*Board Games*
By: Varsil
22 May 2010
VarsilI know, most of us probably haven't played board games in some time, and probably aren't the biggest fans of them. A lot of us remember growing up with games like Monopoly, Snakes and Ladders, Risk, Sorry, and so forth. You probably remember that they had a lot in common - they weren't a lot of fun (as a historical note, Monopoly was designed by a communist who was trying to show the problems with the rent system - it's actually a game that was intended to be unpleasant for everyone except the winner). Games like Snakes and Ladders and Sorry have no actual decision-making to them. You just roll the dice and see who randomly ends up being the winner, which isn't a great way to go. Risk is long and badly designed.
Board games have come a long way since then. A wealth of new ones have been steadily hitting the market, with many gems that are very well-designed, require difficult decisions from the players that test their intellectual ability, and are a lot of fun. With that in mind, board games have a lot of advantages during a survival situation:
Portability: Board games vary in the amount of space they take up, and many can be shrunk down into 'portable' sets by pulling the components out of the box and repackaging them. Some of them are small enough to fit into a pocket. Better, they're light. A board game often has a weight comparable to a single can of food.
Zero energy: Board games typically require only the contents of the box, light, and often a flat surface sheltered from the wind in order to play. If you have the power go out, you can still play without them drawing on your emergency reserves.
Keep children occupied: Children are going to be especially vulnerable during a survival situation. They are less able to cope with a lot of the difficulties faced, and while they can certainly help out around the camp, they are not going to be able to 'bury themselves in work' as a coping strategy. Children have a fundamental need to play. You also want activities for the child that reduce the risk they are likely to wander off.
Educational: Many board games can be used to teach various important principles to children. For instance, Galaxy Trucker is a game that is essentially about preparing, making it easy to segue the discussion into explaining your own plans and involving your child. Many other board games hinge on group cooperation - Fury of Dracula and Arkham Horror both are games where the success or failure of the 'good guys' depends almost entirely on how well they work together. I have watched children learn important lessons against selfishness and towards teamwork in playing these games. Most board games now teach critical thinking skills, planning, problem solving, logical thought, and so forth. These are the fundamentals of human reasoning and essential for solving many problems that might crop up in a survival situation. Your brain is the most important tool in your kit. Board games can help hone it. It should also be noted that board games can be used as a way to segue into prepping discussion not only with children, but with adults. If you're wondering how to raise the issue with a friend, family member, coworker, or whoever, this can be a good method.
Suitable for adults: Many modern board games are designed with adults in mind. While Snakes and Ladders lacks the intellectual depth to keep an adult's interest for long, Puerto Rico (see game list below) requires a high ability to solve complex problems and plan ahead. It is a game that is highly suitable for adults.
Social bonding: Group activities help draw people together and unify them. Board games provide one means for this (though there are countless others). A number of games are explicitly designed as social activities and for social bonding.
Social testing: Board gaming can stir up a fair number of emotions in people, which can tell you a fair amount about them. I've seen people who were perfectly fine to play with until they were winning games, at which point they became absolutely intolerable gloaters. I've seen people who win well and graciously, but cannot handle losing. I have seen people cheat when they thought no one was looking. I have seen people who can't bring themselves to cooperate with others. None of those groups are people who I would want to be working with post-SHTF. On the other hand, I have encountered people who, if I had the supplies, would gladly include into an ad hoc 'team' formed post-SHTF. It's a situation where it's hard to wear masks and put on a good face. People eventually slip into their natural habits, and knowing those can be critical when you are measuring a person.
Alleviates boredom: Boredom is likely to be a factor in any survival situation, especially if your usual habits include a lot of things that require society to be in good working order, or electricity. Failing to alleviate boredom is likely to lead to serious drops in morale, and possibly drops in group cohesion. Groups of bored people often will have problems with squabbling.
For those reasons, board games can be useful both before and after SHTF. If you plan to include them in your post-SHTF planning, you should get them now. You're not going to want to be searching for things to keep the children entertained after the fact. Further, board games are like everything else - keep what you plan to use, and use what you plan to keep. It does you no good to pick up a board game at the store and throw it into a box to try out afterwards. It might turn out to be something you love. More likely, though, it'd end up being something you'd discard. Also, a lot of the benefits are things you can enjoy now.
Where do you get board games? Many of the ones you find in stores are on the 'avoid' list as bad games. That said, some of the new, better games are starting to appear on the shelves of retailers like Wal-Mart and so forth. Otherwise, you can find them online at various sources (I support my local board game store at http://www.boardgames.ca, you can support your local store or shop around for the lowest price).
So, where to start? Below are a few games that are great for getting started. Whether they end up being the only game you own or the beginning of a larger collection, these will serve you in good stead.
Settlers of Catan: Many of you who aren't big board gamers will have played Settlers. It has become very popular, and thus has been adapted to a variety of forms including computer games. The mechanics are relatively simple to learn, and the game still includes an element of randomness that makes it potentially accessible to newer players. However, the game is also somewhat simple and thus most players eventually "outgrow" it. It can also result in some bad first experiences as poor play can result in a "resource lock" situation in which a player is unable to make further advancements to their position (and yet without being eliminated). The basic game elements are that you need to collect resources (which are generated by certain territories every time the dice show a particular result) and then use those resources to expand your ability to collect more resources. A trading element is also in the game. It's not particularly portable without modifications, but could be made a lot more so by taking the base game board and printing it onto paper or cloth. If that was done you could likely fit the entire set into a Ziplock bag. Suitable for both children and adults (and family play), and ranges from 3-4 players.
Ticket to Ride: This game involves looking at a map of various train routes and trying to connect cities on a board by collecting cards to form sets. It is very easy to learn, plays quickly, and yet offers a lot more depth than Settlers. I know a lot of experienced gamers who have effectively 'retired' Settlers from their play rotation, and none that have done the same with Ticket to Ride. You can't be eliminated from the game, and you can always do something, making this game very newbie-friendly. Unfortunately, the game board severely reduces the portability. As with Settlers, you could improve this by printing the board onto cloth or paper, but you must lay out tokens onto the board. This is more of a stationary game than one you could throw into a bag. 2-5 players.
Carcassonne: Carcassonne is played by drawing and laying down tiles that make up the game board, which create opportunities to claim elements of the board to claim points (for instance, one can 'claim' a road and earn points for the length of the road. Again, easy to learn, but difficult to master, Carcassonne is a game that is a solid introduction. 2-5 players, though it is widely considered to be best as a two player game. As the pieces are all small elements, it can be repackaged to be quite compact.
Dominion: A relatively new player on the market, Dominion is currently incredibly popular. The game is a non-CCG card game with very simple mechanics where players start the game with a base deck, and compete amongst each other to acquire new cards that will help their deck work better and acquire still more cards, including ones worth points at the end. The mechanics are simple, but the game can be incredibly varied by selecting different subsets of cards to include at the beginning. Suitable for all ages, child through adult, it can handle 2-4 players. With expansions, you can add still more players. The simple mechanics make this a great game for beginners. Because the contents of the game are cards, it can be repackaged into a smaller format, though it will then take more effort to keep sorted out for play.
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