My Favorites Games
Thinking games rule. Prompted to build my list by an email from Director of Content @Medium Adrienne Gibbs I found that strategy is king for me. One board game and one video game top my list.
Sequence For Kids
SfK graduates your kid from games of rule following and chance (Candyland, Shoots and Ladders, etc) to one of decision making. Each player holds three cards and must choose one to play on their turn, with each card having 2 options of where they can be played on the board.
Watching my kids think about which card to play and learning over time to adjust thier plan brought me so much pleasure. And the game is fun, too! There is also an adult version with a larger board and higher sequence requirement (five in a row instead of three).
Ultima IV
Hours and hours of game play in 1985. Fond memories of pulling an all nighter with my brother and best friend and repeatedly flipping Mister Mister’s “Welcome to the Real World” tape. Puzzle solving, turn based battle strategy, world exploration and discovery made the smart game challenging and satisfying.
The game’s story centers on your character’s growth through virtues not not solely on leveling up by killing things. In fact, killing a fleeing animal would hurt the compassion component of your character.
Honorable Mentions
Video game Civilization (I only played original and releases 2 and 3) allowed you to battle for world dominance from 4000BC to space age against other civilizations controlled by computer.
Blokus board game brought even more strategic “battle” time against my kids!
Risk!, both board game and the video game on the Apple Mac which sped up the game play.
Monopoly, classic board game, in which I also remember my best friend and I playing well into the night.
Online worlds Lord of the Rings and World of Warcraft were also enjoyable but game stories lacked the brilliance of Ultima IV.
