YORKTon - It’s summer, so for many it’s time to head off on holidays.
And, because it is summer it’s also a time of unpredictable weather.
So there is a pretty good chance that at some point it will be too hot, or too rainy to do much but stay inside – whether that is a tent, cabin or hotel room. You will need to find something not related to the outdoors to enjoy.
So make sure to pack a few games.
The first travel essential is a deck of cards.
There are few gaming items more versatile, from solitaire while waiting for an airplane to take off, to whist with the better half and neighbours and dozens of games in between.
A deck of cards should be in every glove box, travel bag and most certainly in a cupboard at the cabin.
Now I know some will be laughing that you can, for example play solitaire on your cellphone, and that is true if camping where there is good reception.
And, even if in a comfy hotel room in the middle of a large city it is never a bad thing to disconnect for a while – it is why we holiday isn’t it.
Now personally you need to include a cribbage board – a favoured card game which plays two, three, or four-handed equally well, but there are so many other card games you can explore that if room is an issue a cribbage board is not essential.
Next up, go to a dollar store and buy two copies of a cheap checker set – you want the second set for extra pieces. The purchase will be under $20 bucks, and you have the equipment to play a list of games far too long mention here, but a few of the gems include Turkish checkers, Dameo, Lines of Action and Bashni.
The downside here is the games are all two-player, so it is limited if friends walk over in the rain for coffee, but whether at the cabin, or just out for coffee an 8X8 board with 48 checkers in two colours just gives you so many play options at such a low cost it shouldn’t be overlooked.
If you have kids, and a cabin, I can pass on suggesting a rod hockey set. If you grew up in the 1970s as I did, this was a Christmas present dream and a game Dad actually liked playing too. A bit retro today in a world of high resolution video games, but so much fun, so introduce the youngsters to something different.
Other games that are easy to teach friends and fun for that rainy day include Upwords, Boggle, Scrabble, a set of dominos, chess and Abalone, all of which are often found on thrift store shelves, so keep an eye out to add to your summer vacation gear.
Enjoy the holidays and the gaming.
