A Games Party without Party Games

(Life of the Party column – Bernie DeKoven)

If you happen to have a collection of games that are inviting,

attractive, and easy to understand, you don’t really need party games
to have a games party. All you need is a bunch of tables, each with a
game (and a bowl of non-greasy, non-sticky snacks).

First, let’s set up some “dexterity” games. Three, to be exact. More if

you have them. Dexterity games are what one might be tempted to
call “toyetic.” They look like toys. They invite toying with. And, like
toys, they look like fun.

So, you let people toy around. Maybe they can try a round or two of a
game, and then go to another. Or just stand around and kibitz. The
games look like fun. The people who are playing them look like they’re
having fun. And for some, just watching people play will be fun enough.
The rest can wait their turn.

Balanko (Balanko)

Balanko is such a straightforward invitation to fun that you almost

don't need to read the rules. There's a ball on a string. There's
another ball that rides a curved track. There are pits of various
score values - the center and widest pit being, naturally, both the
easiest to get the ball into and of the lowest value. There are
sliding scorekeepers to keep track of your achievements.

One player releases the rolling ball. The other player releases the
swinging ball, hoping that the swinging ball will hit the rolling ball
into a high scoring pit. The only other thing you might want to
know, suggested-rule-wise, is that the ball-roller, sitting on the
opposite side of the game, can try to catch the ball-swinger's, uh,
ball. Which is actually a good idea, given that if she doesn't catch
the swinging ball, and the rolling ball is still rolling, her opponent
can try to catch it and again take yet another swing.

If nothing else happens, sooner or later the swinging ball is going

to hit the rolling ball anyway. On the other hand, it could make
the rolling ball go into either the ball-swinger's or the ball-roller's
pit. So, if one player doesn't catch it, the other player might
consider it strategically sound to grab for the swinging ball as
soon as it's in range.

Setting it up is a bit less straightforward, but the instructions are

clear, the steps few, and it is easy enough to do that you won't
mind having to take it apart and put it back together. Though
you'll probably want to keep it assembled and ready to play with
for-practically-ever.

Balanko is the kind of game that will be as much fun for kids as it
will be for adults and probably even more fun for kids and adults
together.

Rukshuk (Zabazoo)

Rukshuk, a.k.a. "The Game of Rock Balancing," is, as you might

infer, a game about balancing rocks. Well, not actual rocks, but
cunningly contrived, highly rocklike pieces, in 5 different colors.
Highly rocklike - hefty, and irregularly shaped rocklike. There are
long, flat white "bridge rocks" (each player gets two of these to
be used as required). The collection of building rocks includes
smaller white pieces, which only count for one point, but all have
somewhat flat, and most accommodating surfaces. Thus one can
easily imagine oneself building white rock towers and things.
Whilst the blue rocks are only flattish on one side, so the idea of
stacking one on top of another appears to be, shall we say, not
such a good one. Then there are the green rocks (rated as
"difficult"), and the highly irregular, 4-point-scoring red rocks
(candidly rated "impossible") and of course the high-scoring, but
extremely rare gold rocks. None of which is actually a rock.

Then there are the 25 challenge cards, each depicting rock

constructs of various difficulty and historic significance. The
Pinnacle formation, for example, is purportedly found on the
Galapagos Islands, whereas the Pigeon Rock configuration is
somewhere near the city of Beirut.

Players each draw seven rocks from the rock bag, thereby
randomizing the scoring potential and challenge, since you really
can't tell what color rock you'll be getting until you actually get it.
Got it? A Rukshuk card and the sand timer are then turned over
to reveal the challenge for the round and to start the rocky
contest. Players can build and rebuild their rock construct,
attempting to place whatever higher scoring color rocks they
have in their indicated multiple-point positions, or not. Once all
the sand has fallen, all construction ceases, and the scores are
calculated accordingly.

Rukshuk is a surprisingly well-balanced game, if you excuse the

expression. The pieces, the fantasy, the challenge cards all work
together to make the game intensely involving, even for the
nimble-fingered few, just enough chance and strategic depth to
entice the less-than-dexterous many.

Destruct 3 (Uncle Skunkle)

There's something primal about Destruct 3. My wife says it's a

boy thing. If it is, it's a primal boy thing. Build. Destroy. Build
again.

There are 12 small wooden blocks: three T-shape blocks, four L-

shape, four longish rectangles, and one shortish. You can use any
two of these for a base, upon which the remain ten are to be
built. You assemble your construct somewhere in the center of
the designated platform. After you've created your version of a
stable structure, the enemy (all right, the other players), take
turns trying to destroy it.

The are three destruction mechanisms, which one might call,

respectively: the Ramp of Doom, the Pendulum of Destiny, and
the Catapult of Catastrophe. Each of these is a large wooden
structure, to which a ball-and-cord is attached. Which of these
devices you get to use is determined by the roll a die. You take
the appointed mechanism, position it in any of the 12 mechanism
mounts, and do your best/worst.

The scoring is equally ingenious. You get two points for each
block you've knocked over, as long as it rests in the center square
of the building platform. You get one point for the blocks that
remain on the periphery. And no points for blocks that are
knocked completely and entirely off the platform all together.
Thus, you must temper your destructive impulse, else you will
knock the blocks too far from the high-scoring center of the
building platform. And, as builder, you get to be both
constructively artful and strategically cunning in devising
structures that are prone to wide dispersal upon impact.

