With all the rain that has been bestowed upon us here in the UK at the moment, it definitely means that many of us are not venturing out much and preferring to stay at home in the warm. We all seem to go into hibernation mode at this time of year.
However, yesterday I did brave the wind and the rain to join some friends for a celebratory birthday lunch and we ended up playing a great game called Telestrations. It’s kind of similar to Chinese Whispers but with drawings. Trying to guess what people have drawn and passing it on can really produce some hilarious moments as we discovered (mutant camels amongst other things!).
It got me to thinking about ‘old school’ board games that are still going strong today and goes to prove that board games aren’t just for Christmas, they can help us through a dull rainy January too!
Here’s a few I found on my trawling adventures, that you might remember.
This classic game of the mid 60’s featured a wooden box with a spring bar that was pulled back with dozens of small wooden circular pieces of different sizes sandwiched in it.
The play consists of removing pieces from within the spring bar “trap” in hopes of not making it move. Different sized pieces are worth a certain amount of points each. Point penalties are incurred if the bar moves. The player who has accumulated the most points at the end of the game is the winner.
Game ends when the number of pieces left in the board equal the number of players. Boardgamegeek.com
A popular strategy board game playing with up to 6 people, playing individually or with partners – Wikipedia
Cluedo is a game where players try to figure out the three main facts of a murder: the murderer, the location of the murder, and the murder weapon. They do this by having their characters run around a mansion and gather evidence. About.com
Used to give me palpitations trying to fit all the pieces in before the time ran out and the buzzer went off!
Operation is still going strong. I found this impossible as I always got the shakes!
Collecting wedges of cheese and constructing a wacky trap for a wayward mouse made this board game one of the most popular games of its time.
Still one of my favourite games. I spent many a Tuesday evening as a barmaid playing this game with the regulars
Aaah Monopoly! breaking up happy homes since its invention in 1933. I was trying to find out how many different versions of this game have been made but I can’t seem to get an answer. Anyone know?
Not really sure about the couple advertising the game! All a bit James Bond villain style but our family did love playing this on a Sunday night
Not exactly a board game but worth a feature. Can still be found today too!
So, which one was your favourite? There are hundreds out there and it’s cheering to see that even after all of the technological advancements we have had, you just can’t beat a good old fashioned board game.
Love, funny bones and cheese wedges
Trawlergirl - Celebration Inspiration - Home of How I Partied 
I love board games too, especially when they involve friends and a few wines 🙂 I’m still a big fan of the classics like Connect 4 and Cluedo. I even played the ‘Game of Life’ on a holiday recently which was interesting since the concepts are SO old-fashioned (you must get married before you have kids, etc.).
Have you ever played Cards against Humanity? It’s a modern card game but it’s a lot of fun too!
Oooh, I haven’t heard of that game, I will have to check it out. Thanks for the suggestion 🙂