Our church encourages small bible study groups to meet during the week and for the summer they asked if folks woould like to host groups centered around a particular interest (Bicycling, rock climbing, etc). I decided to take a stab at a boardgame group.

The main point of the groups is to pull people together to encourage community and socialization in order for people to be able to minister to each other and support one another. My intention, gamewise, was to introduce people to the world of boardgaming, to show folks that there are a lot of games beyond Monopoly. It would all be very laid-back, easy going, time to chat and visit and play a game or two.

The first night, even though nine people signed up, only two folks arrived. A & B. A is a 30+ mom and B is a 20s young woman that is a friend of A. A & B, along with myself, my wife & my 24 yr old son spend the night playing Ticket to Ride and Apples to Apples. A & B have a great time and love TtR.

Week two, A & B arrive. A has brought her 15 yr old daughter, Little A, and B brought her 17 yr old friend C. My son didn't show. So now I am playing Apples to Apples and Sharpshooters with 5 women (my wife was there). About 9:30, A suggests playing TtR. Hmmmmm it's kinda late and I notice that C definately suffers from ADD, but, I agree.

My wife sits the game out to watch and help folks with strategy. The game was agonizingly long with C, every turn, needing to be remined that she could either draw cards, play cards & lay down trains, or draw tickets.
Why would I want to play trains?
To get points.
How do I play trains?
You lay down cards.
How do I get cards?
You draw them.
What are these tickets?
.......

Anyway, we finish about 11 PM. Whew.

Week three starts with A, Little A, & B (No C), myself & my wife. After some visiting (sharing prayer needs and prayer, the real goal of the getting together), Little C notices Hollywood Blockbuster and asks if we can play that. I open the box at 8:15 PM.

I should have killed myself instead. I explained the game 6 times. There was some sort of rule unknown to men that at no point in the night could all four women be seated at the same time. Up for snacks, up for drinks, up for phone call, up for potty break, up for snack, rinse repeat.

I finally got through the explanation of the game and we started the first round. Things were moving kinda slow but I thought that once the first movie was completed and scored, things would pick up. With the first movie scored, everyone caught on and got excited and started talking about toenail polish. Yup, nail polish. Here is a snippet:
I bid 3.
What are we bidding on?
The director.
What's that?
The blue piece.
Do I need that?
Yes, it would be good to get that.
Okay then, I'll bid 2.
Ummmm the bid was...
What was the bid?
I like red the best. Bright red nails.
I was last to bid.
What did you bid?
Three.
Okay, I bid......
........
........
What was the bid?
It was three.
Okay, I'll bid.....
.......
.......
Pass.



Who's turn is it?
It's your turn.
What are we doing?
You're bidding on the Director.
I'll bid 1
The bid is 4
No, the bid is three. I bid three.
But the bid for her is four. If she wants it, she'll have to bid 4.
But the bid TO her is three. The bid is currently three.
So I need to bid three or four to get it?
Four.
Okay, I'll bid seven.....wait, I'll pass.
Who's turn is it?
It's your turn.
Who wants something to drink.
What color red do you wear?
What's the bid?
It's seven.
No she passed, the bid is currently 3.
I'll pass. You get it for three.
Oops, I only have two.

Everyone (almost everyone) busts up laughing and Little A throws up hands in glee, deftly catching the edges of her movie cards that are hanging over the edge of the table. Each & everyone of her markers go airborne with a Director & Brad Pitt landing squarely in a drinking class (that was blessedly empty). The pieces are retrieved and the movies are put back in place.

Eventually the game ended....at 10:32. A game of Hollywood Blockbuster took 2 hours and 17 minutes. I think next week I will steer all the women into my wife's scrapbooking room and then turn them loose.

Hard work. Try them with something much easier next time.

They may sit through the rules of Loco or No Thanks.

funny story - i steer clear of pure groups of newbies. i always make sure newbies are outnumbered. i am lucky to have true gamers and anyone new is brought into our little culture. adopting to the focus on the game and have fun versus treating board games as a party game and only as a launching point for socializing - ugh, sorry for your frustrating experience - why don't the rest of the world get it?!

I recently played a game of Thurn & Taxis that took three and a half hours. And that was with experienced gamers...

having had an agonizingly long game of Colosseum last night with kinda newbies, i realize that games with an auction element may not be the best for people that aren't completely focused on the game at hand. lots of other games handle idle chitchat well, but having to constantly wait for a little story to finish before you say "your bid" and they say "oh... ummm.... pass" isn't the fun experience gaming should be.