Catch Phrase entertains Nell Harrelson, left, Mary Autumn Tippett, Candice Harrelson and Athan Tippet.
From my vantage point, playing games is an enduring family occupation, one that grows exponentially over the years as kids grow up, as new people enter the family and as new games come to market or are invented by imaginative people.
I grew up in a family that played Monopoly, Clue and Risk, as well as Scrabble and numerous card games. Go fish and crazy eights were played when we were younger and we played hearts when were teenagers. We played checkers with an uncle who also taught one of my brothers to play chess, a lesson that turned out to have a lasting impact on our family.
One game I particularly recall playing as a child, especially with friends when spending time in our cabin in Twain Harte, was a game called Sardines. This wasn’t a board game, nor did it require much mental agility, but it was sure full of hilarity. Sardines is a kind of reverse hide-and-seek, and this is how it’s played, always at night:
One person is selected as it. While all players gather in one room in the house, it hides somewhere in the house. All the lights are turned off. After five minutes, the seekers emerge to hunt silently in the dark for whoever is it. When a seeker finds it, he or she snuggles in beside the person and waits for others to find him or her. Before long, there is a whole slew of people spooned together trying not to giggle, which, of course, is impossible.
Several generations enjoy a game of Catch Phrase.
I taught Sardines to a bunch of college kids on a field trip a few years back. We played the game in a house we’d rented to stay in while in Ashland, Ore. The age range of players that evening was 18-60, confirming my belief that this was not just child’s game. I’ve since learned that during later field trips to Ashland, playing Sardines has become a tradition.
When I was in college, my housemates and I played innumerable games of backgammon, which I understand is one of the oldest board games known. The game was so much a part of our lives that I asked for a backgammon set for Christmas that year, and received a lovely set in a leather carrying case that I have to this day.
Huck Harrelson, left, Clavey Wood, Liam Toner, Gianna Tippett and Athan Tippett play Boutros Boutros Ghali.Photo by Patricia Harrelson
We also played this crazy version of Scrabble in teams with an upright board so that what each team saw on their side of the board was the reverse spellings of the words made by the other team. That game was a real brain-teaser, something our young, flexible minds enjoyed.
With my own children, I played Candy Land and Chutes and Ladders. They also remember playing the card games fish, crazy eights and war. When I asked them about the games they remember playing, my son and daughter had this revealing exchange.
“I always liked solitaire, and played it on my own even into adulthood,” said Jennie Lou.
“I still play it on my phone while I’m on planes,” Raleigh responded.
“I didn’t like digital solitaire,” Jenny Lou countered. “I like the sound and feel of the cards clicking out of my fingers onto the table.”
“I’m all about efficiency,” Raleigh insisted. “So much time is spent moving cards around. I can play 12 games digitally in the time of one old-school game.”
Clare Tippett and Mary Autumn Tippett play chess after brushing up on the game with their uncle.
That, dear readers, is the nominal reference I will make to currently popular digital games. The focus here is on the other ways that family and friends play games.
When my children were older, Trivial Pursuit was tremendously popular, and we jumped on the bandwagon. We usually played this game when crowds of young people or family gathered. When my brother’s wife took part, everyone knew she would win, because her vast memory for trivia is legendary in our family.
Now that my children have their own families, they are playing many of the old favorites as well as games that arrived with new family members. A favorite multigenerational game that I learned this way is Boutros Boutros Ghali.
Boutros Boutros Ghali is played like this:
Everyone who’s playing – at least six players – is given three to 10 slips of paper, known as chits. Players write the names of individuals – fictional or real-life – on each of their chits. Examples might be Mickey Mouse, Ed Sheeran, Mookie Betts, David Copperfield or Boutros Boutros-Ghali. It’s also OK to use entities like Father Time or Guardian Angel, but groups such as the Beatles are not allowed. Players are randomly paired by drawing names. Then all the chits are put in a bowl. Each pair has one minute to alternately draw chits and give clues to help his or partner name the individual on the chit. When the individual is correctly named, the pair keeps the chit. An unidentified chit is put back in the bowl when the minute is up. Then the bowl is passed to the next pair. When all of the chits are identified, the pair with the most chits is the winner.
Huck Harrelson and Miah Mann select chits during Boutros Boutros Ghali.
In our family, this game is played with people from ages 9 to 80. Of course, with this age range, there is a huge range of cultural reference points. For example, few of my grandkids would know that Boutros Boutros-Ghali was secretary-general of the United Nations in the 1990s; they would probably tell you it’s the name of game they’ve played most of their lives.
Uncle John teaches nieces and nephews to play chess at family gatherings.
What that means is that the people who are most successful in this game are not those who know a lot, but rather those who are inventive in giving clues to help someone who is not likely to know the individual on the chit. For instance, the clue “What does a ghost say?” can get the first half a Boutros (boo). To get the second half of the word (tross), you might say, “Big bird hanging from your neck.” When the partner answers, “albatross,” you say, “Add the second syllable of that word to what a ghost says.” Invention, knowing your audience and being a good sport helps a lot in this game. But no matter, a lot of laughter is guaranteed.
When I connected with my current partner, I became part of a family that has played games at every opportunity. One of the games they played was Uno, which I had somehow missed along the way. It took me a while to catch on, but it has become a standard game played when my grandkids visit. When my youngest grandson, who is 3, last visited, he played his first game of Uno with a smaller hand of cards and tons of coaching from the older kids. Not long ago, we played with my son’s family, an extraneous cousin and my mother-in-law. We all played by slightly different rules, which was pretty hilarious.
The card game Uno also excites multiple generations of the Harrelson family.Photo by Patricia Harrelson
When the grandkids were younger, we started them off with the Memory game, which is a card-matching game. When she was very small, my granddaughter Nell was a whiz at this game. Even though she’s nearly 13, she still loves to play, and she still beats the pants off of every opponent.
My chess-playing brother, known in the family as Uncle John, has taught all of my grandkids to play chess. At every family gathering, he sets up the chessboard and the kids cycle through to play him and sometimes one another.
As new games have come out, we have tried most. We played Cranium for a few years with neighbors, but later switched to the pared-down version called Hoopla, which seems to be easier to take along for picnics and car camping. Probably the most popular new game in our repertoire is Catch Phrase, a word-guessing game.
Our nephew presented this game to his grandparents a few years back, and now we play it at every family gathering. Meanwhile, my son’s family also got hooked on the game, which I learned when his daughter visited with several other grandkids and she set up the game board and taught others to play. The kids rolled on the floor laughing about silly clues and getting caught with the plastic disc when the timer rang.
My son’s family also likes Apples to Apples, a comparison game that requires players to best match the lead card with one from their own hands.
“A favorite memory of mine is from Thanksgiving a couple years ago,” mentioned Jenny Harrelson, my daughter-in-law. After explaining that extended family was present, she said, “Uncle Ed, who has dementia, played in a very whimsical way and won. We still chuckle over that.”
“We usually play something when friends come over and on holidays,” Jenny continued. “We also play a lot if it snows or when the power goes out. Last time we went to Disneyland, each of our four kids took a friend. The trip was spread out over a few days, so we took card games to play at the hotel during down times. That was quite fun.”
Yes indeed, playing games of all sorts with family and friends of all ages is quite fun. Take my word for it, if you don’t already play games, consider taking the leap into this particular kind of fun during the holidays.
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