Picked up Princess #3 from a birthday party and spent a few minutes catching up with a friend, birthday girl’s mommy. We sat around her magical backyard garden-bordered cushions around the fire pit. The squared off corner is surrounded on three sides with picket fence siding on which she hung small jars with pretty little tea candles lit inside them here and there.  Times like this I wish I owned a really cool camera that can take pictures in the dark.

As we chat she tells me about the party activities. Each of the kids decorated white cardboard squares to be placed in a gigantic rectangle on the floor for a homemade life-sized board game. She showed me the softball-sized dye she created too, covered with green felt cloth and white dots. So cool. And the pieces: the kids of course. The squares had instructions like “move up three spots,” “dance free-style for thirty seconds” and one even said, “You lose 1,000,000 points.” Yeah, the last one seemed a little harsh. Hope no one landed on it! That would take the happy out my birthday!
Anyway, such a cool idea. And low budget for a home party theme. Must borrow for our next in-house rainy day birthday. Funny thing is, as we were driving home that night, the remainder of my kids and their cousins were setting up a real live board game in the living room for us to join in the minute we walked in. And this game is not of the Parcheesi or Candyland calibre. We’re talking Monopoly on Steroids, if I had to compare it to another well-known board game out there.

Have you ever played Settlers of Catan? A good friend introduced it to us about a year ago. When he and his wife saw how much we loved it, they purchased one for us for Christmas. I’m thinking they got tired of carrying theirs back and forth because it got so bad we were like, “Sure you can come over. But don’t forget to bring Settlers!”

I’m not going to go into the details of how to play this game. Or the history behind the creation of the game. You can read that on-line or read the directions in the box for that info. What I do want to tell you are My Top Ten Reasons I think this might be the coolest board game ever invented.

1.  The concept of natural resources and how each person needs a certain combination in order to build things like roads and cities reminds players that all the stuff around us doesn’t just show up. It takes stuff to build stuff.

2.  The aspect of the game that involves trading supplies reminds each player that in this world, no country has everything they need to survive and thrive. We need each other. And sometimes a barter benefits both parties. And sometimes sacrifice is the only way you get what you need.

3.  The time during the game when the robber is being moved and a player plops it down on your resource reminds you that theft of supplies happens when you least expect it. Life and its curve balls steal finances, time, and progress from us, sometimes shortly after a season of blessing.

4.  Humanly speaking, we want to in turn rob the player who stopped our progress. Payback may seem easy, but it’s not always the best strategy in a game when wealth and progress shift so quickly from one player to the next. So you have to keep your emotions at bay and make an economically-sound decision even if your gut tells you to stomp the last guy who roadblocked you.

5.  Sometimes your number gets rolled. A lot. You accumulate a lot of resources. Feels like several Benjamins fanned in between your fingertips. Then in a blink of an eye, someone pulls a “monopoly” card or the number seven is rolled, and everything changes. You have to give up all your cards of one resource or give the bank half of your cards (in the case of the Robber’s activation with numero seven.) In other words, you can’t get too attached to your wealth, because it’s truly fleeting.

6.  Sometimes your goal is someone else’s goal too. For example, there are often two players duking it out to build the longest road. For a total of two victory points [You need ten total points to win the game] you can find yourself in a neck to neck battle that ends up in a loss of all your supplies and time that could have been invested elsewhere. But sometimes the fight is worth it. Decisions decisions.

7.  Sometimes your number never gets rolled. You watch the rest of the crowd pick up resources, trade, build and guffaw at their progress, while you twiddle your thumbs and wonder if you should just start trading two cards for one. Or just give away your last card. What’s the point? you might think. But in real life, you have to keep playing. Even if you don’t hit the lotto. But hardly anyone wins the lottery, so even if you don’t get the big break or win the contest or get that promotion or get accepted to that college or get hired for that job, you know what? You still have to go on. Live—regardless if your number is called or not.

8.  Personalities come out during board games. While the above happens, how you handle life’s successes and failures surfaces, and you’re either a good sport or a sore loser. You gloat at your win or humbly encourage those who are struggling around you. You laugh at other’s losses or you cry when you’re lagging at the tail end of the pack. You want to win so badly, you step on people’s feelings just to get there, or you don’t care at all and deflate the spirit of competition that energizes the game to begin with. 

Or like me, you say, “Come on. It’s just a game. Play already.” And dismiss the emotions that surface in order to move the game along. This game has often taken us three hours to produce a modified winner *when we play up to seven points.

I learned that about myself yesterday. I like to move on so we can move forward. I like progress. And I don’t want to always stop and deal with the feelings I call interruptions. I want to say, “Suck it up. Wipe your tears. Blow your nose. And roll your dice already.” Because it is just a game. But life isn’t.

Sometimes you have to stop. In order to take a deep breath moment. Process. Forgive. Heal. And then move on. Makes the moving on a more solid decision if you take your time. That is one area I need to work on.

9. Silent alliances occur. And sometimes players team up to block your progress out loud. Because when one person wins, the game is over. And that’s no fun. Plus, there’s a feeling that if one player accumulates a ton of wealth or progresses too quickly, they must be stopped. Because everyone deserves a shot at the crown, and it’s more fun when you have several players going at it neck and neck. Rather than heel to neck. With the rest of the competitors snail-pacing several laps behind.

10. Laughter is essential. You just have to laugh while playing Settlers. You should actually get bonus points just for keeping it light and remembering to laugh. Because life is short, and I know I’ve said this before, but perspective is everything. And laughter during the intensity of a board game or the madness of life is sometimes exactly what you need. And what those around you need. So laugh a little. Then roll the dice.

So if you’re looking for a new way to conquer the summer heat while indoors, or a fun way to bond with family and friends on a rainy night when nothing good is on the tube and you’ve already watched all the good movies on NetFlix, check out Settlers of Catan. I’m telling you, you’ll be engaged for hours. And it’s so interactive, you rarely hit a lull, waiting for your turn. 

But be warned: this game requires concentration, so you have to be awake. If you’re sleepy, just watch that Seinfeld rerun or that DVR’d game when Derrick Rose was still healthy and hopping! Or just go to sleep. But send your guests home first. Sleeping while your company sits in your living room wondering what to do is, well, awkward. 

I’ve done it. I rise from the couch, begin hugging my friends, and saying, “Wow! I am sooooo sleepy.” Hint hint. Nothing ends a party faster than a sleepy host announcing he or she is delirously sleepy. Well, maybe a fire. But don’t set your house on fire just to get rid of your guests. That would be, um, stupid. 

And now I’ll stop. Because I digress. Somebody, and I’m not saying who, spent too much time in the sun, frolicking in the waves on Tobay beach today, and is really sleepy now. Somebody. 

**That Somebody will tell you all about our Sprinkler Park/Beach Day later this week. So get some sleep and come back, you hear! 🙂

**IF you LIKED this POST, you MIGHT also LIKE:
“It’s All About…”
or
“Seek and Seek”
or
“Somewhere…Over the Rainbow”