Board Friends
Once you’ve passed the bar hopping, clubbing age adults eventually settle in to a different perspective on what entitles an evening of fun. A casual dinner out at a nice restaurant or blockbuster show at the local multiplex becomes the norm. Occasionally having friends over for a barbeque and an evening of board games can spice up Friday and Saturday nights.
There is a whole host of board games on the market, and everyone has their favorites. Pictionary has always been a perennial favorite. We can get into some rather raucous games and if we don’t watch it, it can get out of hand. (My brother and I still don’t speak after our last game nearly turned into fisticuffs. Of course, that’s another story.)
Personally, I really enjoy
Taboo although this game takes more people and for some reason not all of our friends find it as much fun as I do.
Cranium is a favorite at our closest “couple” friend’s house. They love this game along with most of America. For some reason I can’t quite get into it. It has Pictionary elements so it seems like a logical one for me to enjoy. The nice thing is the makers of Cranium have actually produced updates for their game (
Cranium Booster Box), something I wish they'd do for Pictionary.
Recently though, this same couple introduced us to
Catchphrase, a hot potato style word guessing game. It’s fast paced antics make it a great game to play with a group of friends around the dinner table. There is both an electronic and regular game, but I recommend the electronic version because it has over 10,000 words in ten different categories. This has by far become our favorite party game.
Scrabble remains a great game to play when you have older couples over, parents and grandparents always enjoy this one. Risk is fun with friends but it isn’t a couple’s game. Better for a guy’s night when you have four or five hours to conquer the world with the throw of the dice. Monopoly is really more of a play it in the afternoon while on vacation at the beach house than a couples game. Trivial Pursuit seems to fit under this category as well, mostly because it takes so damn long to play. Who can start a game at 7 or 8 at night and not finish until the crack of dawn? No one in the thirtysomething crowd I can tell you that.
Camping always brings out the cribbage board and many team tournaments in the evenings around the campfire. Yes, I know this one is usually only played by the over 50 crowd but something about the game has grabbed a hold of my friends. It’s a good one to play and enjoy without having to take too seriously.
