Over the River and Through the Woods: Visiting with Boardgames

When I meet new people I try to keep the handshake firm, maintain good eye contact, and leave the boardgames in the closet. Or at least on the shelf. But I make no secret of my nigh-obsessive interest in board games as the conversation continues. I try not to bore my friends with long monologs about the new games—or retreads—coming out of Essen in early November, and I think my restraint works because when my wife and I travel to visit distant friends and relatives they are usually willing to talk about games a little bit. These generous people (hey, they asked us to visit, right?) will sometimes apologize that the only games they have are a couple of classics—chess, backgammon—and maybe a couple of party games.

“But you have a lot of interesting games,” they will say while we clear dishes from dinner. “Did you bring any?”

I always do.

Generally, we’re not staying with gamers, and I have a couple of issues I keep in mind when I’m putting  together the list of games I’ll want to take along. First, I don’t want to overwhelm our hosts, so I only take a few games. Somewhere between four and six seems like a good number. You get a little diversity of choice, but not enough information to overwhelm. Second, I like to bring short games. Personally, I love the immersion of a three hour boardgame, but most people I know either don’t think a game is worth that kind of time investment or want to get up to see their favorite show. Or watch their team play. Or whatever. What I’m saying is: under an hour is key. Third, how big a family are we visiting? Do you need to pack some massively multi-player games for your sister with three kids? Or are you visiting your gay aunt and her partner in Minneapolis? And if it’s your sister with the kids then you’ll need to think about ages, too. Lastly, I spend a little time thinking about theme. And not just one theme, of course. Choosing themes is a bit like choosing books for the road. What kinds of emotional moods are possible? What level in intellectual curiosity? Nonfiction about the Dust Bowl or something by Charles DeLint? Maybe pick back up with your Terry Pratchett reading. Again, who will you be playing with? Think about their likes and interests as you fill your game bag.

Oh, and here’s a hint: I like to empty dividers and such out of the largest box I’m taking (all of your components have been bagged already, right?) and arrange the smaller games inside. Just to save space when packing. It occurs to me that I’m thinking about car trips. With the new airline regulations, you might really think about smaller, card-based games.

Have said all that I’ve said so far, my short list includes these games: Fluxx, Galloping Pigs, Chrononauts, Carcassonne, and Pandemic. Fluxx is light and light-hearted fun (even if it can grate on the nerves of strategically minded players). Galloping Pigs is a bit like King Me! or Heimlich & Co. Light (pig cards—several in each of the pig colors—get played down to move colored pigs around a track; moved a pig to the front of the line? Take a food card. If you move a pig to the front with your last card, you keep the food; otherwise, all food gained is forfeited. After three rounds, the most food collected wins). Galloping Pigs is a fun way to introduce the strange idea that nobody owns any of the pieces on the board. And it has some nice hand-management strategy. Chrononauts offers a little bit more control then Fluxx, but it’s still pretty quick (and I have a review elsewhere on the site). Carcassonne introduces tile-laying games and deeper strategic options, and the game is easy to pack into the corner of a suitcase. Pandemic is a slightly heavy introduction to cooperative games, a category that most people still haven’t been exposed to.

After the dish towels are hung up and we’ve talked about what we’ve brought, we can sit down with fresh drinks and deal out a hand of interactive entertainment. Most evenings we have a great time. We’ll play one or more of the games, sometimes several plays of the same game. We get to talk, too, about the games, about new games, about where to find games. As the evening winds down, we might play other games on their console system—Wii is a popular option, and GarageBand, RockBand, or Karaoke Revolution can keep everyone involved.

Games can keep you from family and friends as well as let you engage them, though. Nobody wants to be forced to do anything, no matter how much fun the activity might offer. Be careful about your choices and play style. Unless your family likes to play dungeon crawlers cutthroat, you might want to steer clear of those games. But if your family likes that stuff, send an invitation to you next family gathering my way, won’t you?

(Carcassonne photo from BGG user Mecandes.)