Photo by Randy Fath on Unsplash
Growing up, my family’s house was video game central, do *clap* you *clap* hear *clap* me? But this article isn’t about that. Every now and then we took a break from those and played, good ol’ wholesome board games, card games, and other games that are close cousins of these.
My best friend LOVESSS board games. Like really. Like to the point where I’m like, “Can you please just get a TV so that we can watch a movie on Netflix?!?!?!” I don’t like the board games that he owns so he told me to tell him what my favorite board games are and he would buy them so that when I come over we can play them…I told y’all that boy loves board games. I was like, “I don’t like board games. I like Uno but that’s not a board game.”
Then, today, I decided to jog my memory and look up board games and realized that there are actually some board games that I really like! I’d forgotten about them! So I texted him today to apologize for lying. Lol. I even made one of my best friends from college a board game for her birthday the year after I graduated.
Here are my favorite board games (and close cousins) in order of enjoyment:
- Uno (Photo scooped from Officesupply.com)
Let me tell you something: Chileeeeee! Uno was the “church-people-version-of-Spades” in my house! I could get down with some Uno. I could talk trash with some Uno. I could WIN in some Uno!! My favorite way to play is the way that black people play (you know how we do…we like to make up rules that you agree upon at the start of the game) when you can do doubles on top of doubles! I played Uno with a group of older black people about 2 years ago and they only knew how to play the regular way. I felt off-balance. Lol. I couldn’t even remember how to play and had to hold myself back. Needless to say, UNO IS MY GAME! There’s a new version of it out called “Dos”. My brother and I were texting recently that we fitna try that one! Haaaa!
- Taboo (Photo scooped from Walmart.com)
Chale!!! As my Ghanaian fam would say. Listen: TABOO IS THAT GAME! I love Taboo. Love doesn’t even begin to describe how much enjoyment I find from playing the game of Taboo. There is just something so precious about watching someone struggle to describe a word like “lotion” that we all could have guessed in 2 seconds if only they could use the word “skin” to describe it. I have laughed until I couldn’t breathe while playing Taboo.
- Connect 4 (Photo scooped from Kmart.com)
To me, this is so much like Checkers. It’s like the cousin of Checkers that was down-to-earth and you looked forward to seeing at the annual cookout. I loved playing this with my brother and trying to figure out all of the different ways to stop him before he could block the move that I’d spent the last 72 seconds plotting.
- Trouble (Photo scooped from boardgameswizard.com)
There’s just something about the sound of that little bubble that you press that rolls the dice for you. This was one of my brother’s favorite games and I really want to play now.
- Jenga (Photo scooped from Amazon.com)
Oh, the nervousness and caution of trying not to let that block tower fall while it’s your turn! *Giggles hysterically!* I love this game!
- Guess Who (Photo sccoped from Amazon.com)
Bay-beeeee! This was another favorite in my house! “Does your person have a bald head? Does your person have red lipstick?” I loved guessing who the other person’s character was! I don’t know why this brought me so much pleasure but it did. It’s like trying to guess which person your friend is trying to point out at the coffee shop without pointing fingers.
- Pictionary (Photo scooped from Ultraboardgames.com)
Honey, I love watching people who weren’t blessed with artistic abilities trying to draw. Their sketches will leave you in stitches as you listen to their teammates yelling their guesses: “Bird! Plane! Superman!” only to find out at the end that it was supposed to be a baseball bat…*cryin’ laughin’* - Charades (no photo needed. You could literally play by writing the things to act out on slips of paper)
Alright, y’all. This one is the child of Taboo. Whereas Taboo is the cool auntie who is trying to expand your lexicon, charades is her 13 month old daughter who is begging you to get her a cup of juice…and I *clap* love *clap* her! There is just something incredibly funny about watching your mom trying to act out a scene from a classic movie in order to get you to guess it and you have NO IDEA what she’s doing.
As we continue staying safe during this pandemic, please do yourself a favor and dust off the old board games, put on some hand sanitizer, put on a face mask, and play a game with your family. Here’s a list from Better Homes and Gardens of “The 50 Best Board Games of All Time”.
*Note: The images of the games listed above do not belong to me and I gave credit to the websites where I obtained the images. Copyright belongs to the original owners.*