Today Was A Good Day To Die

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I’ve only got a minute or two between games, so I’ll make this quick – I am having a great day! We all are.

Today is all about forgetting the vacuuming and washing, and spending time with the kids, and it’s sort of official so you should be doing it too.

International TableTop Day (30th April 2016) is a perfect excuse to sit down at a table with the kids and laugh over an unfortunate roll or poorly played card. It’s awesome. It’s fun. It’s engaging. It’s a day which will quickly become an annual event at your home which both the kids and adults look forward to.

So far today, and we haven’t finished yet by a long shot, this family has played Sushi Go!, Pandemic, Betrayal At House On The Hill, Twister (for the little munchkins), our own Guess Who?, Star Realms and Qwirkle. The kids each have suggestions which, if we played them all, would keep us awake until late into the evening.

I’ve always wanted to get the kids off their electronics and into playing actual board games. And by always I mean way back when the Playstation 2 was big. I’d be frustrated not only at the kids inability to hear me when I was yelling at them to help clean up their messes, but also at their ability to beat me in every single game. Every Christmas my plan was for Santa to buy them some more board games, so we could really build up a collection.

But every December I’d be dismayed at what was on offer in the large chains, including toy chains. There were the usual suspects, like Mastermind, Battleships and Connect Four. We had those. The only new games seemed to be variations of the old – Simpsons Cluedo or Spongebob Squarepants Monopoly.

Also, in hindsight and by comparison to what’s out there these days, those games of old almost uniformly suck – I just didn’t know it yet.

Ironically, it was Master24 who got me into watching Table Top, with Will Wheaton (of The Big Bang Theory fame), a few years ago, and I’ve been smitten ever since. Santa too. He’s been spending up big at Christmas these past couple of years. And the games he’s putting under the tree are fantastic – it’s like he can read my mind!

My tip, if you’re over battling the kids to control the electronic devices, is to take a quick look at the links in this post. My suggestions, if you’re just dipping your foot in the ball pit, would be Tsuro, Zombie Dice, Qwirkle and Sushi Go! They’re simple and fun.

Today was a great excuse to stop doing whatever we usually fill the hours with on a Saturday and spend it with the kids having fun. But you don’t have to wait until next year’s International TableTop Day. Maybe pick one and give it a go. It’ll be the best fifty bucks (+/-) you’ve spent since whatever was in that bottle you and your partner were drinking the night you first conceived.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve promised a game of Ticket To Ride or Sheriff Of Nottingham or King of Tokyo before I send my munchkins to bed, then Master24 and his girlfriend, Charlotte, and are going to introduce me to Dead Of Winter. Can’t wait.

Happy gaming!

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Dead Of Winter – Acting like Zombies whenever someone goes to take a photo is all part of the fun. Also, much easier to do after 12 hours of gaming.

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Raising a family on little more than laughs.

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