Latest / Operation Game Night / Mother-Approved Board Games

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Mother-Approved Board Games · Operation Game Night

• 0:16
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome to the Operation Game Night Podcast.
• 0:18
  SPEAKER_00: And happy Mother's Day to those that celebrated.
• 0:21
  SPEAKER_00: Today, I am joined by Clayton Gable.
• 0:24
  SPEAKER_00: How are you doing, Clay?
• 0:26
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, it's just an honor to be a son today.
• 0:28
  SPEAKER_01: I I'm lucky.
• 0:30
  SPEAKER_01: I've got two great mothers.
• 0:32
  SPEAKER_01: I've got my stepmother, Deb, and my mother, mom.
• 0:37
  SPEAKER_01: Mother mom.
• 0:38
  SPEAKER_01: And yes, and they're both both very important.
• 0:40
  SPEAKER_01: And they've been important in my board game journey.
• 0:43
  SPEAKER_01: And so I figured it'd be important that we, you know, give them a shout out on this special day.
• 0:48
  SPEAKER_01: We're recording on Mother's Day, so this will be coming out probably Tuesday.
• 0:52
  SPEAKER_01: And we just want to talk about games moms like, you know, that's right.
• 0:55
  SPEAKER_01: What games do our moms dig?
• 0:58
  SPEAKER_00: What games are the moms into?
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 1:01
  SPEAKER_00: Do you want to kick us off?
• 1:02
  SPEAKER_00: Like, I know that you do more gaming with your moms and or Mary, who is the mother of your children, yes, than I do with any mom.
• 1:11
  SPEAKER_00: So why don't you kick us off?
• 1:13
  SPEAKER_01: I'll get the ball rolling.
• 1:14
  SPEAKER_01: And I just want to start by I said they've both been important in my gaming journey.
• 1:18
  SPEAKER_01: I was gonna give background here.
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_01: I know I've talked about it a little bit um in our different, you know, how we got into board games episodes.
• 1:27
  SPEAKER_01: But both my stepmom and my mom played pivotal roles there.
• 1:32
  SPEAKER_01: My stepmom, she is the party gamer.
• 1:36
  SPEAKER_01: She always growing up wanted to be playing party games.
• 1:41
  SPEAKER_01: Like whenever there was a time after dinner, let's pull out a game.
• 1:45
  SPEAKER_01: Loaded questions was the one that was the biggest hit with our family.
• 1:50
  SPEAKER_01: And I used to love playing that with her.
• 1:52
  SPEAKER_01: And we will still play games like that.
• 1:54
  SPEAKER_01: I still remember.
• 1:56
  SPEAKER_01: I'll talk about this when we talk about our favorite games because this is one of them.
• 1:59
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I don't want to spoil that just yet.
• 2:01
  SPEAKER_01: But anyway, Deb, party gamer, having a good time.
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_01: Um, my dad, you know, he I got a lot of great things from him, but he's not really much of a gamer.
• 2:10
  SPEAKER_01: He puts up with it, but uh Deb was definitely the one pushing the issue in that household.
• 2:17
  SPEAKER_01: And then on the other hand, my my mom, she was the card player.
• 2:22
  SPEAKER_01: Like we were always playing spades, hearts, her whole side of the family.
• 2:28
  SPEAKER_01: Every time we got together, it would be, you know, playing against the uncles, playing against the grandparents and spades.
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_01: And uh one of their favorite stories to tell is when I was a I was maybe like 10 or 11, third grade maybe, and all the adults were playing spades.
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_01: And my uncle was like a serious guy, like you know, he took playing.
• 2:51
  SPEAKER_01: I'm I'm probably more like him now than I'd like to admit, you know, when the little kids were at the table distracting things, he didn't want nothing to do with it.
• 2:58
  SPEAKER_01: But I really wanted to be a part of it, so I was, you know, nosing my way into the table, probably asking to play.
• 3:04
  SPEAKER_01: And he was like, get out, get out, you know, be gone.
• 3:07
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and I ran ran off into the other room and I said something to the effect, like, Uncle Sam's really starting to piss me off to my aunt, and and uh, you know, that that story lives in uh infamy in our family, but you know, it was always something that I aspired to be a part of, uh, that card gaming table.
• 3:28
  SPEAKER_01: So, anyway, that's just a little background that both both my moms were important in keeping the love of gaming alive for me as I grew up.
