The Zero at the Bone Thread

[lumpley]

Oh my God, I stacked the Candyland deck too.  My sister caught me and I denied it.  I'd forgotten that.

-Vincent

[Mike Holmes]

Oh my God, I stacked the Candyland deck too.  My sister caught me and I denied it.  I'd forgotten that.

Oh, come on. Once you realize that there's no skill to winning in Candy Land, that the player is completely disempowered and at the mercy of the game, then what else is there to do than stack the deck? That particular act of chicanery becomes the only possible way to create a Gamist outlet.

Well, that, and moving your pawn when the others aren't looking.

I've been playing lots of Candyland, lately, for real. Not to derail the thread, but it's interesting from a developmental POV that this game is designed purely to teach basic understanding of how to follow game rules. The primary act of playing any game. Chutes and Ladders is, of course, the other good example.

Mike

[Christopher Weeks]

I bought Candyland when my son was of appropriate age and played it once.  I ended up thinking that it was teaching things that were inappropriate (mostly, that boardgames suck) and threw it away.

Chris

[quozl]

I've been playing lots of Candyland, lately, for real. Not to derail the thread, but it's interesting from a developmental POV that this game is designed purely to teach basic understanding of how to follow game rules. The primary act of playing any game. Chutes and Ladders is, of course, the other good example.

Mike

Me too.  My daughter will be turning 3 in July and she loves to play games with me.  Interestingly, she prefers Chutes and Ladders over Candyland.  (I think it's because Chutes and Ladders has a spinner and spinners are fun.)

As for better games, we played Reiner Knizia's Too Many Cooks last night and she did pretty good at it.  She's even better at Knizia's Loco!

[Christopher Weeks]

As for better games, we played Reiner Knizia's Too Many Cooks last night and she did pretty good at it.

My God!  She's a savant.  Too Many Cooks is a really sophisticated game.  My nine year old can play it, but there's no way he could have at three.  (Maybe throwing away Candyland was the wrong call!)

Chris

[quozl]

My God!  She's a savant.  Too Many Cooks is a really sophisticated game.  My nine year old can play it, but there's no way he could have at three.  (Maybe throwing away Candyland was the wrong call!)

Chris

I guess I should qualify my statement.  She needs to be coached through everything and since she doesn't know addition yet, she's pretty much playing cards randomly.  Also, she didn't have the patience to go through all 5 rounds either.  But the point is, she loves playing games with me and that's what is so wonderful!

[orbsmatt]

Back to the original topic...

I once posted in The Forge just to see my number of posts go up (I won't mention where).

I am so ashamed...

[quozl]

Back to the original topic...

What?  Man, this is a birthday forum.  When the topic drifts, you don't start a new thread, you drift with it!

[orbsmatt]

I'm sorry.  I guess I have another thing to be ashamed about.  *hangs head in utter shame*

[Garbanzo]

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(that's really funny)

-

[GreatWolf]

I guess I should qualify my statement.  She needs to be coached through everything and since she doesn't know addition yet, she's pretty much playing cards randomly.  Also, she didn't have the patience to go through all 5 rounds either.  But the point is, she loves playing games with me and that's what is so wonderful!

I play Carcassonne with my daughter (6) and my two elder sons (4 and almost 3).  Arianna can essentially play by herself, although she takes full advantage of the built-in kibitzing rule.  Isaac (the four-year old) can play okay, and Samuel...well, he has fun drawing the tiles.

Arianna has been trying out some of my other games, too.  She likes Tamsk, because it's pretty easy to grasp, and she likes Clans, although she really can't play it very well.

Seth Ben-Ezra
Great Wolf
(riding the thread drift)

[Christopher Weeks]

One of the earliest "real" games that my son was able to play quite well was Atilla.  Those of you with youngens should keep it in mind.  And it's a great game, too.

Chris