I’ve always been a fan of board games.

I remember playing – and loving – Candy Land and Chutes & Ladder when I was a real little kid.  Later on – still pre-teen – my favorites were Stratego, Twister, Monopoly, Life and chess.   Stratego was the best … I still play it via a phone app called “the General.”

When I was in my late teens and early 20′s, I became a big fan of Risk.  I really liked the battles, strategy and premise:  conquer the world!  I’d play this with my friends for hours which is literally how long it takes to finish it.  Grammy HATES this game!

When your Dad was a little boy, he loved video games, but we’d also play a wide range of board games including the classics like Monopoly, Mouse Trap, Clue and Battleship.  Your Aunt Nicole’s favorite was Mall Madness, a game I’ve since introduced you & Ainsley to:

“There’s a sale at the Fashion boutique and a clearance at the Department store and a sale at the record shop.”

Be the first player to buy something at six different stores and return to the parking lot and you win Mall Madness!

In 1981, a unique board game was launched called Dark Tower.  I bought it and couldn’t get enough.  It’s a battle game, but unlike traditional board games, it featured an electronic Tower that automatically kept track of each player’s assets (food, warriors, weapons, gold) and managed ongoing battles and supply purchases at the Bazzaar.

The object is to move your warrior around the board through four kindgdoms and return back to your original home location, while winning battles (sometimes losing) and accumulating three keys.  Along the way there are dragons, warriors get lost, sometimes get the plague and they can even starve. 

Once back in your home kindgdom, having accumulated a big enough but well-fed army, you launch a final attack against the Dark Tower brigands having first solved “the riddle of the keys.”  If your warriors defeat the brigands, you win the game.

Around Thanksgiving, I taught you and Ben the basics and we played awhile.  But you had to leave before we finished and you guys were NOT happy about it.  I promised to play with you again soon and finish an entire game.

A week or so later, Grammy and I stayed with you, Ainsley and Madigan for a couple days while your parents went to a wedding in Connecticut. I brought two board games over: Dark Tower and Mall Madness.  We ended up playing them 2-3 times apiece.

You loved Dark Tower and caught on quickly – it’s a fairly complicated game with 40+ pages of instructions – and we moved our warriors steadily around the board.  You really enjoyed the battles (which is the only way to win gold and keys), the ongoing sound effects and strategy. We were both disappointed every time the Dark Tower randomly “cursed” us, giving some of our warriors and gold to the other player!

Nearly two hours later you had assembled a large enough army to attack the Dark Tower and fight the brigands.   Luckily, you had enough Warriors to battle successfully, and as the countdown continued (“27 brigands, 27 warriors… 25 warriors, 24 brigands… 24 brigands, 23 warriors… 23 warriors, 20 brigands…23 warriors, 15 brigands… and so on) you finally were announced the Dark tower winner as the monitor displayed a warrior proudly holding a sword above his head.

Here’s a photo of you after you had won – you were very excited.  I hope we get to do it again soon.