Dale Yu: Playing Games with the Kids

Well, most people make New Year’s Resolutions… In fact, I made my own list of gaming resolutions not more than 2 months ago.  However, the time has already come to add something to my list of things to do in 2008.  It has been noticed (by my children) that we’re not playing as many boardgames as we used to, and this is a problem that I really need to fix! 

My kids have definitely taken to playing with boardgames in the past two years.  I use the term “playing with boardgames” because they will often play with the games by themselves.  Sometimes they will play by the rules and take the turns of all the players in the game.  Other times, they can be found on the floor with a game splayed out in front of them using the pieces in some sort of imaginary play.  Occasionally, they will actually play the boardgames against each other – though this often results in one child crying when he doesn’t win in the end!  The kids have their own area for their games, and they probably have 30 or 40 games (mostly inherited from my collection) with the majority coming from HABA, Selecta, Ravensburger and Drei Magier Spiele.

However, they haven’t been playing with the games as much as things have been more hectic around the household and other things have started to compete for their attention.  The kids are playing (multiple) sports which is quite time consuming.  Additionally, a lot of the kids’ playtime has been occupied with electronic gaming this year.  Both kids got their own Nintendo DS for Christmas (thanks, Uncle Brian!) – and nary a day goes by without one or both the kids playing a few games on them.  The Wii still has its hypnotic claws into the kids as well.  The new games from Christmas get a lot of playtime, especially Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games.  Some older games, such as Excitetruck, have also had a rebirth as the kids have re-discovered them.  Oh yeah, and I have this thing called a job which keeps me busy for much of the day…

In any event, I started a new policy last week which seems to have taken hold.  Every night after dinner, I will sit down with the kids to play a game or two – as long as we don’t have some other planned activity for the night AND all the homework has been finished.  So far, it has been a qualified success as we have only had the opportunity to play games 4 times in the 10 weeknights since we started the plan – but this is due more to the other activities in our weekly calendar than anything else.

So what do we play?  Right now, I’m letting the kids choose a game from their game cabinet each night.  Of course, to be fair, the kids get to alternate who chooses the game.  The roster so far has included Blokus, Viva Topo, Uno, My First Scrabble (Dora the Explorer edition), and Guess Who? (Disney Edition).  My youngest child has already asked to start playing some “grownup” games as well.  Once we settle into a better rhythm, I’m really going to have to start thinking about what games to play with a 5-year-old and a 7-year-old!  I’ve had some games lying out in the kitchen since the last game night, and both of the boys seem attracted to Can’t Stop!  I might try that soon and see how they do.

Though I haven’t really tried many adult games with the kids, I think my initial approach to the games will be to play them “by the rules” whenever possible.  Though the kids don’t like losing to each other, they aren’t bothered too much if I win – so I’m not worried about them getting discouraged from not initially succeeding at the games.  Additionally, I’m constantly surprised by how the boys are able to pick up some of the different concepts from games.  They quickly learned risk management skills and the concept of probability from playing Viva Topo.  But, to be fair and to make sure you don’t think that my kids are savants, they still show their youth at times.  After about 20 games of Blokus, I still can’t get either child to really believe me when I tell them that it’s better to play their largest pieces first if possible.  Without fail, each of them plays their single square piece within the first 10 turns (and usually with a gleeful huge grin while doing it).  Given the success I’ve seen with some games, I’d rather try the kids out with the full versions of the new games first and then only consider scaling back on the rules/concepts if they really can’t get the game.

So, the next few weeks will likely see Can’t Stop! and Qwirkle come to the table.  These are both “grownup” games that the kids have watched me play.  I think they can each be understood by the children.  Carcassone may also make the cut.  While I’m fairly certain that they may not be able to figure out how to score well initially, they will enjoy the “puzzle” of matching the tiles, and I think the scoring will come with time (and from watching what I do).  Metro/Iron Horse would be another game that will be good for them.  I will be down at Gulf Games this weekend, and there will be a few other parents down there, so I’ll be interested to see what they would recommend I try as well.  I’ll report back here later with the results!  I think that adding in a regular time to play games with the kids will be good for all of us.  It’s a good chance for me to spend time with the kids and get a chance to introduce them to all sorts of games.

To end this week’s column, let me try to give you a transcript of a recent Guess Who? (Disney Edition) game at my house.  I was playing against my 5-year-old…

“Daddy, can I go first!”
“Um… OK. ”
“(giggles) Daddy, does your person have a hairband?”
“Yup.  Hmm, is your character a girl?”
“Yes Daddy! How did you know?  Umm, is your person Hercules?”
“It is!  How did you know?
“Well, there’s only one boy with a hairband so I knew I could ask that instead of asking if it was a boy”.

Geez.  Crushed in Guess Who? in two turns.  Maybe I should just move them straight into Agricola and Die Macher.

Until your next appointment,
The Gaming Doctor

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