Bring Back the Table Games

The story goes that the board game Monopoly became the hit that it is because our suffering, depression-era populace embraced the notion that with a roll of the dice they could own Boardwalk. Monopoly has sold a kajillion copies, and the modern-day marketing strategy has been to create "Dogopoly," "Hawkeyeopoly," "Elvisopoly," and "Wrigleyopoly," (just to name a few).

In the 1980s, breakout games were Pictionary and Trivial Pursuit. I remember Pictionary parties among my high school friends (some even taking place in my bed prior to back surgery). And Trivial Pursuit .... the original Genus Edition was tough for a teenager. Every roll needed to be red (that was the sports category) for me to have a chance. But even then, it was a crapshoot (red also included "recreation" questions, which most often were related to recipes of mixed drinks). Like Monopoly, Trivial Pursuit has stayed relevent for three decades by developing niche editions -- trivia for every decade, trivia for genres of music, trivia for sports.

With the advent of the computer and assorted videogame platforms, games played around the kitchen table seem nearly extinct. Unfortunately, most computer games don't allow family and friends to interact quite like a rousing table game.

We're still table game players at our house (sometimes to Michelle's agony). Here's a few titles we enjoy as a family:

Settlers of Catan -- As a settler of the island of Catan, you build cities, roads and special developments by accumulating the natural resources depicted on a customized game board. While you compete against other players, you don't actually eliminate anyone, so it's a great family game because there is no real loser. Our kids (10 and 7) enjoy it as much as the adults. The only negative -- it is an expensive "specialty" game, and playing with more than four players requires an expensive add-on.

High Bid -- Made by 3M in the 60s, High Bid is an auction-style card game. Players bid to own individual cards that depict a part of a collection (books, jewelry, silver dishes, etc.) Once the collection is complete, you earn a big bonus. The winner is the one with the highest combination of cash and complete collections. We've only recently taught this one to the kids. Michelle likes it because, as she says, its one of the few games she can beat me at :-)

Sorry!, Life, Monopoly, Clue -- All games that I played as a child we now play with our children. We're just about past the Sorry! stage (no loveloss there).

Killer Bunnies -- Actually, we haven't played this with the kids, but with our friends the Reedy's. Another card game, this time with the object of winning the magic carrot by accumulating as many bunny cards as possible. But look out, some cards allow you to off another player's rabbit, hence the "Killer Bunnies" title. Lot's of fun and fast moving.

These are a few of our current favorites. What are your past and present table game tales?