Friday 5: On the Boards

For those of you who read yesterdays post - yes, I can see today! Woot! Today's Friday 5 may be a little out of date with the rise of computer and console gaming, but I still find myself drawn to board games. So, with that here are this week's Friday 5.

My 5 Favorite Board Games:

1 - The Settlers of Catan: One of my favorite types of games, board games or otherwise, is a strategy-based game and Settlers is just that. Settlers is a strategy game where each player has to strategically place each settlement, each road, etc. in order to gain resources, expand and ultimately defeat their enemy by being the first person to obtain 10 victory points. The best aspect about Settlers is that the game will never be the same...never simply because the board setup is always random. Settlers is truly a unique, fun and engaging game - I highly recommend you try it!

The New "Gladiator" Tiger

2 - Monopoly: No --- not the McDonald's version. If you are not familiar with Monopoly then I would question whether or not you are in fact a U.S. citizen...either that or you have literally been living under a rock your entire life. Monopoly is genuinely a great game...though I tend to have to be in a Monopoly mood in order to sit through the entire game. I think you all know what I mean.

3 - Catch Phrase: Though not a true board game in the sense that it has no physical board, Catch Phrase is still a great non-computer/-console game. Catch Phrase is a game where the player is given a word and the person has to try and describe the work to his/her teammates without saying the actual word while the team tries to guess the word. I find that Catch Phrase makes a great companion to a group of friends and a few drinks...am I right, Dan?  
Everyone: "Tiger, soup, donkey, computer!"       
Dan: "No, it's an airplane!"

4 - Trivial Pursuit: To be honest, I don't know why I like Trivial Pursuit so much. I am not inherently good at the game. I am not a trivia wiz and I am not a beacon of Jeopardy-type knowledge. However, there is just something about trivia games that I really, really like. Even when The Mrs. and I go to Dave & Busters we tend to spend most of our time at the big trivia game. Maybe this is just my way of letting my inner nerd have his fun.

5 - Scrabble: As if Trivial Pursuit wasn't a big enough nerd alert, right? So yeah, I like Scrabble too and no, I do not have the biggest vocabulary in the world, but I still enjoy the game! I like that Scrabble challenges me to use a different part of my brain than I would normally use in any given day.

Looking at the board games I have chosen as my favorites I see a pattern to my favorites - almost all of them are either strategy based or knowledge based. Not only do I enjoy board games, because it is a great way to hang out with family and friends, but it is also a great way to work your brain in a fun way!

What are your favorite board games? Don't worry - my inner nerd won't make fun!