Electronic Monopoly

Who has never played Monopoly? An old favorite for today’s game lovers, or just those that do not have time to count out all that Monopoly money. Electronic Monopoly is much more fun because you get a credit card to keep track of all your money, houses, rent and all the other fun Monopoly things you need to pay attention to.

Left, Right, Center

Left, Right, Center – a simple to take along type game of dice and chips. Divide the chips, roll the dice. For an R you give a chip to the person at your right, L the person to the left, C goes in the center pot, and a dot you just keep your chip. You play until one person is left with chips. Easy to play for young kids and yet fun for older…we like to play for pieces of candy.

Outdoor

Outdoor: Boccee Ball – I first started playing this game as a child and then didn’t for years, just because no one had one. I finally bought one and started lugging it to family gatherings. First, it is worth it to buy a good set – around $40. The balls are heavier which is better. You can play 2 or 4 people. We have showdowns between family members and I don’t think we have 1 person who doesn’t enjoy playing this game. SPUD – you need a ball & 3+ kids or willing adult like me. The person in control has the ball, he chooses a subject for the players. Example, the ball holder says “soda”, the players huddle together and quietly say what they are, player 1 picks “Pepsi”, player 2 is “Coke” and player 3 is “7-up”. A player announces the 3 soda’s “Coke, Pepsi, 7-Up” but the ball holder does not know who is who. He then bounces with a chant “I declare a war on the soda of …”, the ball player than tosses the ball up in the air as he calls out a soda. Everyone runs the other way except the player who is called. That player has to try and stop the ball ASAP, catching in air or off a bounce. As soon as that is done he yells “SPUD”. Everyone must stop!. The catcher picks a target, everyone else can move. If the ball is caught in mid air – 5 steps, on a bounce 3…or whatever you feel is fair, I have a fast daughter who can get far! Catcher takes the correct amount of steps, and tries to throw the ball at target, not the head. If they catch it you get a letter, if you hit them and no catch is made they get a letter. The catcher than becomes the ball thrower and picks the next subject. Once you have S – P – U – D you are out. Kickball – an old school favorite, who doesn’t know how to play? If you have enough people play this game, it works for those that can’t run to fast, or want to do a lot of running. We play every year at Easter…young and old.

Indoor

Indoor: Mexican Train (dominoes) – this game can my 2nd grade son can play and I can enjoy a more challenging game with adults. It’s not a game that takes up a lot of room so you can pack it up for an overnight trip. Rumikub – if you like the game of Rummy but want something a little trickier spend the $10 and get this game. You can have up to 4 players and will probably get addicted! My all time favorite with a group is Taboo – this game is fast & fun. The object is simple: get your team to say the answer while you try to describe it without using certain words. Name that Tune 80’s edition – I love the 80’s music and I can say that in the 3 or 4 times we attempted to play with a group we barely heard of any of the songs. It wasn’t even “one hit wonders” because most of the songs weren’t even hits. Even when my animal print, ruffle, shoulder pad sister and I teamed up against my musical dictionary dad, we still sucked. I tried to sell the game at a yard sale without any luck and its still is sitting in my garage. Don’t Quote Me – this is a new board game my extended family played at my son’s birthday. It has trivia type questions (everything from Disney to the Solar System) that are easy enough for younger kids (around 4th grade) but also fun enough for older players. It is for up to 5 players, you are given and you also get more “events” cards which can be used when you have a pair. The object is to get your piece around you path first. Aside from being a fun game it is also educational, it not only gives the correct answer but also gives some facts that go along with it. Mad Gab – this is such a good game for laughs! You really need quite a few people to make it work well. 2 teams, one person tries to “direct” their team to guess the answer while they read it aloud. Blurt – a fun game for many. We played in teams and with the rule that if you blurted the wrong answer you can no longer guess. A description is read to the group while everyone tries to blurt out the answer. It can be a little harder for younger ones because they might not be as fast – suggestion to that a child pair up with an older quicker player. I think everyone has heard of Scene It. You of course need to know how to use your DVD remote to play. Try it ahead of time before you want to play with a group because no one wants to watch you fool around with the buttons on the remote. Scene It has many versions and it depends on what your family likes. We even played the TCM edition at work with older players and they enjoyed it. Toss Up is an easy toting dice game that comes in a case the size of Altoids. It is simple enough for kids to play and fun enough for adults to enjoy. You roll the dice that are colored red, yellow and green – same idea as a stop light. You sort of take a chance the more points you want. We have played it many times and everyone always asks me where to get it. I bought mine at Target for like $4 but haven’t seen it since. Electronic Life – Twists & Turns – my nephew brought this to a family gathering at the park. At first I wasn’t too thrilled, but he seemed into it and I was happy that someone took the initiative to bring a game! Well let me tell you this game rocks! We had so much fun playing…until it was too dark to see, that we continued playing at a family member’s house. For younger kids they would need a partner, my son (8) was mine. He liked to do the moves and hit the buttons with some direction. My daughter played her own “Life”. We will be getting this one for home.