| Thursday, December 11, 2014 | Issue #2435 | |
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Five Fun Ways to Spend More Time With Family Sean Brodrick, Resource Strategist, The Oxford Club
A Note From the Editorial Director: We have something a little different today. You may know that Sean Brodrick is not just another financial guru. He's a world traveler, a lover of history, a family man... and a board game aficionado. Yup, Sean and his family take their board games seriously. Below, he explains why. And he offers some tips for those who'd like to spend a little more time with family this holiday season.
- Andrew Snyder
 Are you still wondering what to buy your kids or grandkids for Christmas? Well, it sounds hokey, but it's true: The best gifts you can give your kids are your time and yourself. And I've got a very easy way for you to do that.
You probably know me as Oxford Club's commodity expert, but I'm also a big board game enthusiast. I like board games for one main reason - they force you to interact with your friends and family.
My family plays board games nearly every weekend. In fact, my wife just hosted a board game event to help Doctors Without Borders fight Ebola. Similar events are taking place all over the country. They've raised $40,000 so far.
But that's one end of the spectrum. The other is sitting down with your loved ones, unplugging from the endless electronics, and having fun as a family. For me, that's what it's all about. I think you'll like that, too.
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So, let me give you a list of games you might consider putting under the Christmas tree. Each and every one of these games is enormous fun. And each one has a benefit for your family.
 Ticket to Ride. In this award-winning game, you compete against other players to build railroad empires. You try to connect cities using your rail cars. The longer the route, the more points you score.
This deceptively simple game takes about an hour. It will teach kids from 8 to 80 things like strategy, advance planning and the sweet bliss of having a monopoly.
This game has sold 3 million copies, and you can play it as a phone app and online.
The Settlers of Catan. Catan is a trading game. You and up to three friends play as settlers on an island.
 You need to build settlements, and you'll never have enough of the right resources on your own. So you must trade wood for brick for sheep for grain for ore. These are the five building blocks of the roads, towns and cities you'll construct to win the game.
Catan is an excellent tool for teaching trading. It also teaches haggling, as there are no set prices for these resources. It's whatever the market will bear. The game also teaches strategy. Finally, it teaches patience, because sometimes players can have a turn or two go by without anything happening.
The game can last a tense 90 minutes or so. Catan is rated for kids 8 and up, but I'd recommend a certain level of maturity. Catan usually ends suddenly, when someone reveals they are the winner. At our table, it's often a particular 10-year-old with the mind of a gambler and the soul of a vengeful demon. But don't worry, I'll get her next time.
Camel Up. This is a very new game, but our family is addicted. You can play it with two to eight players, but at least four players is best. That's because this is a gambling game.
 Players bet on camel races. So luck has a lot to do with which of the five racing camels comes in first.
But you don't really care which camel noses over the finish line, because you can bet on all of them.
This game is half luck, half skill. It's over very quickly, in perhaps 20 to 30 minutes, and you'll be itching for a rematch. And while the game says ages "8 and up," I'm sure younger kids could grasp this one easily. And camels... what's not to love?
Pandemic: The Cure. This is a new version of the original Pandemic. The best description of the original game is two to four players play medical specialists racing around the globe trying to stop outbreaks of the world's deadliest diseases. And then... everybody dies.
The game's designers will probably dispute that last sentence, but hey, I've played the original Pandemic a few times. Everybody dies!
 Pandemic: The Cure, on the other hand, gives you a fighting chance to save the world.
Pandemic: The Cure is a cooperative game. Players learn to play to each other's strengths. They also learn to have a big overall strategy along with individual goals.
Pandemic and Pandemic: The Cure are the games my wife hosted to raise money for Doctors Without Borders and fight Ebola. And if you want to do the same, click here.
Robo Rally. In this game, you play one of eight robots in a huge factory. You have to move around the factory to reach goals. The problem is, when you inevitably fall into pits or get in the way of industrial lasers, you get damaged. And hey, those other robots? They're not nice at all. They're shooting at you! Result: You're falling to bits.
 This game teaches you to plan ahead. You will be given nine movement cards at the beginning of each turn to fill five slots. You can plan a perfect route, but if another robot runs into you it can push you off course. This can be disastrous since you can't reprogram any cards until the next hand.
Robo Rally is a great game for the simple reason that every player is involved every turn. To be sure, that activity may be being hurled helplessly down a conveyer belt into the jaws of a grinder, but you're involved. And if your robot dies - and that happens a LOT - then he restarts from a checkpoint and gets to try again.
Whatever your pleasure, I recommend sitting down with family members this Christmas and trying a new game. When all is said and done, nobody remembers hours spent in front of a computer. What counts is the time you spend with your family, and the great memories you build in that time you share.
All the best,
Sean | |
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