Games are the best way to have fun and yet be challenged. Now I’m not talking about basketball, or truth or dare, or some random game you happen to find in the app store. No, I’m thinking about board games, card games, and mind games. Games made specifically for fun and challenge. Me being a very board-gamey-and-card-gamey person, I have tons of suggestions which, because not all are board games, don’t require much preparation or buying. So with that, here they are.
Game #1 is Labyrinth, by Ravensburger. Labyrinth is a fun maze-like board game. The objective is to get as many cards as possible and to have more than the other player(s). There are floor tiles that have to be placed and players have to pick little characters. Then, depending on the color of the character they chose, they start in one of the four corners of the game board. This can throw people off track - literally - because there will always be one floor tile missing which can be used to push other floor tiles to create a path. Some of the floor tiles have little pictures on them which are also on the cards you must draw from a deck. The point is to get your character to these floor tiles, but the players go back and forth in turns so you might get off track, as each turn you can move one of the floor tiles. I play this game normally with me and one other player, but the limit is four.
Game #2 is Clue. Clue is a fun mystery board game. There are many variations of Clue but I’m thinking of the one by Hasbro gaming. The objective of the game is to figure out who did it, where, and with what weapon. There are three different piles of rooms, people, and weapons. You have to shuffle the cards and pick one from each, face down - that will be the who where and how. There are pre-made little check-papers to record your information as you go. Clue requires strategy, decision, and fun. I play with the normal rate of three players, but it goes up to six.
Game #3 is Solitaire. Solitaire is a pretty easy-to-learn type of game and is a PIY - play-it-yourself. It’s a card game and has virtual apps so there isn’t much preparation required. The objective of the game is to get all the suits in the same pile therefore creating four piles; clubs, hearts, spades, and diamonds. It does require some steps but the instructions can be found practically everywhere online when searching ‘basic solitaire’. In total, I think it is a really fun game to play when you’re bored, but you can still lose in the game if you make the wrong decision.
Game #4 is Who Am I. Who Am I is a mind game, so no materials, only your mind is needed. I like this game because you can play while taking walks or doing an activity. How you play Who Am I is one of the players picks a person, famous or not, and keeps them in their head. The other player(s) have to guess yes-or-no questions. You keep playing until one of the players gets who you’re thinking of and they go next. Here is an example: Are you a woman? Yes. Are you famous? Yes. Do you have a YouTube channel? No. Are you a singer? No. Are you a sportswoman? No. Are you a politician? Yes. Are you Hillary Clinton? No. Are you Kamala Harris? Yes. I usually play with one other person but you can play with as many as you want, but it is more fun when it’s just the right amount of people, like four players.
Game #5 is Spoons. Spoons is a card game but requires some, well, spoons. To play Spoons, you need to have one less spoon than the number of players. In total, there should be about 3-8 players. Players should be in a circle, supposedly around a table. One player volunteers to be the head. The other, seating to the left or right of the head, should be the tail. The objective of the game is to get all four cards the same number or royal. The head begins to take the deck, give four cards from the deck to each player, and pulls out a card once all players have four. If the head wants to switch a card, keeping in mind the objective, then they may do so and pass the card they switched to the next person. The next person has the same option and so on until the tail. The tail makes a separate pile of all the cards that end up nowhere. While player number two is deciding whether to keep the card or not, which should be fast, the head pulls out a second card and it goes on like that until somebody has four of the same card. Once somebody has four of the same card, they quietly take a spoon and wait for the other players to notice. Once they do, they must quickly grab a spoon and hold it. The last player without a spoon is eliminated, and a spoon is taken away. This goes on until there is one winner. If in the last round, the one with two players, if one of the players gets it, they shout, ‘Spoons!’ and quickly takes the spoon.
#6 is a game of which I forgot the name of but I’ll just call it One Pile. One Pile is a PIY card game, like Solitaire. How you play is you slowly place all the cards from the deck from left to right in one row. The objective is to get all cards in the same pile and - trust me when I say - it’s hard. The rules are basically that while you are spreading out the cards, you can take any card and move it on top of the one to its left or three over to the left. To be able to move the card, the one to its left or third left has to be either of the same suit or number/royal. Once you have made the changes, you continue spreading out the cards in the row. This game is fun but especially hard because once you make the wrong move, you might think you have it but end up having two piles instead.
Let me know if you have any suggestions in the comment section!