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Backgammon Backgammon is played by two players using a specially marked board, 15 counters and a set of dice. You take turns throwing the dice and moving your counters around the board according to the numbers on the dice. When a counter reaches the end of the circuit, you remove it. The object of the game is to be the first person to remove all your counters from the board. It sounds easy, but there's lots of strategy involved. Backgammon is the oldest game in recorded history; historians even believe it was played in ancient Mesopotamia. Today, backgammon is as popular as ever, and if you would like to play, learn or talk about it, there are lots of resources on the Net. Or you can go to Mesopotamia and find someone to play in person. (Driving instructions: Head toward central Asia, make a left at the Persian Gulf, and go back 3,000 years.) Web:
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Battleship In World War II, radio operators invented the game of Battleship in order to test radio transmissions that were kept secret from the Japanese. The operators were only allowed a few tests a day, so they developed a game that they played, a bit at a time, over a matter of weeks. And now you can play the same game (without waiting) on the Internet. Web:
Blackjack If you can't make it to a casino this weekend, this is the next best thing. Play Blackjack with other Internet folks and become a Net billionaire or downright penniless. There are help files available and records are kept of rankings, cash won and lost, top players, and other table statistics. Join the table today. Web:
Board Game Rules Strictly speaking, it is not in the rules that, when you land on Free Parking, you are allowed to collect all the money in the middle of the board. (In fact, there isn't even supposed to be any money in the middle of the board.) Still, that's the way everyone I know plays Monopoly. Nonetheless, the actual rules can come in handy, especially if you need an authority to back you up when you know you are right and everyone else is wrong. (If only the rest of life were as simple.) Web:
Board Games I've spent a lot of pleasant hours playing board games, and I bet you have too. What better way to spend an evening than getting into a heated game of Monopoly or Risk or Diplomacy or Clue, and beating the pulp out of your best friend? So, board game lovers of the world, here are some resources for you to enjoy: lots of information about lots of games. I have also included a Web site with some new games you may want to try, as well as a site that has the official rules of Monopoly. If you want to talk to other enthusiasts, check out the Usenet discussion groups. The marketplace group is for buying and selling; the other groups are for general discussion. Web:
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Bridge Bridge is such a fun game for couples. Most men take up bridge when they get married and discover their wives won't let them watch football. The only thing left to do is to sit with another couple and play cards all night. Perfect your bridge skills so you can learn to play a killer game. If you're clever, you can even make it a contact sport so you won't miss football. Web:
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Card Game Rules You are at a party and you meet a Very Attractive Person of the Opposite Sex. After an hour or so of conversation, the VAPOTOS invites you over for a visit. When you get there, the VAPOTOS suggests a quick game of "52 Card Pick-up". Unfortunately, the game is new to you, so you have to decline the invitation and go home. Too bad you hadn't checked with the Net first. Web:
Chess The attraction of chess is that it requires intense concentration in order to dominate in a highly competitive environment in which chance plays virtually no part whatsoever (much like being a professional Internet writer). The game symbolizes warfare, in that the strategy is to capture as many of the opponent's "men" (pieces) as possible. Unlike real warfare, the game ends when the King has been captured ("checkmate"). If you are a chess aficionado, or even a beginner, there are lots of chess-related places on the Net to visit. You can learn about the game, play the game, or talk about the game (sort of an allegory for Life). Web:
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Cribbage Why work when you can play games? Learn to play cribbage and spend a few frustrating hours trying to beat your computer. Once you get good, you can start playing against other people and join a cribbage club. Everything you need is on the Net. Web:
Darts The basic skill of darts is to throw a small painted object (a dart) at a target (the dartboard), which is marked with different point values. There are literally hundreds of different games. The classic dart game is called 01 ("oh-one"). In 01, each player starts with 501 (or 301 or 601) points. Players alternate, throwing three darts per turn. Whatever points are scored on a turn are subtracted from the player's score, and the winner is the first player to reach zero. This is not as easy as it sounds because, to win, a player must get to zero exactly. Moreover, the final score must be a "double" (a hit in the outside narrow band or in the small bull's-eye). Playing darts skillfully and dependably takes a lot of practice, which often requires a dart aficionado to spend a lot of time in bars, talking to friends and having a good time. Web:
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Dominoes You are dreaming. You and 27 other people are wearing black-hooded robes with eye masks. On each robe, there is a rectangle divided into halves, and in each of these halves, there is a pattern of one to six dots, similar to those found on dice. Everything is fine until you look down and notice there are no dots on your robe. You wake up in a sweat, because you have finally realized: if people were dominoes, you would be the double blank. Web:
Fantasy Sports Do you think you can do better selecting players and managing a sports team than the professionals? Of course you can, so why not prove it? Run your own fantasy sports team and put together a group of players the way you want. During the season, the actual performance of your players will be used to calculate how well your fantasy team does. If you end up winning, you can have the satisfaction of knowing that you are smarter than everyone else. (Of course, being one of my readers, you already knew that.) Web:
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Foosball Foosball, or table soccer, is played on a coin-operated table that simulates a soccer game. Built into the table are series of rods to which are attached facsimiles of tiny people. You push, pull and turn the rods in such a way that your tiny people "kick" the ball. To score a point, you must knock the ball into your opponent's goal. Foosball is a favorite game in bars but is also played competitively. If you have ever seen good foosball players, you will not forget the experience. The action is fast and requires a lot of skill. Foosball hint: Although it is possible to spin the rods, don't do so. It is not allowed in official competition and, even in a bar, spinning the rods will mark you as a goober who has had too much to drink. Web:
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Games for Prizes Bingo, trivia, crossword puzzles, strategy, logic, card games, guessing games -- you can use the Internet, play games, and maybe even win a real prize, all at the same time. Life just doesn't get any better. Web:
It's Your Turn Here are games you play against an opponent, in which you and the other person take turns making a move -- for example, chess, battleship, checkers and backgammon. The games are organized so that you send in your move and then wait for your opponent to reply. This means that if you don't have enough time to play a full game at one sitting, you can play one move at a time, over a period of days. Many people have more than one game going at the same time. Web: Othello Othello (which is similar to Reversi) is a strategy board game played by a great many people around the world. Othello is played on an 8x8 square by two players, each of whom uses discs which are one color on one side and a different color on the other side (for example, white and black). Each player has his own color. Players alternate moves, putting down a disc (with their personal color face up) in such a way as to try to "outflank" some of the other person's discs. When this happens, the outflanked discs are flipped, changing their color. When the game ends, the winner is the person who has the most discs with his color on the board. Lots and lots of people play Othello. Would you like to try? On the Net you can practice by playing against a computer. Web:
Pinball Pinball lovers, there is lots of pinball-related information on the Net, as well as a Usenet discussion group for talking to other enthusiasts. By the way, if you are thinking about getting your own machine, do some research before you spend any money. Web:
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Pokémon Are you acquainted with pikachu, charmander, bulbasaur and squirtle? If so, you're a member in good standing of the worldwide group of Pokémon aficionados. Pokémon started as a Japanese video game, and has since expanded to become a popular cultural phenomenon within the world of kids. Not only are there video games, but trading cards, a TV show and a small plethora of commercial products. The goal in Pokémon is to find and capture various monsters, and then train them. As you train your monsters, they grow and change. Your goal is to become an expert Pokémon trainer. If you like Pokémon and you collect the cards, I suggest that you learn how to play the trading card game: it requires strategy and knowledge, and can add a lot of fun to your Pokémon activities. Web:
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Pool and Billiards As a teenager, I spent a large number of hours playing billiards. This was in Canada, where the most popular game was the English game, snooker. Snooker is a lot more complicated than, say, American 8-ball or straight pool, and is often played on large snooker tables (6.5' x 13') with smaller pockets than the American tables. Thus, to me, American pool is watered-down billiards for cowboys and is not much of a challenge. Not that I am a champion, but it is true that my copy editor, Lydia, who is quite a pool player herself, is afraid to play me. I guess that's where the expression comes from: "as dangerous as a Canadian in an American pool hall." Web:
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Scrabble Since 1948, people have been looking at little tiles with letters on them, trying to think of words that use those letters. If you like Scrabble, you'll find lots of cool stuff, including Scrabble games that you can play online, and hints and tools to help you play better. (Did you know that the very best Scrabble players average more than 35 points per turn?) Web:
Shogi Shogi is a two-player Japanese game played on a board with squares. The object of shogi is to capture your opponent's king. (I hear that Camilla Parker Bowles is a great player.) Don't let any of those facts confuse you: shogi is not chess. However, shogi is fun and challenging, and knowing how to play will make you look cultured. (If that fails to work, just walk around with this book under your arm.) Web:
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Tic Tac Toe Tic Tac Toe has been called "one of the most useless games ever invented" (by my chief researcher, actually). Maybe so for the traditional 3x3 game, but have you tried playing on a 6x7 grid with 5 in a row needed to win? Play against a computer program that lets you choose the size of the grid and the number of Xs or Os in a row you need to win. You can play the regular 3x3 or try something more adventurous. When you get into higher numbers, it's more fun and a lot more difficult. Web: Tiddlywinks You have practiced your potting, your squopping, and your pile flips, and you have kept your squidging muscles in good condition by twiddling your thumbs for thirty minutes a day. You are now ready to play tiddlywinks: a complex, competitive partner game of strategy and tactics. Tiddlywinks is played with colored counters (called winks) on a 6 foot by 3 foot felt mat with an open pot placed in the center. There are four sets (blue, green, red, yellow) of 6 winks (2 large and 4 small). To play, you use a disc called a squidger to press a wink and make it move. The object of the game is to score points (called tiddlies), either by popping winks into the pot or by having your winks completely uncovered at the end of the game. Web:
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