The retired General still enjoyed the spirit of competition, so
I wheeled him into the game hall as I’ve done every Wednesday for
several years. A myriad of faces turned with familiar smiles and a
chorus of hellos. It was quite a set-up they had here at the hall
and its popularity had done nothing but rise over time. Scattered
throughout were games of every type and for every age group…joyous
uproars of laughter erupted from the “kiddie” areas while in the
more adult sections one could here the scratch of a pencil across a
paper or the tentative move of a game piece. They only played the
classic versions of each game, and they played them by the
rules.
Each area was designated by a letter (or letters for some of the
larger areas) hanging from the ceiling and only one game was played
in that section. I helped park the General’s wheelchair with the
intense war simulator games and all of the participants started
positioning their battalions, cannons, tanks, and other war pieces.
These games were always passionate, but complicated, so I left the
General with his other cohorts. Meanwhile, not in the mood to play
anything, I wandered from section to section and just caught little
snippets from each of the games. I remember some of them.…
Section A – “Dad…you hit my battleship for the last
time…it’s sunk!”
Section B - “OK…you were right when you said that South
America was broken down into 4 territories and Africa had 6
territories, but how many territories is Antarctica broken down
into?” (I remember a devious look on this guy’s face as he quizzed
his competitor about the game they were about to play).
Sections CD – I happened upon someone introducing another
to the game. “…that is the number of points that are found on each
side of the board. The board is divided by something called the
“bar”. Checkers are then moved around the board according to the
dice roll…” I walked away before hearing the rest.
Section E – Again, I happened upon an introduction to the
game. “…each of the tiles can have pips on a side that can range
from 6 to …”.
Section FG – Childish laughter was erupting from these
tables. “You deserve to be on that square…that is what you get for
drawing on the wall with crayons…”
Section HI – This area had much more of an intellectual
mood. “Great score…JUKEBOX…unfortunately there were no colored
squares beneath, but you do get the bonus for using all of your
pieces.”
Section J – Another rule explanation…”Now this piece can
move two spaces the first time it moves and can move %^*# (couldn’t
hear what he said because of the background noise) afterwards.
Section K – Looked like a family oriented game. “You got
five boys and the rest are girls filling each of the spots in your
car…good thing you have a Doctor’s salary, you are going to need
it!”.
Section L –I overheard someone whisper this to another
onlooker about what they thought at the moment “…it has to be one
of the women who committed the murder, and you know how many there
are…”.
Section MN – Probably the most popular area of the hall…”
I know I won money from the beauty pageant, but I still only have
one blue one, one yellow one, two pink ones, and one white one. I
probably won’t last another turn…”.
I wandered back and checked upon the General, but he was
immersed within his world of squadrons and infantries. Although I
enjoyed this world of board games, I was suddenly in the mood for
treasure hunting…
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