Wednesday, February 27, 2008

February's Post Velentine Day Massacre


First Game: Space 1999. Ah the past! Wait ...the future ...no ...OK ...got it ...the past's vision of the future today! Basically this one was Chinese Checkers with the addition of a mad swirling vortex of interstellar galaxies spinning and whirling in the center of the board. Helena! Get my blaster! Not as entertaining as the TV show it's supposedly based on but still ...far from the worst game the gang has been subjected to. Professor Link showed us all how to land the Eagles. A successful choice for play, played successfully. I lost.





Second Game: Oh Nuts! So how appropraite is this for a game club? Four players grasp plastic walnuts from a tree trunk made of the same material and attempt to find colored
marbles hidden within all while fibbing to opponents about what they've got. Dumb? You betcha! Fun? Surprisingly so! Greg 'cracked' this one wide open leaving the rest of us to feel like 'shells' of ourselves! Dr. Kirby picked this '60's era gem up a gargage sale in the free box! Luck of the Squirrely! I lost again.









Third Game: How to succeed in business without really trying. Wow! At last a game of practical advice
for making it in the high powered world of Corporations!
Players work their way up through office levels to become the Chairman of the Bored. No ...wait ...B-O-A-R-D. This one was actually fun too, with many trips back to square one as each player stabbed and throttled the other in an attempt to reach the ultimate goal. The gamesters, not being total dopes, let the new guy win. Great play Dennis, We all hope it's not too lonely at the top! As for the bottom, yours truly managed to lose all three games. Hmm Got to work on my connivance! Positive reviews for this one all around.





Wednesday, February 20, 2008

Set the WABAC machine for ...

Many young people ask me, "Mr. Board (or Mr. Room, whatever), is Game Night just a recent phenomenon or is it a venerable institution with a rich and colorful history?" Whippersnappers. Where do they get their vocabulary these days? Anyway, the answer is "Yes". Now where did I put my glasses? What? Oh, right. Game Night does indeed have a long association with its undisclosed location.
Records are sketchy (and often scratchy) but a visit to the Game Night photographic archives has uncovered evidence of gaming activity as long ago as Pearl Harbor Day, 2005.


Ah, those were the days, hunting submarines with whatever that device was. But it wasn't always battle on the high seas. No there were islands to be taken as we rolled back the Empire of the Rising Sun.

But the high seas called again. In the words of Herman Melville:

Whenever I find myself growing grim about the mouth; whenever it is a damp, drizzly November in my soul; whenever I find myself involuntarily pausing before coffin warehouses, and bringing up the rear of every funeral I meet; and especially whenever my hypos get such an upper hand of me, that it requires a strong moral principle to prevent me from deliberately stepping into the street, and methodically knocking people's hats off- then, I account it high time to get to sea as soon as I can.

Pirate Night. Yo ho ho and a bottle of whatever we had.
But Game Night wasn't always about drinking and fighting. Well, it is always about drinking but not always about fighting. There were also nights to tax the old gray matter.
To tell the truth I don't remember playing that one. And then there's always the cutthroat competition for the almighty dollar -

And what's a game night among geeks without the Star Trek?

Experience Bij young man!

OK, that's as bizarre as it gets. Finally, a game that's not only pointless but seems to involve wheels of color. Do not adjust your sets -


Well, that's it tadpoles. A revolution is not a dinner party and Game Night, as you can see, is not all printed cardboard and tea cozys.