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Fun With Board Games

Showbiz Jan 29, 2015

by Satnaam Mago

Rediscover Your Fave Board Game This Winter

It's funny how there's an opposite truth in winter as in the summer – aside from the obvious extremes in weather. Think about it. You stay in when it rains, yet you go out to play when it snows. You relax in a cool summer breeze but stay in when that brisk winter wind feels like it's about to turn your moustache whiskers into icicles. (Okay, maybe that is more a me problem but you get the Idea!).

One thing though that remains constant, whatever conditions keep us from spending time outside (grilled cheese sandwhich and tomato soup days), board games are the indoor activity. When I was younger, Trivial Pursuit was our family game (or for you Millennials, Trivia Crack for Android). Maybe it's the thought of the Desi parent, "If I can have my kid learn without knowing it, they'll be ready to be the next resident in that medical program that my cousin's neighbour's friend's sister's kid got into in Montana!”

With anything, our tastes develop and mature over time. The same is true with the games we play. I decided on a whim to go to a chess club meeting when I was in high school because my friend was in the club and his mom was my ride home from school. Little did I know that I would actually fall in love with the game, and much to my surprise. I also found that chess actually was invented in India. I was sold! I thought I was good too, until I started to play my uncle and realized how mediocre I was. (That's a story for another time!). But the thing I actually appreciate about chess is the amount of strategy that goes into every move.

My obsessions in late high school and early college was Risk and Settlers of Cattan. These games really are just chess re-imagined if you can play against more than one opponent, make peace treaties with your fellow gamers and play for what seems like five minutes but is in reality is four hours. I remember my first time playing Risk. I thought it was so cool that they had a space on the board called “India”. I immediately thought “I want this. No I need this!”. These two games are probably my most-played games, but beware: these games are chock-full of broken treaties and layers of betrayal that can lead to the silent treatment.

Maybe it's the nerd in me, but I still get absolutely giddy when I get the chance to play these games. Life is such that what we had time for yesterday, we don't have time for tomorrow, and what we know today is so different than what we knew back then. But I think the main thing I continue to like about board games is the togetherness they bring. Don't take my word for it though. Try a game for yourself and see if the hours don't just melt away as you have a blast!

Satnaam Mago

Author

Satnaam S Mago is a Chicago sports fanatic who loves to watch sports and read a good book, but he most of all enjoys his nights out with friends and family. Educated in business marketing, Satnaam is an account executive for a logistics company...but perhaps missed his true calling as a journa...