This article is the first in a multi-part series. Part 2 will be here soon!
The first board game I ever played was Clue. My family wasn’t the sort to have “family nights” but we got it as a gift and I convinced them all to sit down and be civil with each other for an hour while I found out who the killer was. Ever since that night, I was completely hooked on board games. As soon as I was old enough to get all the rules down, I played game after game of Axis & Allies and Lord of the Rings Risk with my father, soaking in the strategy and cursing the dice at every bad roll. But games with folding boards and tiny pieces were just the first step into a much larger arena. The day I learned that games could be played without boards…boy did my shit flip.
Board Games Are Complicated
For me, board games were the pinnacle of social gaming. Problem is, if your gaming group is new or has scheduling complications, not everyone is up for the setup and rules-learning associated (anyone that has played Arkham Horror knows exactly what I’m talking about). Even when schedules magically align and we all know the rules well enough, it still comes down to endless coaxing and goading to sit down and game with for a few hours. Suddenly I’m the little brother again; I’m asking everyone to please play with me, offering promises of fun and adventure. As you can imagine, I don’t get to play board games nearly as often as I’d like.
My, How The Tables Have Turned
Then one day, a friend asked me to play a game with him. I was instantly taken aback. So quickly have the tables turned. Questions flew through me. What game? Would it be the usual Monopoly or Trouble style games of my childhood? Maybe a slow-burn strategy game like A&A or Fortress America? Shortly thereafter I found myself asking him “What the hell is Apples to Apples?”
“It’s a game, but there’s no board.”
“No board? Are there pieces? How do you play?”
“It’s a card game.”
“A what now?”
Fast forward 20 minutes and I’m collecting Green Apple cards and cackling like a madman as I lobby that “Infomercials” are, in fact, creepier than “My Refrigerator”. It took one sentence for the basic idea of the game to be explained, cards were shuffled and dealt and play began. It took a few turns to really get into the action with the “veterans” of the game but by the end, good times were had by all. This one game (which turned into two, then three with a mere two hours passing) changed my entire outlook on the way games can be played. Prior to this, a game night took an hour of setup, dedicated players and the planetary alignment of schedules to all be in the same room together for four hours. Now I can simply keep a copy of Apples to Apples (or the more adult-friendly Cards Against Humanity) handy and play with any audience at any sort of event or gathering.
Card Games as a Gateway Drug
From that night, card games have forever added to my social gaming arsenal. Many card games require very little setup and rules can often be explained as you play. I’ll never stop dedicating 4 – 6 hours at a time to my deep, classic, complicated strategy board games but there will forever be a place in my heart for card-based games.
Apples to Apples is the tip of an enormous, card-pyramid iceberg. In part two, I’ll explore the countless card and deck building games available, who they’re for and why you should always have one handy.
Are there any board games that you love to play? How about card-based games that your family or friends enjoy?
From the title, I’d have never guessed that you would END with “Apples to Apples”. There are so many high-quality card games out there. Just the ones that I can vouch for are: Guillotine, Citadels, Dominion, or 7 Wonders (though it admittedly has board-like elements).
Tip of the iceberg indeed!
I agree! Apples to Apples was simply the first card game I played. In the next part I’ll explore all of the wonderful card games I’ve played, including Dominion, Food Fight and quite a few others!