JOIN USYou’ve done 20 laps in your apartment’s swimming pool. You’ve been to Wonder La, too.
You’ve tossed the cricket ball all morning and now the heat outside has drained you of energy and enthusiasm. You don’t want to watch any more TV and the IPL telecast is still a good four hours away. So, what are you waiting for? Bring out those board games. Better still, invent some of your own. Like we — a group of friends from Bishop Cotton Girls’ School — did, years ago.
Spin & learn
Draw a huge circle on cardboard with all the letters of the alphabet written around the circle. Place a small, revolving arrow — made of paper ir plastic — at the centre of the circle. This could be spun to point to any of the letters of the alphabet. Take a pack of cards with ‘Name of a city’, ‘Name of a bird’, ‘Name of a mountain’ etc written on it. The first player should spin the arrow until it comes to rest on a particular letter, say ‘C’, pick a card, say, ‘Name of a city’, and then name a city starting with ‘C’. For example, the player who says ‘Cuttack’ within 30 seconds gets a point. The player who gets the most points is the winner.
Checkmate
The only way to get Grandpa away from his newspaper is to take out your chessboard and pawns! Did you know that the history of chess spans some 1500 years?
According to wikipedia, the earliest predecessors of the game originated in India, before the 6th century AD.
From India, the game spread to Persia. It subsequently spread to Southern Europe. In Europe, chess evolved into roughly its current form in the 15th century. In the second half of the 19th century, modern chess tournaments began, and the first world chess championship was held in 1886. The 20th century saw great leaps forward in chess theory and the establishment of the World Chess Federation (FIDE). Developments in the 21st century include use of computers for analysis, which originated in the 1970s with the first programmed chess games on the market. Online gaming appeared in the 1990s.
In chess, there are two players on opposite sides. Each player has got the following pieces, each of which can move only in a particular way: King, Queen, Bishop, Rook, Elephant, and pawns. With clever strategy, one has to try to “checkmate” the opponent’s King. Essentially a test of skill and strategy, chess is a game where no element of luck is involved, and one usually ends up admiring the winner without feeling jealous or cheated!
Word power
Scrabble is a board game in which one picks seven tiles with letters of the alphabet, and makes meaningful words on the board. To make the game competitive, each letter is alloted a certain number of points. One places the letters horizontally or vertically on the board. Some of the spaces on the board are ‘double-’ or ‘triple-letter’ scores, or ‘double-’ or ‘triple-word’ scores. The player who scores the maximum points wins. Scrabble improves vocabulary and helps young people bond at clubs where it is played.
Monopoly
A game which tests a player’s business acumen, Monopoly can be played with 2 or more people. It is a game where one has to buy property — houses and/ or business firms. If other players land on your “property”, they have to compensate you for it. The game is made more interesting with ‘Chance’ and ‘Community’ cards. Watch out for the ‘Go to Jail’ cards! There are railway stations, and electrical and power companies up for grabs! Monopoly gives you a peek into the world of business and enterprise.
‘Memory’ is a card game which is also called ‘Remember’. All the cards in the pack are placed face down and each player has to try and pick up pairs. The game helps in improving memory and concentration.
Unlike some card games which parents do not like their children to play, ‘Memory’ is a fun game.
Go on, strike!
Remember the absorbing game of carrom in the movie Munnabhai MBBS? Carrom is a game of skill where one has to have good aim, focus and concentration to capture as many points as possible. And, like all indoor games, it provides a great deal of enjoyment on those sultry afternoons when it’s just too hot outside to play a game of T20 cricket!