• 3:37
  SPEAKER_01: So let's start with my mom.
• 3:39
  SPEAKER_01: She she gave me the best material to work with.
• 3:42
  SPEAKER_01: I I gave them short notice on this.
• 3:44
  SPEAKER_01: This was a spur of the moment decision to do this episode.
• 3:48
  SPEAKER_01: I was like, hey, can you guys just give me like your five favorite games and why you like them?
• 3:54
  SPEAKER_01: And so my mom, she although she only played cards growing up, she definitely loves playing games.
• 4:02
  SPEAKER_01: Like anytime I get together with her, she is literally down to play whatever we will.
• 4:08
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, any new game I have, there's no tasks too big.
• 4:12
  SPEAKER_01: She will take it on, and she generally likes every game we play.
• 4:16
  SPEAKER_01: Like, I've never played a game with her and have her been like, I didn't like that.
• 4:20
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and she plays on board game arena like a fiend, like thousands and thousands of games.
• 4:26
  SPEAKER_01: She is just constantly ripping them.
• 4:28
  SPEAKER_01: So she gave me some more detailed notes.
• 4:31
  SPEAKER_01: I'll just read them here for you.
• 4:32
  SPEAKER_01: Um, of my mom's top five favorite games.
• 4:36
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 4:37
  SPEAKER_01: So the first one she has is Castles of Burgundy.
• 4:40
  SPEAKER_01: She says Castle of Burgundy is one of my favorite games because it was the first longer hobby board game I played enough to actually get decent at, although I'm currently in a bit of a slump.
• 4:51
  SPEAKER_01: I love that you can never do everything you want in the game, so every turn becomes a matter of priorities and tough choices.
• 4:57
  SPEAKER_01: And honestly, part of why it stays in rotation for me is that I can hop on board game arena and play it basically anytime.
• 5:03
  SPEAKER_01: Amen.
• 5:05
  SPEAKER_01: Amen.
• 5:05
  SPEAKER_01: Yep, that's right.
• 5:07
  SPEAKER_01: Next one she shouts out here, and this is a newer one.
• 5:10
  SPEAKER_01: I introduced this to her um maybe like six months ago, but Shot and Totten.
• 5:16
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, nice.
• 5:17
  SPEAKER_01: A big uh Lost Cities player on board game arena.
• 5:20
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, you gotta check out Shot and Totten.
• 5:23
  SPEAKER_01: Well, Shot and Totten made the list, and she says it's another favorite because she thought she was finally good at it until I completely wrecked her.
• 5:33
  SPEAKER_01: Typical mom, giving their kid kudos.
• 5:35
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, but she said what she loves about it is that nothing is guaranteed early.
• 5:39
  SPEAKER_01: You're constantly hedging your bets and trying to read what your opponent can still complete.
• 5:44
  SPEAKER_01: I'm always counting colors and high cards and that have already been played, trying to deduce what's still possible.
• 5:50
  SPEAKER_01: It scratches that tiny tactical battle itch perfectly.
• 5:54
  SPEAKER_00: Great call out.
• 5:55
  SPEAKER_00: Love it.
• 5:56
  SPEAKER_01: Yep, yep.
• 5:57
  SPEAKER_01: I we I just played this with her yesterday.
• 6:00
  SPEAKER_01: I drove up there for a little pre-Mother's Day get together, and we played a quick round.
• 6:04
  SPEAKER_00: Did you inform her about like recency bias?
• 6:07
  SPEAKER_00: I if you're gonna if you're gonna answer with your top five games, like let's check ourselves for some recency.
• 6:12
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I know, I know.
• 6:13
  SPEAKER_01: She's might not not the professional journalist that we are.
• 6:18
  SPEAKER_01: Um next one is see salt and paper for poor pure fun and chaos, and especially with the extra pepper expansion.
• 6:28
  SPEAKER_01: The round modifiers and special powers create these hilarious swings when everyone's plans suddenly change.
• 6:34
  SPEAKER_01: Weirdly, I've learned that I almost prefer falling behind early because it gives me the advantage first instead of my opponent.
• 6:42
  SPEAKER_01: It makes every game feel different.
• 6:44
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 6:44
  SPEAKER_00: Have you have you played with extra pepper?
• 6:46
  SPEAKER_00: I have.
• 6:46
  SPEAKER_00: I think it's called extra salt.
