Hobbies And Interests
Dominoes
No, not the pizza delivery company. Dominos is a game played with tiles of blocks, each with two numbers, ranging from zero to six. For example, one block may have two-sixes, while another block may have a five and a three. No two blocks in a set have the same pair of numbers. Each player takes turns laying down a block in such a way that one side matches the number of a block already in play. The goal of the game is to empty your own hand, while trying to arrange the board so that other players have no movements open to them.
Uno
This card game has been in print for decades, and for good reason. Players take turns placing cards into a central pile in an effort to empty their own hands. Any card can be played so long as it matches the color or number of the card at the top of the pile, but nothing is ever so simple. Also included in the deck are a number of special cards which serve to keep the game competitive, as players can reverse the order of play, force other players to draw cards or just plain skip the next player's turn. The game can be played with two players, but it requires at least three or four players for ideal play.
Settlers of Catan
If your tastes run to slightly more complex games, you may enjoy this popular German board game that is taking American game shops by storm. Each player controls a rival colony on the tropical island of Catan and must build roads and cities in order to claim as much of the island as possible before another player can get there first. The game changes each time, as the island is built from a set of interlocking tiles at the start of the game. The game is scored according to points, with cities and roads each being worth a set point value in the game. The first player to reach ten, twelve or twenty points is the winner. It does require at least three player however. If you do not own a copy of the game, you can give it a free try on its webpage.