Volume 32 - April 22nd
It's all fun and games until someone loses an eye.
Today we’re going to play games so get some popcorn popped and some Bagel Bites heated up and head for the rumpus room! But before we go, let’s check in with St. Todd and see what day it is! Ahhh. He’s the gift that keeps on giving, isn’t he? OK! Last one down there is a rotten egg!
The Feud!
Back when I could do my job, I wrote a whole “Family Feud” game for Sam’s Club and one of the categories was “Name Something You’d Take From Sam’s In The Event Of An Apocalypse”. Little did I know that my made up #1 answer - toilet paper - would be everyone’s actual #1 answer. Want to play Le Feud yourselves? Try the app Family Feud Live! Or create your own “Family Feud” game with these questions and answers and use Zoom to gather your players together. Find yourself with all the time in the world on your hands? Build a survey with Survey Monkey and poll your friends about very inner circle things (things like “name something we did on vacation in Mexico” or “Sandra’s had a lot of boyfriends. Name your favorite”). Take their answers and build your completely customized game with these pre-made templates. Then divide them up, share your screen on Zoom, and play Steve Harvey (mustache not included)!
The Clue Is: The Nerdiest And Best Game Show Ever!
What is “Jeopardy”? It’s the kind of show where you get to feel smart and stupid all at the same time and now you can watch it online at Netflix! Get a Zoom together, share your screen, and see if you and your friends can get the answers before the contestants! Or move to your phone and test your smarts with the Jeopardy World Tour app! Did you know they write a 6th clue for each category? You can try to get the 6th question with your Alexa, your Googs Assistant, or at the Jeopardy site where you’ll find even more Trebekian delights. (This one goes out to Sarah of the St. Louis Bureau who loves them Daily Doubles. xoxo)
Arcade Games!
We had an Atari as a kid and while it was fun, nothing was more fun than dropping quarters into an actual arcade game at a pizza place. I can’t make that happen for you, but I can give you the arcade games in an online form and you can have the pizza delivered. Good enough?
Watching!
"McMillion$" is currently free from HBO, and just like McDonald’s Monopoly game, that’s a limited time offer (unless you have Hulu…). It’s a documentary about a con artist who rigged his chances of winning and made it rain. As my brother said, they really missed a golden arches opportunity by not using “The Hamburglar” somewhere in all this and I couldn’t agree more.
Jumanji is the story of a supernatural board game that literally sucks you in. Robin Williams and Kiersten Dunst starred in the original, but years later it was rebooted with Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Jack Black. “Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle” and “Jumanji: The Next Level” are the latest installments in the franchise and I’ve never seen any of them so…that’s about all I have to say on that subject.
The kids of “Stranger Things” absolutely love Dungeons & Dragons and a lot of their strategy for fighting the bad guys comes from their gaming experience. Actually, the roleplaying game (spoiler alert link!) sets the overall tone for the whole show. And because we can’t resist two great tastes that taste great together, there’s a “Stranger Things” D&D set. Here’s a wacky idea. Why not have a whole “Stranger Things” day? String some Christmas lights, toast some Eggos, set this or that as your Zoom background, and re-embrace the 80s.
Speaking of the 80s, how many of you remember “Labyrinth”? It featured Jennifer Connolly working to solve a maze set up by the Goblin King played by David Bowie and was put together by George Lucas, Jim Henson, and Terry Jones. There’s songs, there’s puppets, there’s elaborate mullet wigs. Confused? Just watch this Honest Trailer. Yep. That was real life. And yep, I still want Jennifer’s poufy sleeved shirt.
Reading!
The Hunger Games could fall into either category here - Watching! or Reading! And while it’s technically about a game, I don’t think it’s a game any of us would want to play, especially since I’ve let my archery go all to hell. Sigh.
What I know about video gaming could fit in a thimble, but here’s a collection of all manner of intelligent writing on the subject. If you’re into it, click on!
Something called “Game of Thrones” exists. I have zero exposure to it, but from what I can tell it’s also a Watching! or Reading! kinda thing. I think it’s about a bunch of fur-clad people and they all look grumpy and cold and there’s dragons and one of them drinks Starbucks, oddly, and I think they’re fighting to sit in a really uncomfortable looking giant chair made from old cutlery or something. Anyway, I don’t think it’s very popular so if you can find it, well, lemme know if I’m right.
It took me longer than normal to write this issue because I was desperately trying to find an image someone sent me of a person playing Cards Against Humanity with a seagull outside their window. Picture it in your mind’s eye because right now that’s the best I can do. If you were the one that sent it, save me from this torment and send it again. Warmest regards.
Love,
A