GAMES PEOPLE PLAYED
I think it
is great that some people still play board games. Computers and apps and stuff have made most
of those old popular games obsolete.
I remember playing
some board games even before Parker Brothers and Milton Bradley “Invented them.”
I understand
people paying money for Monopoly, Chutes and Ladders, Clue, Sorry and a whole
bunch of games, but there are some games that only need paper, pen, and dice to
replicate.
It drives me
crazy when I go through the game section of a toy store and see people paying
good money for “Hangman,” “Battleship,” and “Yatzee.” Hell, I’m surprised Parker Brothers didn’t
put out an expensive version of Tic Tac Toe!
Or did they?
Hangman –
We played this for years without any fancy store bought board. A paper, a pencil, you draw a hangmen’s noose, add spaces below the noose, give a clue and play. What are people paying Parker Brothers for? The rules…like they’re so complicated.
We played this for years without any fancy store bought board. A paper, a pencil, you draw a hangmen’s noose, add spaces below the noose, give a clue and play. What are people paying Parker Brothers for? The rules…like they’re so complicated.
Battleship –
Milton Bradley supplies the different size ships, a board with zones, pegs, and something to separate both playing grids. We used graph paper, penciled in our ships, and simply x’ed out every called grid block. If a ship was hit then you said, “You hit my battleship.” Kinda like the MB version. Any large box cover served to separate the two sheets of graph paper.
Milton Bradley supplies the different size ships, a board with zones, pegs, and something to separate both playing grids. We used graph paper, penciled in our ships, and simply x’ed out every called grid block. If a ship was hit then you said, “You hit my battleship.” Kinda like the MB version. Any large box cover served to separate the two sheets of graph paper.
Yahtzee –
I was taught this game by my Grandma’s friend my Aunt Betts long before it was sold on the shelf of “Toy’s R Us.” Apparently it was a game invented by boating enthusiasts to pass the nights at sea away; hence the name “Yaghtsy” or Yatzee. All you need for this game are dice (5), a piece of paper and a pencil to record the scoring possibilities with the dice…pair, two pair, three of a kind, full house, straight, four of a kind and Yatzee or five of a kind.
I was taught this game by my Grandma’s friend my Aunt Betts long before it was sold on the shelf of “Toy’s R Us.” Apparently it was a game invented by boating enthusiasts to pass the nights at sea away; hence the name “Yaghtsy” or Yatzee. All you need for this game are dice (5), a piece of paper and a pencil to record the scoring possibilities with the dice…pair, two pair, three of a kind, full house, straight, four of a kind and Yatzee or five of a kind.
We played
all of these games with materials we had at hand. We did not need Parker Brothers.
I wonder if
anyone has patented:
“Hide and go seek.”
I could package the rules with a blindfold, a clock to count to 100 and
a home base.
“Tag.” Sell the rules along with a vest to
be worn by “It.”
“Kick the can.” A package would include rules, a
piece of chalk to draw a circle, a can, and a rock, scissor and a piece of
paper to decide who is “It.”
Then there
is always “Blind man’s bluff,” “Hopscotch,”
“Hot potato,” “I spy,” “Keep away,” “Running bases”…the possibilities are
endless.
Too bad
technology has made most of these good old games obsolete.
Did you ever play Dots and Dashes? You draw a grid of dots on a bit of paper and each person takes a turn to connect two dots with a line; whoever completes a square puts their initials in and the winner is the person with the most squares. I taught it to my kids and they love it. But I have to admit, I happily snapped up 2 pads of already-dotted paper I saw at our local market recently. Maybe Parker Brothers could package these pads with two felt tips in a huge box for $30?
ReplyDeleteDon't forget conkers!
ReplyDeleteI remember most of these games. You always had your games in the closet and would pull those babies out after dinner or when you had certain company. We just don't do that anymore.
ReplyDeleteHave a fabulous day. ☺
we played yahtzee a lot, but with the store-bought game. loved hangman with paper and pencil. we played a TON of concentration with a deck of cards (where you turn over 2 at a time and have to find pairs).
ReplyDeleteLove the fun memories this post brought. I always liked having the score sheets for Yahtzee because I get confused easily.
ReplyDeleteI want to trade mark hide and seek. I'd be rich!
ReplyDeleteI quizzed my granddaughter on games she'd played. Red Rover, Red Rover, yes, Duck Duck Goose, No. To their credit, the grands pull out a board game when they're all together.
ReplyDeleteHow about Mother May I? Simon Says. We used to use paper and lead pencils to play Battleship the poor people's way. lol
ReplyDeleteWe played kick the can till dark most days but for family times since we had no TV, we played word games that required no props. Gee, ya suppose we were poor?
ReplyDeleteScrabble was my favorite. It was the only game I was the best at in our family.
ReplyDeleteWhen my kids were young we owned three Scrabble sets. We'd spread them out along the table and play right across the boards, no scoring though. It's a great way to teach kids to read and spell.
DeleteRemember the game Operation? That was my fav.
ReplyDeleteI used to be so good at "Operation" that people thought I'd become a doctor. They wouldn't have thought this if blood was part of the game.
ReplyDeleteI remember playing a lot of these!
ReplyDeleteMy son, the TV and electronics-addicted computer nerd will occasionally pull out a board or card game and play with his equally TV and electronics-addicted computer nerd friends. So...not all is lost!
I'm sure it will come as no surprise to you that we are NOT allowed to play Hangman at school. Back in my day, if we had some time left over, we could play it on the board. The teacher picked the words. Nowadays, it is banned because of the hanging. Oh, and dice have to be referred to as Number Cubes. The elementary teachers filled us in on that one.
ReplyDeleteKeep Away is probably considered bullying, and Blind Man's Bluff would be offensive to the optically-challenged. Don't get me started on Tag, with its unwanted touching...
Ky kids' teachers still play hangman with their classes. But when I was a kid Red Rover, Red Rover was banned after a kid broke his arm :)
DeleteAhh....HELLO! Spin the bottle? ;)
ReplyDeleteThose were the days with games like you described. I spent many a hot summer day playing hangman while waiting for it to cool off a bit to go back outside to play. There is just something bonding in a family to play board games or similar that does not involve technology. I used to love to do jigsaw puzzles. Thinking of setting up a table to do so to not spend so much time online.
ReplyDeletebetty
Just last Christmas I taught my grandchildren to play Hangman the old fashioned way. They had a wonderful time with it.
ReplyDeleteI still have my over forty years old deck of cards and play Patience (aka Solitaire) sometimes.
Kick the can was my childhood favorite and Mrs. T. and I still play Yahtzee....:)
ReplyDeleteReading all these comments has brought back some good memories!
ReplyDeleteBoard games: we played Operation, Chinese Checkers, The Game of Life and as teenagers, Trivial Pursuit
I loved this post and the comments. So true! Sad that kids have to have everything described and provided for them these days, leaving no room for imagination.
ReplyDeleteYou could market "Simon Says," too - an instruction sheet and a list of things for him to say - "Touch your toes. Turn around. Lift one foot."