confrontation", just happens to be one of my favorite two-player games of all time. And it just so happens that ole Jason was bested by his night-owl woman, Bette.

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.