Los Juegos

playing Uno on our front porch

 When I was growing up, my family rarely played games. My mom doesn't love games, and as a single parent working multiple jobs, she didn't have a lot of extra time to engage in activities she did not enjoy. Sometimes when we were traveling, mom would play cards with us. Rummy 500. She was vicious; I never once beat her. I also have a few memories of playing Scrabble and Payday around our kitchen table, but games were not generally a mainstay of our family culture. Paul's family, in contrast, are voracious game players; evenings during family reunions are filled with intense, competitive challenges that can go on for hours. Sometimes it is too much for me, and I retreat to my novel on a nearby couch.

That being said, I have learned to appreciate many games as an adult. Many years ago, our neighbor, Dan, introduced us to German-style board games, which are beautifully crafted, strategy heavy, and way more fun to play than Payday or Life. There are many games now that I really love, and we have a stuffed game cabinet in our home in Santa Rosa. My favorites include River Dragons, Finca, Alhambra, Azul, and a most recent addition Nova Luna. For anyone who knows anything about this genre of games, this list contains games on the shorter side. I cannot stand games that last hours; I don't have the patience! Nonetheless, games are an important part of our family's culture; we take them camping, on vacations, and over to friends' houses for after dinner fun. These days, all three of my kids are old enough to happily play.

When packing for this year, we had many conversations about which games to bring and which to leave behind. Which games could be played across a language barrier? Which has too many parts that could get lost? Which are out of print and irreplaceable? Which we love the most and are willing to risk because leaving them behind would be too painful? Which can Brynna participate in? Which can we pack down small enough? (As a side note, Paul and I have an ongoing marital disagreement about taking games out of their original boxes. This is mostly a "no no" for me, but often a good idea for Paul, who hates to leave something behind because of its bulk).

And so, we wound up with two lists, both sizable: 1) the games that got packed away -- some in our basement, others loaned out to friends, and 2) games that came with us. We haven't counted, but we guess that we brought fifteen or twenty with us. Plus, games are an entry for the kids into the community and an exceptionally great way to practice speaking Spanish. Try explaining game rules to someone in another language; it's definitely not easy! In fact, Dillon said tonight after dinner, "I am really tired of explaining games to everyone in Spanish." Totally reasonable. He's done it every day for a month!

The local children don't have access to games much beyond playing cards and an occasional Monopoly board. They are absolutely loving our games. One 12-year old boy in particular, Leandri, who appears on our porch most evenings, loves the games, and he's getting pretty good at many of them. He's patient with listening to directions and commits to understanding the rules. He also doesn't mind playing with Brynna. Since Brynna's favorite humans these days are 12-year old boys, this works out well.

Before I tell you about our favorite games, I just want to say that it is really hard to enter into a new community in which you are a definite outsider, only semi-proficient in the language, and expect your family to make connections, participate in shared activities, and do so joyfully across a range of age groups with varying interests and literacy levels. It's an exhausting and challenging ask of everyone, and at times, it can be overwhelming. Luckily, games are a fun bridge.

And so, what have we been playing?

Hands down, the tile game, Azul, wins as the town favorite. Luckily, it's one of our family's favorite games too, so no one is too upset with playing it over and over and over. It's nice because the game pieces are so aesthetically pleasing, there isn't a single English word (once the rules have been explained), it's relatively easy to learn to play but challenging to master, and basically any aged human can enjoy playing. I found on Etsy these really cool plastic roll up boards from Lithuania, so we are traveling with a slightly more compact travel version of Azul. It brings me great joy to watch and hear the kids playing round after round of Azul, and so far we haven't lost a single piece!

A classic card game also sporting a Spanish-language name -- I bet you could guess which one-- comes in a clear second. The version of UNO we fell in love with a couple of years ago is one called UNO flip, and we're happy to have the "splash version" with us (meant to be played in the pool), which means the cards are extra plasticized. This proved a challenge stateside because the cards were too slippery to shuffle, but the tropical humidity here has resolved that problem. Somehow, UNO never gets old.

Coming in an easy third is a dice game called 1-4-24. that Era, our awesome Director of Religious Education at UUCSR, taught the boys our last Sunday at church, and then supplied dice for the journey. Personally, this one doesn't attract my attention, but it's perfect for a large group of kids. It's simple and suspenseful. With any game, it's just sweet to hear the laughter and excitement of a bunch of kids on our living room floor or outside on the porch. The universal draws of a good game: a little competition, a little luck, and some drama.

In fourth place comes a great game picture card game called Slapzi that my friend, Vivian, gave our family years ago. I had never heard of it before. Everyone holds onto five double-sided picture cards with a random assortment of pictures (flip flops, rhinoceros, palm tree, penny) and then use them up based on certain criteria on a series of written cards (e.g. "you own more than 5 of these" or "this is not found at a hardware store"). The only two problems with Slapzi is that you have to be literate; plus the cards are written in English. Dillon has mastered being the Slapzi translator and game conductor. Brynna pointed out that it's particularly challenging to play Slapzi with Spanish speakers and non-readers; someone is always at an advantage depending on which language comes out first. But, hey, we are making it work, and it's still somehow fun.

Another funny popular game is Memory, but we have a custom Snapfish version that was made for us by our dear friends and pod-mates, Pat and Stacia, and so there are all these pictures of people we love in there on the back of the cards. Every time we play Memory, people want to know who is Pat? Who is my mom? who is GG? And we get to talk about the people we love and that love us. I am planning on making a version of Memory for my Ecuadorian family here with pictures I have been taking since our arrival. Can definitely stand up to the tropical humidity and is just too much fun.

A surprising top 5 winner is a card game called "Rat a Tat Cat" -- a simple premise, but definitely Leandri's favorite. He can play it just as many times in a row as Brynna. Sometimes simple is perfect. Another surprise hit is "I Spy", which has no words and requires no translation, just speed and attention. Paul and I both have memories of our toddler-age kids beating their Grandma Jackie and driving her bonkers. Here, everyone always beats me. I cannot believe how fast they are!

And for our family when others are not around, do we have a few favorites? Yes we do. I have enjoyed teaching Dillon Rummy 500 over the past few weeks, though he beat me after the third time. I am just not as vicious (or smart) as my mom. Brynna is obsessed with Dragonwood, a family favorite game of dice and daring. I like it too. She loves kissing her dice a nauseating number of times before each throw, a habit that is a combination of endearing and annoying. We play a ridiculous version of Telestrations, which involves someone helping Brynna with the words and then pretending they aren't. It's still fun. And there's always Qwirkle, Novaluna, and Carcassonne, family favorites for any occasion.

I won't get into all the games we left behind -- that topic will make us all too sad. But what games does your family like to play? Any we should try?

playing memory

family Azul at the beach

Azul (again)