thanksgiving

November Writing Challenge Day 28: Thankful

I’m blogging every day this month. Some will be game-related, but this challenge is different than my most recent play-a-game-and-blog-about-it challenge. I’m writing a single post every day: no topic guidelines, with some posts being a collection of random thoughts. Click here to read yesterday’s post.

Today I’m thankful for my family: my wife, my stepdaughter, my parents, my brothers, their wives, and their children.

I’m thankful for the meals I share with my wife. Whether it’s cooked at home or eaten at a local restaurant, I treasure this time. We eat, we talk, we laugh, and we re-connect every time we’re at the table together.

I’m thankful for conversations with my stepdaughter. I always look forward to talking to her when she’s home from school. It never ceases to amaze me how much she’s changed over the years.

I’m thankful for the friends I’ve made while playing board games. You never know who you’re going to meet at the tabletop. I’m fortunate to have gotten to know such fantastic people.

I’m thankful for the way the hobby has changed my life. This was one of the first Tabletop videos I watched years ago … and this was the latest episode of Game the Game that I was on. I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again: if you would’ve told me five years ago that I’d be on a YouTube show playing a board game I would’ve thought you were crazy.

And for those who take the time to read my words here and elsewhere on the Internet:

Thank you.

November Daily Game Challenge: Shop ‘N Time

This is Day 22 of my Game-and-Blog-Every-Day-in-November Challenge. Search my blog for “Daily Game Challenge” for previous entries.

Shop ‘N Time

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I hope everybody had a wonderful day today celebrating with family and/or friends. I spent the day at my brother’s house with our families, eating and drinking all day while watching football and karaoking until our voices wore out (and I never would’ve guessed Kendrick Lamar’s “Be Humble” would’ve been the big hit of the night).

Over the last few years I’ve brought a bag full of games to play during family get-togethers. We usually don’t play more than a game or two, but that’s okay. As long as we get to spend time together, whether it’s playing games or singing or making each other laugh, then my holiday is made. As we shared before dinner tonight, I thought about how grateful and fortunate I am to have such a loving and supportive family.

My wife and I played Shop ‘N Time with our nephew and nieces today. It’s like playing The Price Is Right, where you’re trying to find items that add up to a set price. Everybody starts with seven cards that each depict an item. You draft cards in real time after the app gives everybody a random price to shoot for.

The cards are what makes the game so interesting. Each one has an item such as a baseball glove or a block of cheese. However, there’s also a specific year for the items, so you’re trying to figure out the price of a baseball glove in 1955 or a block of cheese from 1978. You select cards to keep depending on how much you think they are and how close you are to the total the app set at the beginning of the round.

Everybody must take at least three cards, then after everyone’s finished you take turns scanning your cards with the app. This is by far the most fun part of the game, since it’s just like being at the grocery store scanning your stuff. The app totals up everyone’s items and the closest without going over gets the most points. After three rounds the player with the most points wins.

Shop ‘N Time is a quick game that is easily taught and learned. I love scanning my cards into the app; each time it scans something there’s a satisfying beep and when it starts totaling everything up, we all cheered and groaned as our totals were shown. Best of all, only the totals are shown so you don’t really know how much each of your items costs, giving you a bit more replayability.

Day 330: Thankful

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving!

While we didn’t do the traditional Thanksgiving this year (instead, we spent a few days in Las Vegas), I couldn’t be more thankful for my family.

Food, laughs, more food, and more laughs: these always happen when we’re together, no matter where we are.