Bored of board games?
Pandemic requires careful resource management to keep the world healthy and avoid a global pandemic. | PC: youtube.com
Zachary Morrison, a senior business administration major, has an addiction.
Every day he wastes hours in class obsessing about this secret passion. His money and time are swallowed up by this craving. In his room with the door closed, Morrison furtively scours the Internet, feeding the gnawing desire inside him. His bedroom door opens suddenly and one of his housemates enters. Slam, Morrison closes his laptop guiltily.
His housemate asks him exasperatedly, “Zach, are you looking at board games again?!”
Many classics come to mind when one says the phrase "board games!" Monopoly, Scrabble, Trouble and Sorry! are a few.
But the world of games is vast and unexplored!
So many fun new games exist to try out. They can provide opportunities to bond with friends with the same gaming tastes as you, or chances for acquaintances to learn something new together.
These are a few games popular in gaming circles on Union’s campus:
Sushi Go! provides a game requiring advanced planning and quick thinking in a charming, wasabi-dipped package. | PC: thegameaisle.com
Sushi Go! “In the super-fast sushi card game Sushi Go!, you’re eating at a sushi restaurant and trying to grab the best combination of sushi dishes as they whiz by. Score points for collecting the most sushi rolls or making a full set of sashimi. Dip your favorite nigiri in wasabi to triple its value! And once you've eaten it all, finish your meal with all the pudding you've got! But be careful which sushi you allow your friends to take; it might be just what they need to beat you!” (https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/133473/sushi-go)
Sushi Go! incorporates saliva-inducing subject material, adorable design and variety to your gaming experience. Plus, who can deny the rush of calling out, “Sushi…...GO!”
Exploding Kittens: Many projects claim Kickstarter as their birthplace, but Exploding Kittens boasts being the number one most-backed Kickstarter game and campaign.
Exploding kittens is the most-backed project on Kickstarter, with 219,000 backers. | PC: explodingkittens.com
“It’s a highly-strategic, kitty-powered version of Russian Roulette. Players draw cards until someone draws an Exploding Kitten, at which point they explode, they’re dead, and they’re out of the game—unless that player has a Defuse card, which can defuse the kitten using things like laser pointers, belly rubs, and catnip sandwiches. All of the other cards in the deck are used to move, mitigate, or avoid the Exploding Kittens.” (http://www.explodingkittens.com/)
Pandemic: This game, featuring life threatening diseases as the villain, puts players in a race against time. You don’t even have to be a biomed major to win at Pandemic!
“Several virulent diseases have broken out simultaneously all over the world! The players are disease-fighting specialists whose mission is to treat disease hotspots while researching cures for each of four plagues before they get out of hand [...] the diseases are spreading quickly and time is running out. If one or more diseases spreads beyond recovery or if too much time elapses, the players all lose. If they cure the four diseases, they all win!” (https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/30549/pandemic)
Here are just a select few of the games being played on campus. Ask around, put yourself out there, and start a game night!
Or, join the Tabletop Club on Wednesday, Jan. 25 at 6:30-9:30 p.m. in DB 302 (email james.clague@ucollege.edu for more details). The club meets on alternating Sundays and Wednesdays and although you have to be in the club to eat pizza, the gaming festivities are open to all!
Katie Morrison is a senior studying business administration.