AT THE ROCKYMOUNTAINNAVY HOUSE WE USUALLY PLAY GAMES AT THE HOUSE. However, two weeks ago we tried something a little different. It was a Friday night and Mrs. RockyMountainNavy and RockyMountain Jr. were tutoring a student. The young lady is an only child and both her parents work hard and get little couple time to themselves. Seeing that this particular Friday was Valentines Day, Mrs. RMN suggested we take Ms. C to dinner with us after tutoring so her parents could have a date. We are strong proponents of ‘couple time’ and are fortunate that the RMN Boys are older so they can take care of themselves giving us a chance for our ‘couple time.’ We recognize that not all families are as lucky.
That night we ended up at a local bar-restaurant, Ono Brewing Company (@OnoBrewCo). This is a self-serve brew pub that has a food truck-like small restaurant, Odd BBQ (oddbbq.com) inside. Having been here before, we saw a shelf with boardgames on it. We even saw other patrons bring their own games to set up and play, so we knew the place is both family and boardgame friendly.
Ms. C expresses great interest in boardgames. She even lamented to me once that, “I like to play games, but my parents don’t.” So we always try to leave a little bit of time at the end of her tutoring to play a boardgame. Two week before, the moms and kids had gotten together (I was at a Bachelor Party) and the RMN Boys taught Ms. C Ticket to Ride (Days of Wonder, 2004). The Boys told me she really liked the game, but this night I knew the table was going to be smaller and time shorter. So we took along Ticket to Ride: New York (Days of Wonder, 2018).
It was perfect.
The smaller footprint meant the game easily fit on our table. We had eaten at a casual pace so we only had about 20 minutes to kill before we had to leave to get Ms. C back to her parents. Most importantly, Ms. C totally enjoyed the game. I mean she was really into it! As she played, she had that Michael Jordan-tongue thing going as she looked at her cards and the board and considered her options. The RMN Boys were playing very casual but Ms. C was super serious! In the end she came in second of three players but you could tell that she really enjoyed the game.
This very casual boardgame play was satisfying on several levels. First, it was the right game for the space and time available. Secondly, but more importantly, it was the perfect game for Ms. C and the RMN Boys to enjoy. Given the great level of enjoyment we all had, I have the feeling this game, and maybe the newer version, Ticket to Ride: London (Days of Wonder, 2020) will land on tables outside the RMN home more often.
Rocky Mountain Navy Gamer 