The Game of Life
Not long after my husband and I moved to Western North Carolina in the fall of 2022, we acquired a new table with eight chairs. Originally marketed as a dining room table, in our house this piece of furniture is most often used as a game table. At the moment, seven games are stacked on its surface: Wingspan, Upwords, Qwirkle, Triple Uno, Survive the Island, Hive, and Masterpiece.
How many of these games have you played?
Not long after my family moved to Middle Tennessee in the summer of 1975, my parents acquired a new table with six chairs. This hexagonal wooden pedestal table was henceforth known as the game table. Our board games were stored in the appropriately named game closet, which also housed the vacuum cleaner and my mother’s seldom-used crystal punch bowl. Our family’s game collection included Monopoly, Mouse Trap, Trouble, Sorry, The Game of Life, Tennis, Perfection, and Masterpiece.
My siblings and I rarely made it through a complete game of Monopoly - too long and boring. Mouse Trap was frustrating because the parts usually didn’t function as intended. Trouble and Sorry provided passive-aggressive children with options to inflict misery on their siblings. Driving tiny cars filled with pink and blue pegs along a meandering track was a highlight of The Game of Life. Tennis: The Smashing Card Game taught me key terms like ace, fault, and love. Perfection was my favorite game to play alone; as a perfectionist, I took great delight in getting all 25 plastic pieces in their proper places before the spring-loaded board popped.
Masterpiece: The Art Auction Game holds a prominent place among my childhood memories. Although I don’t think the game was a household favorite, I must have spent a great deal of time pondering the 24 painting cards that players could buy or sell. Because of this game, I learned to recognize works of art by Jackson Pollock, Vincent Van Gogh, Georgia O’Keefe, Grant Wood, Edward Hopper, and Mary Cassatt. The original edition of this classic board game from the 1970s is now a collector’s item. My enduring fascination with Masterpiece prompted me to purchase the game from a seller on eBay a few weeks ago, just to have the chance to peruse those art cards again.
Even though we have family arriving for a weekend visit, I won’t bother to return the stack of games on our dining table to the cabinet, for I know we will put them to good use over the next few days. I am deeply grateful that the fine folks who have married into my family also enjoy playing board games and card games. The extended Brown family now has four generations of ludophiles, ranging in age from 86 to 6.
Fourth generation board game enthusiast
Several years ago I sat at a small game table in a rented cabin near Lake Lure with three other Baptist women. On this weekend ministerial retreat, we chose to play games to relax and renew our spirits after 18 months of pandemic life. At the cabin’s game table, I played Mariposas for the first time, and I struggled mightily to develop a successful strategy in a game focused on monarch butterfly migration. How should I set my priorities? Which season goals should I pursue?
I still think about an observation one of the players made that day: “This game is a lot like life.” As my friend explained her declaration, we recognized the truth of her words.
I know from experience that my initial strategy for winning a board game, completing a task, or solving a problem must often be revised when my plan fails to deliver the anticipated results. Other people’s actions may force me to chart a new course. The passage of time may render some goals unviable. Circumstances completely beyond my control - like a pandemic - may necessitate the development of creative strategies to overcome unforeseen obstacles.
At the game table, I have the chance to learn from my mistakes. Peering over a game board, I have the opportunity to become a more proficient player as I observe other players’ strategies. Whenever I turn over another card, roll the dice, or move the game piece in the company of others - at a game table in someone’s home or at a booth in our local board game cafe - I know I will reap the cognitive and social benefits associated with game playing.
Which childhood games do you hold dear? What games are you playing now? What lessons have you learned around a game table?
Turn over another card. Roll the dice again. Move that game piece. Keep playing the game of life.
