Last night, my darling husband and I ‘inaugurated’ our Cluedo game. We’d bought it quite a while ago, but in the evenings there always seemed to be either something on TV or some appointment with friends, or even work… But at last we decided we were going to have a gaming evening – not computer games as usual, but a good old board game, like in the old days!
I’d never played Cluedo before, so it was something entirely new to me; and my darling Ian hadn’t played it since he was a teenager! But, since we’re both big fans of murder mystery, it seemed the ideal game for us… So, we set it up on the table, and started reading the game instructions – it sounded quite complicated at first, even though it’s rated suitable for age 8 and over!
The aim is basically to find out: who did it, with what weapon, and in which room. Which means you’ve got to find out by logical conclusion which are the three cards which, face down, are put in the secret envelope at the beginning of the game; the other cards are dealt out, and so the suspects, the weapons and the rooms are cleared from suspicion one by one. After one or two test runs, we’d already got the hang of it, and it really is a great deal of fun!
So, dear friends, I’ve got some advice for you here: play more games! Real games, with real people. We all love our computer and mobile phone games – I sometimes play them for hours on end – but playing together with others IS different. With your friends, your family, your partner; there’s nothing like a gaming evening to bring you even closer together! And there’s such a big choice of games, too – board games, like Cluedo or Scrabble or Backgammon or even Chess; or how about a nice game of cards, like Poker or Canasta or Gin Rummy? Even if you don’t know the rules, you can always look them up on the internet!
Just have a look at a local toy shop or online; there’s loads and loads of games to be found there! Then you can turn ‘just another TV evening’ into a fun and sociable gaming night, dear friends…
Roberta Franklin 