• 6:48
  SPEAKER_01: Well, there is extra there is extra salt.
• 6:50
  SPEAKER_01: There is now extra pepper.
• 6:52
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 6:52
  SPEAKER_00: Is she she specifically likes the extra pepper one?
• 6:55
  SPEAKER_01: She likes the extra pepper.
• 6:57
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, interesting.
• 6:58
  SPEAKER_01: So I've I've only played with it once.
• 6:59
  SPEAKER_01: I just played with it out in Colorado with the Spanglers.
• 7:02
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 7:02
  SPEAKER_01: And it is interesting.
• 7:03
  SPEAKER_01: It every round of the game, there's like this new like goal card or like thing that changes it up.
• 7:08
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 7:09
  SPEAKER_01: And I actually just picked it up today.
• 7:11
  SPEAKER_01: So excellent.
• 7:12
  SPEAKER_01: Good shout, mom.
• 7:13
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, number four here, and these are in no particular order, is New York Zoo.
• 7:19
  SPEAKER_01: This is uh this is not recency bias.
• 7:21
  SPEAKER_01: This was one of the first games I bought when I got into board gaming, and I played it a lot with my mom and Mary.
• 7:28
  SPEAKER_01: Um, she says it's special to her for a different reason.
• 7:31
  SPEAKER_01: She associates it with some of the first times we really sat down and played modern board games together.
• 7:36
  SPEAKER_01: Back then, there weren't shelves and shelves of games competing for attention, so this one hit the table a lot.
• 7:42
  SPEAKER_01: I'm pretty sure I never won, but it brings back really good memories of just sitting around the table with you and Mary having fun.
• 7:49
  SPEAKER_01: Love it.
• 7:49
  SPEAKER_01: Yep.
• 7:50
  SPEAKER_01: Have you played New York Zoo?
• 7:51
  SPEAKER_01: I have not.
• 7:52
  SPEAKER_01: It's a good, it's a good one.
• 7:53
  SPEAKER_01: I got rid of it a little while ago, but I might buy it again.
• 7:56
  SPEAKER_01: I got no problem doing that.
• 7:58
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 7:58
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, this this is yeah, Mary really liked it too, so it's probably worth bringing back.
• 8:04
  SPEAKER_01: Two important moms like it.
• 8:05
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, the last one she says, and this won't be a shocker based on my preamble there, was Hearts, is one of her favorite games because of her grandfather.
• 8:16
  SPEAKER_01: They played it all the time, and I can still hear his little laugh when somebody got stuck with the Queen of Spades.
• 8:21
  SPEAKER_01: Honestly, that game is tied to so many memories that it could never not be a favorite for me.
• 8:27
  SPEAKER_01: So again, yeah.
• 8:29
  SPEAKER_00: I love that.
• 8:30
  SPEAKER_01: It's familial.
• 8:31
  SPEAKER_00: That's right.
• 8:31
  SPEAKER_00: There's a legacy there.
• 8:33
  SPEAKER_01: There is a legacy.
• 8:34
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 8:35
  SPEAKER_00: I think that's like the special thing about certain games like hearts, like spades, is they are a generational thing that gets passed along.
• 8:44
  SPEAKER_00: Same with like the people that grow up playing Euchre in the in the Midwest.
• 8:48
  SPEAKER_00: Like, yeah, they carry that on, they play it with all their friends at school, they play it with their grandparents when they get together for holidays, and then they will probably play it with their kids when they are of age.
• 8:58
  SPEAKER_00: So it just continues to get passed along, and that's like that's a cool thing.
• 9:02
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I I agree.
• 9:03
  SPEAKER_01: Do you want to tackle one of the moms in your life before I go to my next?
• 9:07
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so I didn't really solicit any sort of uh feedback from the moms in my life, uh, but my mom is very simple game player.
• 9:18
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, Yahtzee is probably her by far the most played game ever.
• 9:22
  SPEAKER_00: Um, that is the game that she wants to pull out every time the family's together.
• 9:27
  SPEAKER_00: I will also caveat that growing up, she was a huge Bunko player.
• 9:31
  SPEAKER_00: Are you familiar with Bunko?
• 9:33
  SPEAKER_01: Never heard of it.
• 9:34
  SPEAKER_00: It is like a party game for families that get together.
