| On the Lighter Side – Lunch Time
Gaming by John P.
There have been articles in Counter about introducing others to gaming and recently on the Internet there has been discussion of gaming at lunch. I’d like to share with you my experience of the combination of both topics. For years at work a group of 4-6 of us have been doing (American style) crossword puzzles at lunch. Prior to that we had played Euchre, some Hearts and even a brief foray into Bridge. One Friday last December I decided we needed to play games instead. Since I’m the supplier of the crosswords, the others had no choice but to humor me. I think knowing the group of people you are introducing games to is the most important part in selecting a game to play. I knew there would be good-natured complaining about the change of pace as well as no interest in sitting through a long-winded rules explanation by me. So I chose Fluxx for this first game. Now I know many of you are shaking your heads at that, but it’s an ideal game for lunch. The rules are always right in front of you, the game only lasts a few minutes, so anyone walking up can join in quickly and no one really minds losing since everything is pretty much out of your control. Well it went down wonderfully, so much so that Fluxx Friday’s became the norm with crosswords the rest of the week. Part one of the master plan was complete. It wasn’t long however, before everyone realized the lack of control factor inherent in Fluxx. That’s when part two of the master plan springs into action. Now everyone's asking for new and different games! Since then we’ve played 6 Nimmt, Drahtseilakt, Family Business, Formula Motor Racing, Frank’s Zoo, Gargon, Knights, Lost Cities, Mamma Mia, Mystery Rummy: Rue Morgue, Nicht de Bohne, Ohne Furch und Adel, Plague & Pestilence, Rage, Take It Easy, The Shadowthief, Where’s Bob’s Hat and even a 7 player Bohnanza. Nowadays crosswords have gone by the wayside and there will be anywhere from 2 to 9 of us gathered in the break room eating lunch and playing games. One of my coworkers has joined our gaming group (the Cincy Gamers, http://cincygamer.tripod.com). Several others have purchased 6 Nimmt, Family Business, Formula Motor Racing, Frank’s Zoo, Gargon, Lost Cities, Mamma Mia, Mystery Rummy: Rue Morgue, Nicht de Bohne, Plague & Pestilence, Rage, The Shadowthief and Bohnanza to play with their friends and family. Darren even reported that his boys are playing the games instead of watching TV or playing video games, a rarity in today’s modern household. On the internet, other games
(besides those above) mentioned for lunch time play include Big City, Carcassone,
Draco & Co., Dragon's Gold, Don Pepe, Durch die Wüste, Five Crowns,
Guillotine, Hare and Tortoise, Hornochsen, Ivanhoe, Metro, Modern Art,
Pig Pile, San Marco,
Hopefully someday I’ll write about part three of the master plan, moving everyone from the card games to the board games! This article originally appeared
in issue 17 of Counter Magazine.
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