Dominoes and 6 Nimmt

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Fambly game night. I don't recall which order we played these in. I'll say Dominoes first.

We played the "Train" variant, more or less the same as "Mexican Train" just with a regular set of dominoes. Fambly stuff. This is a really good game when there are a lot of interruptions from random stuff, including players who are easily distracted.

6 Nimmt!

We could not agree on a set of rules, with the junior member wanting to play to high score by taking all the cards, and everyone else more or less playing the low score game per the rules.

Both of these games aren't really for winning or losing, at least in a family situation where interruptions during game play are expected. More than expected even, the interruptions aren't even viewed as interruptions, it's just normal to take calls, do other things like dishes or chores, deal with dogs and barking, perform little chores, etc.

That said, if the goal is to get the family at the same table and interacting, both of these games work pretty well.

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What to play next?

Deciding what to play next is always a tough call when faced with a closet full of games, all of which were purchased with intent to play. Here's one I'm dealing with the decision.

  • Something New: this means both something new to me and a game which has been published recently, within the last two or three years.
  • Something Classic: I've acquired a number of games properly considered "classic" which haven't yet been played. The current example would be PanzerGruppe Guderian.
  • Something Again: mastery requires constant practice, which means playing games many, many times to allow nuance to appear.
  • Something Vietnam: as I'm on a Vietnam binge. I don't have all the Vietnam games ever published, but I can say that I have a lot of them, and probably more than most people.
  • Something Obscure: as it's fun to poke around in the dustier corners of game design.
  • Something Different: break away from the same old publishers and try a game from one of the new kids on the block. Or, conversely, dip into legacy with a classic tried and true.
  • Something Light: once in a while it's nice to actually finish a game all the way through in one sitting, in an hour or two.
  • Something Heavy: if possible, it's nice to set up something big and complicated which can be left out for days or weeks or even months, for a leisurely stroll through a very large or long game.

There are surely many more ways to choose, but the above method keeps me busy enough, helps me get both breadth and depth into my play, and provides me with a sense of progress.

The odd man out

When there is an odd man out:

  • Have a solo game ready to play.
  • Keep score or advise on a game in progress.
  • Referee a game in progress.