Thursday Threads: It's a dark and stormy night. The power goes out... What game do you play?
Could be a board, card, word, trivia, or role play game, but all by candlelight 🕯️
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Hello, Lovelies,
So, a few years ago I was out in the Berkshires working on a book and there was one Sunday when there was this wild storm right as darkness was falling. The skies roiled with thunder, lightning, and hail—just like a scene straight out of the classic film Clue. A flicker of the lights, and the power evaporated into thin air.
My friend and I scrambled for candles and looked at each other and simultaneously shouted, “Bananagrams!” which (if you’re not familiar) is a more flexible kind of speed Scrabble. It’s the kind of game that forces you to see a problem or a set of resources from so many different angles as fast as you can and then ADAPT!
It is about the most fun game you can play as a word nerd and it’s also unique in that learning how to play it requires you to be helped along by another person or two. And if you are particularly bad at asking for help—Bananagrams is an excellent remedy for such self-righteous stubbornness.
Plus, it moves so quickly, before you know it, three hours have passed, the power is back on, and you are again mixing cocktails and making Chicken Le Bernardin!
But what about you? What’s your go-to game when the lights are out?
I am positively evil and love to sneak Cards Against Humanity into a dinner full of right-wing Evangelical Christians and shock them into oblivion. Their faces, oh, the wondrous angst, the palpitations, and brimstone judgment! It’s like their hair is catching on fire inside their heads. I live for it!
But on the vintage front, who knew there were so many old-school games?
So, what’s your fave? And if none of the oldies appeal… Don’t be afraid to invent a new one—we are ALL about that kind of fun. Until next time.
🤍🤍🤍 - xoxo - gotham girl
I am a terrible speller but win at scrabble a lot because of the scoring. So, naturally, I love Scrabble! I also love Rumicube but my Meno-brain gets a little hung up these days...
We've never played games when the lights go out. More often than not, we were reading. So, we'd just light a candle (or use a flashlight) and continue reading. LOL