Destruct 3 is not a kids' game. Not at it's price. It is a maturely

crafted, all-wooden, eco-sensitive, heirloom-type, self-contained,
hinge-boxed play tool, made of rubber tree wood, because
"rubber-tree wood is a by-product of rubber harvests and is a
sustainable resource." You may let your kids play with it, as long
as they are clear about who owns what and why.

Then there are the strategy games. Those that work best in a
games party have the same properties that make dexterity
games so attractive: they look like fun, they’re easy to learn and
understand, and they’re visually appealing.

Qwirkle (MindWare)

Qwirkle is an elegant tile game, easy to learn and understand,

visually inviting, and increasingly challenging as the game
progresses.

There are 108 thick, wooden tiles - thick enough to stand on end,
like dominoes. Each tile is imprinted with one of six shapes in one
of six colors. Players take turns, adding to an increasingly
complex grid of tiles, the rule being that to place a tile it must be
either of the same color or shape as the adjacent tiles. You can
place several tiles, as long as they are in one line.

Each player starts out with 6 tiles, and replenishes her hand after
each play. The game continues until all 108 tiles have been
played.

Your score for the turn depends on the number of tiles in the rows
or columns adjacent to the tiles you've just placed. So, if one of
your tiles brings the number of tiles in a row to, say, 4, and the
number of tiles in a column to, for example, 3, you'd score 7
points for that one tile. If your tile is the sixth in a row or column
of tiles of the same shape or color, you'd score twice as many
points (12). As more tiles are placed, there are more choices, so
the search for the high scoring play becomes more and more
complex. The challenge is both visual and logical, clear enough to
engage a school-age child, and complex enough to invite serious,
adult competition. Most importantly, though it is a competitive
game, the competition is gentle and inviting. You win more by
your ability to find the best possible placement for your pieces
than you do by trying to keep your opponent from scoring.

In fact, so satisfying was it to get a high score in any single turn

was that we really didn't need to keep a cumulative score. We
could admire each other's genius (and luck), while more or less
competing to see if one of our plays could score even higher.

SET (Set Enterprises) is a card game of perception and logic for

one or more players, age six and up.

SET is such a fun challenge, so absorbing, so elegantly designed

that there's no upper limit to the number of players.

Each card has from one to three symbols of one of three different
shapes, of one of three different colors, either outlined, shaded or
solid. This outlined, shaded or solid bit makes for yet another
complication, so the SET makers, if I may so designate them
(actually, it's SET Enterprises) have thoughtfully packaged the
cards in two separate decks. The smaller deck contains just the
solid ("filled") symbols, and is, consequently, much easier to play
with.

The game begins by laying out twelve cards, face -up.

Simultaneously, players compete to find three cards that
comprise a SET. A SET is: "three cards in which each of the card's
features, looked at one-by-one, are the same on each card, or,
are different on each card." My wife understood this immediately.
After playing several rounds, I discovered myself understanding it
(I could find SETs) but still not being able to verbalize exactly
what a SET is. Apparently, it's one of those left-right brain things.
Which is key to why this game is so compelling. And why it works
so well with even school-age kids. And why it's won so many
awards. Including the coveted Major Fun award.
Also, because the design is so elegant, it invites variations,
several of which including a cooperative version (always my
favorite) are described on the SET site.

SET Enterprises also offers a daily puzzle. It's a great way to get a
sense of the game, and a genuinely absorbing challenge in and of
itself.

SET is a great family game, a great game for school kids, an

equally great game for adults, to play by yourself or at a party, or
in a restaurant... Challenging. Elegant. Major Fun.

Stack (Talicor)

Stack is a strategy game you play with dice. A lot of dice. 14 for
each player.

First, you decide on what color you want. Then, you spill all the
dice onto the table, and smoosh them around in noisy, and
gleeful anticipation. Then you take turns stacking dice (hence the
name of the game), one die at a time, on any die other than your
own. A stack can be up to four dice high. The die that is on top of
the stack determines who gets the points. The higher the number
on the top die, the higher the value of the stack.That's about all
you need to know in order to play the game. Except that you can,
if so moved, roll a die instead of stacking it. The rest is strategy.

And a very absorbing strategy, indeed. A stack that is three-dice-

high is what you might call "attractive." Especially if it's a stack of
5s or 6s. Insofar as the next player who has a matching die can
claim that stack permanently - or at least until the 15-20 minute
game is over and score is calculated. Did I mention that 1s are
worth 10? Then there are the two-dice stacks, which will wind up
scoring for the player with the top die, unless someone puts
another die on top of them, which then makes them a three-dice
stack, which, as mentioned above, become dangerously
attractive. As the game progresses, and there are fewer and
fewer dice to play, the strategy changes accordingly.

For such a simple concept (easy enough for a 6-year-old), the

game becomes remarkably deep (more than deep enough for this
61-year-old). And, because you're all playing together, with this
big pile of dice, there's something about the game that makes
you feel more together, as friends and family.

The set comes with four different colors. Which means that you
can have up to four different players. You can get yet another set
with four more different colors. So, if you're a family of eight, you
can still play together. If you have the wherewithal to buy the
deluxe, one-inch-dice set, go for it. The big dice add heft and a
certain deliciously preparatory noisesomeness. Oh, yeah, there's
even a velvitish bag for storage and transport, which you will
probably do, often.