f you follow me on any of my accounts you know our family loves board games. Actually we love all games but for indoor activities board games rule. This Summer we discovered three ‘new to us’ games that have kept us entertained. Well, maybe addicted to is more accurate. Farkle, Ticket to Ride and Catan are on repeat in our home.
Are you a fan? Have you heard of them? Played them? I think at least for Ticket to Ride (or the Train Game as we call it) and Catan (I am late to the party). Seems the rest of the world has been playing these games while I have been wasting my life on social media.
Board Games, Board Games, Board Games
Funny thing, as much as I am a game freak I haven’t written about it too much. Possibly because I am usually late to the game. I mean we didn’t even start Cards Against Humanity until the boys gave it to us for Christmas two years ago (face palm inserted here).
I did write about #HashTag It which is a very similar concept and a fun game. If you follow me though, you will usually catch game night on my stories. Sometimes it’s rated R because alcohol is involved and we get loud and competitive. Wine Wars is always fun on wine and pizza night lol.
Fast forward to a summer of COVID and we discovered three games that I am loving and subsequently ordered. This is what we started doing in March 2020: find something, order something, enjoy something. We also discovered a fourth game but we have only played it once so jury is still out on that one.
Farkle and a Game of Dice
The first discovery was Farkle a game of dice. This started innocently enough with our neighbors asking if we play games. Hmmm, that could have been a loaded question but it was all quite innocent. We said of course and they introduced us to Farkle.
Great for camping, the Farkel dice tray makes it easy to turn any surface into a game table. On a wood stump, the tent floor, or a picnic table, this game will keep it all in the tray!
A game of dice they discovered in Florida, well after an evening of fun I was searching Amazon for my own game. FYI Amazon Canada has the game but not the Game Board so I sacrificed speed for the boxed set. Sure enough within days we were madly rolling the dice. Update: the rolling tray is also available in Canada now.
Ticket to Ride or the Train Game
The Train Game or Ticket to Ride was introduced to us over the August long weekend. We went to a cottage with a friend and they brought the game. Again am I living under a rock, how did I not know this game?
Ticket to Ride is a cross-country train adventure game. Players collect train cards that enable them to claim railway routes connecting cities throughout North America. The longer the routes, the more points they earn. Additional points come to those who can fulfill their destination tickets by connecting two distant cities, and to the player who builds the longest continuous railway.
And Then There Is Catan
And then we have Catan and OMG, we ordered this game when Nic and Hailey were here. We taught them Ticket to Ride and they mentioned this one. Well of course I ordered it and had it the next day. Game night got heated. We played everynight.
Then Kent and I went to the cottage and even started playing only two of us. There actually is a set of rules for only two players but I just discovered this (oops). We average two to three games a night after supper. Super addictive but not harmful although someone swears a lot and it isn’t me. This past weekend we even ordered the extender kit because we were five people.
What is Catan? Aa game where you guide your settlers to victory by clever trading and cunning development. Use resource combinations— grain, wool, ore, brick, and lumber—to buy handy development cards and build roads, settlements, and cities. Acquire your resources through trades, cards, or lucky dice (even outside your turn).
But beware! Someone might cut off your road or buy a monopoly. And you never know when the wily robber might steal some of your precious gains! Best part of the game the board changes every time.
