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Dec. 23, 2005
Rolling the dice ... together
Winter is the perfect time for families to play some board games.
LEORA ISRAEL ZELLMAN
Some people like to get away – going to hot, exotic places
when a Vancouver winter hits. Nobody can deny that winter in the
city is usually gloomy and rainy. But if, like me, you can't afford
to get away for the weekend and don't crave puddle jumping, why
not check out your local toy store for some good, old-fashioned
board games?
Nothing beats cuddling up by the fire with your loved ones, playing
a heated game of Boggle or Trivial Pursuit on cold winter nights.
I spent an evening with a wonderful family doing just that recently.
We played five games for about 15 minutes each and rated each one.
The ratings were based on a five-point scale on the game's educational
value, overall enjoyment, ease of play and presentation. Each participant
gave their scores and the results represent the average of all the
scores.
The first game we rated was the word game Boggle. I'm happy to announce
that I tied for first place, yet Boggle didn't rate as well with
the family. The average educational score was 2.6, and its fun rating
was 3.5. It was fairly
simple to play, with a rating of 3.6, but it wasn't the best-looking
game, so it got a score of 2.8 for presentation.
Next, we played Balderdash, a humorous game where you need to make
up answers to questions about definitions, dates, people, etc.,
and confuse the other players into thinking your made-up answer
is the correct one. Even though it was an original idea, our family
didn't rate it very highly either. Because making things up isn't
all that educational, it got a rating of 2.5 and, although lying
can be fun for some, it only scored a 2.6 by our scale. It was fairly
simple to play (3.5) and the board had bright colors on it, so it
scored a 3.3 for presentation.
Our third game and a favorite of mine was Taboo. Taboo is a great
game, where you need your teammates to guess the word or phrase
on your card while giving clues that don't include the "taboo"
words on the card. Our family felt Taboo was quite educational and
gave it a rating of 3.1. They really enjoyed playing, so they gave
it a fun rating of 5. And, once you get the hang of the game, it's
easy to play for some, but you must be quick on your toes, so our
family gave it a rating of 3.3. The game's appearance is quite innovative
and attractive, so it scored 4.8 for presentation.
The classic game of Scrabble was the game up to bat, but it didn't
hit a home run like I thought it would. This word game might be
more enjoyable when played with adult friends or older teens, because
it can be frustrating for younger kids to think up longer words.
Despite that, we gave it a rating of 3.9 for educational value,
because you learn a lot of new words. It was fairly fun (3.6) and
was easy to play (3.9) but its presentation couldn't match up to
some of our other games, scoring only a 2.9.
Last, but certainly not least, we played Cranium. This is a fairly
new game that was originally only sold in Starbucks, but you can
now find it in most toy stores. It incorporates word games, trivia
questions, charades and clues, all in one colorful container (it
scored the highest on appearance, getting a 5 out of 5). Our testers
felt it was educational to some degree, giving it a 3.4. They gave
it a 4.9 for fun and a 3.6 for ease of play – making it the
family's favorite game of the lot.
These are only a few of the games out there this holiday season,
all waiting for you at your local toy store. Be sure to pay attention
to the age recommendations on the box, so your whole family can
play together.
And if you don't have time to get one of these games before Chanukah,
there's always everyone's favorite dreidel game. Hope I get lucky
this year! Happy holidays!
Leora Israel Zellman is a student at the University of
British Columbia and the author of a website dedicated to Desperate
Housewives, www.desperateblog.com.
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