Lockdown plans: Time to play some classic board games

If you have had enough of watching Netflix and reading books why not play a board game or two with your family during the evening hours when you are cooped up inside your home? While there are several online board games that are widely played these days, there is no better way to pass the time than by playing some of the classic board games with one’s family.

When we talk of board games the first thing that comes to our mind is Monopoly. The timeless game of Monopoly is a popular trading game where players buy, sell, and scheme their way to become rich and wealthy. Played since 1935, there is a newer version and  it is cashless. So  you’ll no longer need a banker when you play Monopoly as it now uses electronic banking.

Clue is a mystery game  meant for the whole family where one has to find out who is responsible for murdering the host at a millionaire’s mansion or a boardwalk. A combination of the Telephone game and Pictionary,  Telestrations needs six players where you need to draw some quick sketches and make guesses based on others’ drawings.

Scrabble has always been people’s most favoured board game  where players are given a set number of wooden letter tiles to begin, and each letter is assigned a different point value. Don’t forget to keep a pen and paper nearby to keep track of your scores. When the player has used all the tiles the game ends and then points are calculated. The person who has the highest points is the winner.

Chess lovers can make the best use of this time. In this classic game there are two players with 16 pieces each side on a 64-square game board. The  ultimate goal is to checkmate the opponent’s king piece. Pawns, rooks, bishops, knights, a queen, and a king are some of the pieces, each one having different rules different rules.

Search your store room and you are sure to find a Chinese Checkers board, a game that you can play with your whole family. In this game the first player to move all 10 of  their pegs or marbles into the star point is the winner. Players take turns moving one of their pieces at a time.

Another popular family game is Uno. An Uno deck contains 108 cards — 25 cards each in one of four colours, plus 8 special action cards. Players take turns to matchi a card from their hand by number or colour to the card in the middle of the game.  When a player has just one card left they get to call out “Uno!” as a warning to the other players.