My Favourite Board Games

Sunday, February 20, 2005

Boggle Anyone?

Boggle anyone?

This is another word-based fantastic board game that I've enjoyed playing with my kids.

In a nutshell, you shake this container with a whole lot of dice with letters printed on. Then, players must make up words by combining the letters of adjacent dice until the sand clock runs out of time.

Easy to explain, but coming up with so many words is a great challenge.

One thing that can be annoying, though, is the noise you get when shaking the container. But if you're playing, that won't bother you too much.

Of course, there is also a digital version of Boggle, with realistic and entertaining graphics and sounds.

The experiences, however, are very different. Normally, when you play with the actual game (as opposed to the virtual digital game), you have to struggle with the angle of the game. You have to "spot the words" with the container upside down (depending on the players' position).

Additionally, the actual Boggle game allows players to interact with one another... which is, I think, one of the greates values derived from board games: It's a family game!

On the other hand, whilst the digital version of Boggle allows to play in multiplayer mode, it is not quite the same. Sure, you get the enjoyment of discovering the computer randomly generated words, but you do lose the "vibes".

The same happens with the digital versions of Monopoly.

To me, playing a digital version of a board game is a last resort convenience that I take up when there is absolutely nobody else to play with....

(Secretly, though, I do enjoy defeating my digital opponents in any game... but I have to admit that I cannot really enjoy being an ungracious winner when I beat somebody who does not really exist!).

Talk to you soon.


Jeff

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