I am a guy from Sweden who loves board games and such. There are many other things but I think it’s easier if we only focus on this part of my likes. One of my first memories of board games is lying on the floor in preschool, playing a board game called “Den försvunna diamanten” (Star of Africa) mostly by myself. A popular game here from Finland, that’s not very heavy, but maybe a good starter game for someone at the age I was. I actually played it recently and kind of felt that maybe I had different tastes in games now, but the game still holds a special place in my heart as one of the first games I ever played.
One day when I got home there was my own board game lying in wait for me. “Tempo”, a game where you roll a die to see which color moves forward. It might not be yours even though you are the one who rolls.
A couple of years went by and another game was introduced to me. “Bondespelet” (Farmers Game). This one was heavier and took way longer to play and I actually hadn’t played it for over 20 years when I picked it up just a couple of weeks ago. It was maybe not as… rich as I remembered. But still a game that I hold dear for many reasons. The Castle in the middle has a striking resemblance to a castle close to where I grew up. And it was a game that opened up for a deeper type of board games.
Sadly I did not play many board games for a long while. But a few years ago (well now it is “a lot of years ago”), a couple friends of mine invited me to play a role playing game with them. I of course said yes to this new adventure and was soon a part of a group of adventurers doing adventurous things.
There were a lot of different RPG:s played. Dungeons and Dragons (3.5) was the first I was a part of, and over the years I have tried a few different ones. But getting the same group together was turning out to be a bigger and bigger problem.
I don’t remember which game was the first to be played. It all blurs together. Munchkin, The Resistance, Coup, Battlestar Galactica and more. It opened a floodgate of games and emotions within. To be able to sit with friends and play these games, even if not all of us could be there was amazing. Of course it takes a while to go through the rules with new players, but it was worth it! Sometimes someone went through the rules while others ate, sometimes someone cooked dinner for all of us while others went through the rules. And depending on the number of people we were the games were different.
Today the group is smaller because people moved away. Some farther than others. But I still love to sit down with people and play a game. Looking people in the eye during a social deduction game trying to find out if they are trying to sabotage the whole mission. Building a fantastic engine in a game, that blows you away. Or even someone who broke a game and always win but you are to stubborn to NOT try to find a way to defeat them…
What I am trying to say is board games (and such) have given me many, many good memories. And I hope to get someone to read about the games I play and the new memories I make and find something in those games. Make memories of their own. Spend time with old friends. Meet new friends. Have a good time.
Maybe we disagree on some games. And that is just fine. People are different and like different things. So I will end this the same way I always do.
Play more games!!!
Boardgames and such 