I have always loved playing games but I would not consider myself a gamer. Though I grew up in the age of Atari and Nintendo and spent many nights staring blankly at my television screen pounding my thumbs onto the controller until I got blisters, video games are not my first passion. Board games are where the real action is. Board games require a certain type of strategy and poker face coolness that cannot be matched in video games. When you sit down in front of a television screen your opponent can be anywhere in the world and you have no other interaction than the game and a headset. With board games your opponent is right there, staring you in the face and reading all of your thoughts through your body language. This adds a completely different element and can often times be used to your advantage.
I have to admit that when I was a teenager I spent a great deal of time playing video games on my Nintendo and PlayStation consoles, completely negating all of the board games from my childhood. But it wasn't until I became a parent that I understood and appreciated all the wonders that board games have to offer. When my oldest daughter was around seven or eight I found myself going to Toys R Us and buying all the games that I used to play as a child. Suddenly seeing all of those boxes brought back a flood of childhood memories. While my daughter's level of excitement was not nearly as high as mine I knew in time we would create our own special memories. When I was a kid my mother was never fond of games and only played with me on rare occasions. Fortunately for me there was always someone who loved to play games with me no matter what and that was my grandmother.
My grandmother was always up for a good board game or card game and I couldn't have asked for a better opponent. When it came to strategy and being cool under pressure, she was the Obi Wan to my Luke Skywalker. Most would assume that because she was my grandmother that she would be easy on me so as not to hurt my feelings, but not so. She played by the rules but knew how to stretch them enough to shift the game in her favor. We always played as equals and if I had to make a move that would help my chances but hurt her she would always encourage me to execute. I would be heartbroken thinking that I would have to do something that could possibly upset my grandmother but then in her next turn she would completely obliterate whatever move I previously made.
She was very strategic but never ruthless and when she won she would always say "Don't worry, there's always next time." Looking back, out of all the games we played together (and there were many) I won maybe 15% of them. Every time we sat down to play another round of Sorry, gin rummy, chutes and ladders, Risk or any other game my goal was always to beat her. Because she had such a stellar track record I never believed that I would be able to surpass her record, but I kept trying. After my grandmother passed I missed those times we spent together laughing and joking about stuff while in the middle of a heated game. I guess that's why I shifted my focus to video games because I couldn't handle the fact that my favorite opponent was no longer there.
But soon I was yearning for the nostalgia of board games and switching my Xbox controller for chess pieces. Getting back into the swing of things took a bit of time and started out a bit lonely. In my household I am the only one who can get lost in games for hours. Not only are they fun but a huge stress reliever for me. My wife wasn't a fan of games initially and our oldest daughter preferred reading. I had to seek other "table toppers" or games that could be played with one person (which is really difficult to find). However, after some time and finding some really great games my family soon started to come around and ask to play with me. Don't get me wrong I still love playing Bioshock and Borderlands but nothing can get me more giddy than a rousing game of PowerGrid.
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