I haven’t done this before. I think that it is fun to go back and talk about games that I played growing up. And I think it’s fitting to do on Christmas Eve. Growing up playing board games was something that we’d do a lot at the holidays. Maybe a little bit less on Christmas Eve, but for Thanksgiving, Easter, Christmas Day, New Years Eve, New Years Day, all of those, there would be board games pulled out. It is some of where I got my love for board games.

So we are going to look at a number of classic board games and see how well they hold up now. Am I still interested in playing them myself still? Or are they games that I’ve played and I’m done with now.

Uno

Uno is a simple game with simple rules. You play down a matching color or number. It is pretty typical, and really is what so many card games are based off of. Which means that there is take that, you can skip someone else’s turn, make them draw, sometimes draw four, or reverse it away from them.

This is a game that I rate pretty lowly at this point. It is an okay one growing up, but there are so many more card games that I’d play now. Something like Ohanami is just as simple and way more fun. And games can take a long time, or be over really quickly. Is there strategy, a tiny bit, but sometimes it is just luck.

Grade: 3/10

Skip-Bo

Now we move to another pretty simple card game. This one is about putting cards down in numerical order to get rid of your pile of cards. But there are Skip-Bo cards that can be used as any number. When you can’t play anymore, or don’t want to, you discard a card to one of three discard piles you have. You can use those cards to help play out more cards later, assuming the card you need is on top of the discard.

This game is generally play out everything that you can, and then wait for your next turn. But sometimes you don’t want to because you don’t want to leave your opponent(s) opportunities to play down a card from their pile. So you might pull back a little bit. And adding cards to your discard pile is also an interesting decision space in the game. I’d play this one again, though it is very light and simple.

Grade: 5/10

Dutch Blitz

Much like Skip-Bo where you are trying to get rid of all of your cards and putting them down in numerical order, you do that with Dutch Blitz as well. Except that Dutch Blitz is done in real time. You flip two cards from your pile and you can play the top one down. The game is fast and hectic, and can reach a situation where no one can play at which point you flip one card before flipping two again.

This is another one that I wouldn’t mind playing again. I likely won’t pull out my copy of the game though, because the game is just okay. It is a speed game that works for some quick entertainment. And it is again really easy to learn and play. It won’t be for everyone, though, because of that real time speed aspect.

Grade: 5/10

Yahtzee

Now, this one is going to be the highest graded game on the list. I think in 2020 it was in my Top 100, just barely, or just missed it. Yahtzee is a fun roll and write game where you are trying to get certain rolls of dice. It might be sets of numbers, or a run, or a full house, or all of the same number, a Yahtzee. And depending on what you get determines where you can place it on the score sheet.

My family and I play this one often. We kind of have it down to a science knowing what the odds are on certain rolls and what roll is the best one to go for in a given situation. It makes the game kind of silly because we can make snap decisions on what to do, when to push our luck, and stuff like that. I dropped on my list because I have played it a lot, but it is still a fun one.

Grade: 7.5/10

Scrabble

Not too far behind Yahtzee is Scrabble, another game I’d play again for sure. It is a lot of fun to try and come up with good words. But that’s not how you optimize Scrabble. It is about scoring as many points as you can with the words that you have. So if you can build off of what other people have done to create multiple words at once, that is how you do well.

And while I like Scrabble, I do think that it has diminishing returns. Or more so, skill level for the game matters a lot. Using all your letters can score you a ton of points, but that is tricky. So setting it up that your opponents can’t score well and that they’ll give you spots to score a lot is more what the game is about. Vocabulary doesn’t matter, it’s more about knowing the board and how leverage scoring.

Grade: 6.5/10

Clue

Another one that I don’t mind, are there better deduction games that don’t having you roll and move, for sure. And it sucks if you get stuck without being able to try and find out information, but the game is still interesting. And when you play, you start to realize how you can get information not on your turn. How you can create scenarios where it is meaningful information to help you narrow down things quickly.

This is like Scrabble. There is the game you are playing that you can play easily. Then there is the game that you can play which will get you the win. So you need kind of the same level of skill for players, otherwise some players will have a distinct advantage as they play. And the roll and move and potential dead turns isn’t fun.

Grade: 6.5/10

Monopoly

Monopoly is a classic game of too long game play and not enough interesting choices. You roll the dice, you move, you buy the property, if you can, and if not, it goes up for auction. That is a rule that no one remembers, though, and that makes Monopoly take forever. And even with that rule the game is way too long for the decisions that you make.

Maybe if the game played faster it’d be better for me. But it isn’t that, and never will be. Yes, it is extremely popular because everyone knows it. And there is a Monopoly for everything. So if you want a copy, it is a game that people know how to play, even if they don’t know the actual rules.

That is the one thing cool about Monopoly. People know how to play the game, not because people read the rules. Monopoly’s rules are an oral tradition at this point. That means that rules might vary from teacher to teacher. It doesn’t make the game any better, but it is interesting.

Grade: 1/10

Life

While I do like Life better than Monopoly, Life has less decision making space than Monopoly. In Life you spin a spinner and something happens to you. Never versions offer some choices. Like what house you buy, you draw two and buy the cheaper. Why, because how much money you have at the end of the game is what determines if you win.

Why do I like it better than Monopoly, all be it barely, because it tells a silly story. You spin and move, sure. But you spin and move and get a job, a house, a spouse, kids, and a lot of other random things that happen. So at the end of the game, you have a story that you can tell about your family. Is it a dumb game, yes, but it is silly as you play.

Grade: 2/10

Rummikub

Now we come back to another game that I generally like the puzzle of. You create sets of tiles based off of number without repeating colors or runs in colors. The game play is pretty simple. You build off of what is already out there, and draw a tile each turn. Your goal is to get rid of all your tiles. But if you can puzzle out a way to move those sets around into runs or vice-a-versa, that is so much fun.

Rummikub really gives you a way to feel clever. Now to do that it is basically causing every player at the table to have analysis paralysis. Especially late in the game when there are a ton of tiles on the table. But it is a simple game and easy to teach. And it feels enough different from a lot of classic games that it works.

Grade: 5/10

Set

Finally we have Set. This is a game where skill matters a ton. Some people are good at pattern recognition and others aren’t. You are looking at a 3×4 grid, I think or maybe 3×3 and looking for a set of three cards that match up some way. They can be completely different in every way. Or they need to match exactly one thing. or they need to match all but one thing. It is tricky to explain without the cards.

This is a game that I kind of like. It’s tricky, I like it because I am very good at pattern recognition. It isn’t a great game, but it is one that works for a wide audience. Though, sometimes that audience will get stomped.

Playing Set growing up, I’d generally play with two cousins. I forget how many possible sets you can get, but on average, I’d probably have 70% of the sets, my other cousin would get 28% of them, and the third player would maybe get one. And that was his goal in those games, get a set. So, Set is not a game that everyone will be as good at.

Grade: 5/10

There we have it. 10 Classic Games with a quick review on all of them. Are there any games from your childhood that you still play? Are there any that you won’t play? Let me know in the comments below.

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