2008 Woodie Awards
Board games, a friendly contact sport
By: Tim Sampson
Issue date: 4/11/08 Section: Sibs N Kids
Growing up with two brothers, I was bound to wind up with at least a couple of scars.
But my cuts and bruises as a child didn't come from playing football and trying to pop wheelies on my bike. Most of mine were derived from brotherly board games that went horribly awry.
And as siblings descend on campus this weekend, I can't help but be reminiscent for all those childhood games of "Mouse Trap" that ended in bloody-noses and hurt feelings.
It's not that my brothers and I pulled these games out of the upstairs closet expecting a fistfight to ensue. We always had high hopes that these games would be played fairly and that we would see them through to their conclusion. But each game had a fatal flaw that led to bitter competitiveness and ultimately a foot in someone's face.
I've still got thimble-shaped scars from "Monopoly," a beastly game that never ended in the Sampson household until somebody flipped the board and sent the other one crying to Mom.
To give you a sense of the bad blood generated by this game, I'm currently on a lifetime ban from being the banker in my family.
Why?
Because I love to steal! I'm like a Park Place kleptomaniac! And whenever my brothers caught me nonchalantly sliding a couple of $500 bills out of the bank, that game was about 20 seconds and one screaming match from being over.
But "Monopoly" was not the only board game known for causing conflict among the Sampson brothers. Whenever my younger brother Matt and I broke out "Thirteen Dead End Drive," our parents knew we wouldn't be on speaking terms for the rest of the day.
"Thirteen Dead End Drive," for those who did not grow up in the 90s, was kind of like "Clue" for stupid kids. It was a murder mystery board game that replaced the logic and deduction of "Clue" with the wacky traps and shenanigans of "Mouse Trap."
Now this game always started off on a sour note because it took about an hour to put together, and we constantly fought just assembling that damn cardboard mansion.
But my cuts and bruises as a child didn't come from playing football and trying to pop wheelies on my bike. Most of mine were derived from brotherly board games that went horribly awry.
And as siblings descend on campus this weekend, I can't help but be reminiscent for all those childhood games of "Mouse Trap" that ended in bloody-noses and hurt feelings.
It's not that my brothers and I pulled these games out of the upstairs closet expecting a fistfight to ensue. We always had high hopes that these games would be played fairly and that we would see them through to their conclusion. But each game had a fatal flaw that led to bitter competitiveness and ultimately a foot in someone's face.
I've still got thimble-shaped scars from "Monopoly," a beastly game that never ended in the Sampson household until somebody flipped the board and sent the other one crying to Mom.
To give you a sense of the bad blood generated by this game, I'm currently on a lifetime ban from being the banker in my family.
Why?
Because I love to steal! I'm like a Park Place kleptomaniac! And whenever my brothers caught me nonchalantly sliding a couple of $500 bills out of the bank, that game was about 20 seconds and one screaming match from being over.
But "Monopoly" was not the only board game known for causing conflict among the Sampson brothers. Whenever my younger brother Matt and I broke out "Thirteen Dead End Drive," our parents knew we wouldn't be on speaking terms for the rest of the day.
"Thirteen Dead End Drive," for those who did not grow up in the 90s, was kind of like "Clue" for stupid kids. It was a murder mystery board game that replaced the logic and deduction of "Clue" with the wacky traps and shenanigans of "Mouse Trap."
Now this game always started off on a sour note because it took about an hour to put together, and we constantly fought just assembling that damn cardboard mansion.
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