100Chall - random thing #3 - summer games

[orangerful]

Took my copy of Sorry! over to maybedeadcat's tonight and we played a game with his daughter. He pointed out that my game was so old the cards were not "gender neutral" in their language, referring to each game piece as "your man" and not "pawn". Wonder if it's worth anything?

I used to spend summers playing card games and board games with my grandma and my aunt. When we played SORRY! I had a habit of whacking her piece across the board anytime I landed on a slide tile and then saying "SORRY!". She would say "yeah, you're gonna be sorry!" -- the games got pretty intense.

Our other big summer activity was Progressive Rummy. We would play this for HOURS! It's a card game with 7 different hands, each building on each other. You have to have a certain thing to play before you can do anything else:

First hand - 2 sets of 3 of a kind
Second - one set of 3 and one run of 4 (run must be all same suit)
Third - 2 runs of 4 (all same suit)
Fourth - 3 sets of 3 of a kind
Fifth - 2 set of 3, 1 run of 4
Sixth - 1 set of 3, 2 runs of 4
Seven - 1 run of 7, 2 sets of 3

The last hand got pretty ridiculous. My mom actually made us card holders because you ended up having SO MANY CARDS in your hand for the last round since it took forever to build hand.

You would track the score for each hand. Like golf, the less points you had the better. Winner went out first so they had zero. Then you added up all the cards. 2s were wild so they were the worst, like 20 points.

I have many fond memories of sitting around their dining room table, playing this card game. They were my Dad's parents and sister, lived in Florida for the first chunk of my life, then moved back to Michigan, then to Maryland. For some reason, they let me swear a little bit when I was at their house (and my parents were not around). This was, like, the special thing about going to their house, I could swear a little bit (mostly just "SHIT!" but when you're 10, that's pretty crazy!). So anytime I would lose a game or a hand, I'd say "oh shit!" along with my aunt and grandma LOL. Yeah, I was a WILD CHILD!

Comments

[juliet-demarcus.livejournal.com]

I really love playing board games and card games (though I don't really know/remember how to play many card games...or any?), but growing up nobody ever wanted to play them with me. Rarely, I did play with my parents or my brother...but mostly it just never happened. Though when I was older I was more able to convince people to play, at least the board games. Also, when the power was out, I could always manage to get them to play. I do think I played a bit of Go Fish with one of my grandmothers... I'd almost forgotten that.

I actually have a good selection of games now that I rope people into playing with me when I can. Like Scrabble and Life. There are a bunch of these "geeky" versions of games I want that I saw on the Think Geek website. Also, I have this Buffy game, but I've never played it. Everyone said it seemed too complicated. Blah.

It's cool that you have so many fond memories of playing cards and board games with your family. That sounds really lovely. One reason I like those kinds of games is because it allows you to interact with your family or friends for long periods of time without doing something typical like watching television or movies. It usually ends up being a lot of fun too! I recently played Mexican Train at a friend's house, and I loved that. I want a set of Mexican Train dominoes, so I can force other people to play it with me. :)

Also, I think grandparents can sometimes be a little more easy going when it comes to things like profanity. Funny how that works.

[orangerful.livejournal.com]

lol I have the Buffy game too, though I am not sure I ever attempted to play it.  I got it on clearance at a toy store.  I remember taking all the pieces out but the  directions were so confusing and you needed a lot of people for the game to really work.  Hm...this sounds like an excuse for a party!  Im sure with enough alcohol, no one will care how ridiculous the game actually is!

[juliet-demarcus.livejournal.com]

Ha! I wonder how many people have that game and have never really played it. Yes, it is the perfect excuse for a party (with alcohol)! That would probably turn out to be hilarious actually.