• 9:38
  SPEAKER_00: There's like multiple tables where you're trying to roll different values, and then you score points by rolling, I don't know, all sixes.
• 9:47
  SPEAKER_00: I have played it a couple times.
• 9:49
  SPEAKER_00: I don't really remember all the rules, but I specifically remember my mom getting all the ladies from her work together to have bunko night, and they had like huge like prize baskets and stuff that they would uh that they would put together for like the person that rolled the most bunkos and stuff.
• 10:05
  SPEAKER_00: But basically, like if you win at a table, you move up to the more competitive tables.
• 10:11
  SPEAKER_00: If you lose, you go down the ranking in tables, and ideally you want to stay at the higher ranking tables for as long as possible.
• 10:18
  SPEAKER_00: Don't ask me the rules, I forgot them all, but I distinctly remember her playing lots of bunko and uh Yahtzee, anything that involves dice rolling.
• 10:28
  SPEAKER_00: I will give her credit though, because whenever I travel now, I take games with me, and it's usually something that I want to get played or you know, shelf a shame or whatever.
• 10:37
  SPEAKER_00: And she's put some games to the test.
• 10:40
  SPEAKER_00: Like uh, she came out to visit here, and I was playing the um that Hobbit roll and write.
• 10:45
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
• 10:46
  SPEAKER_00: And she was like, Yeah, I'll try it.
• 10:47
  SPEAKER_00: And we played one single like level stage.
• 10:51
  SPEAKER_00: Whoa.
• 10:52
  SPEAKER_00: Uh and she we finished and she went, That has a surprising amount of strategy to it.
• 11:00
  SPEAKER_00: And then we didn't play again.
• 11:01
  SPEAKER_00: So hey, you know, I'll give her credit for trying.
• 11:04
  SPEAKER_00: Um, she likes the simple games.
• 11:06
  SPEAKER_00: Um what was another one that she had a great uh box quote for?
• 11:11
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, we were playing high society one time.
• 11:13
  SPEAKER_00: Runner can eat says high society, and we went around and I said, like, okay, you can you're trying to end up with the most amount of points, just make sure you don't end up with the least amount of money at the end of the game.
• 11:23
  SPEAKER_00: And so we go around, we're all bidding and betting, and we play the whole game through.
• 11:27
  SPEAKER_00: And she spent basically every dime she had, like, no cards remaining in her hand.
• 11:32
  SPEAKER_00: And we're like, Okay, well, that's you obviously lose, you have nothing left.
• 11:36
  SPEAKER_00: And she went, Well, that's not fair.
• 11:38
  SPEAKER_00: That I I have the most amount of points.
• 11:42
  SPEAKER_00: So, yeah, put that on box, uh, Rainer Kenizia.
• 11:45
  SPEAKER_01: It's not fair.
• 11:45
  SPEAKER_00: Um, yeah, it's not fair, it's a fate, it's a cheater game.
• 11:49
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so yeah, I I'll give her credit for trying, and she plays some of the games.
• 11:53
  SPEAKER_00: She really likes Strike.
• 11:54
  SPEAKER_00: Strike was a hit with my mom uh over Thanksgiving.
• 11:58
  SPEAKER_00: So that's been in the rotation.
• 12:01
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but yeah, we played lots of games.
• 12:03
  SPEAKER_00: She likes playing games, but just gotta keep it simple.
• 12:06
  SPEAKER_00: Like weight of 0.5.
• 12:09
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
• 12:10
  SPEAKER_00: Probably her limit.
• 12:11
  SPEAKER_00: So all good each of their own.
• 12:13
  SPEAKER_00: Awesome.
• 12:14
  SPEAKER_00: Um, why don't you why don't you share another?
• 12:17
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, so we'll go to my stepmom and you'll see the difference here.
• 12:21
  SPEAKER_01: The like my mom, she's got the more strategy games, she'll get into that stuff.
• 12:27
  SPEAKER_01: Deb will do that, and I I got another touching moment for Deb.
• 12:31
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know if I I think I probably shared this when I talked about the episode, but I don't know if it was for like my birthday or something.
• 12:40
  SPEAKER_01: She wanted to do something special for me.
• 12:42
  SPEAKER_01: So she bought Daybreak the board game for me.
• 12:46
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, yeah, and she learned it and taught it to me because she had heard me complaining about always being the one who had to do so.
• 12:54
  SPEAKER_01: That is a mother's love right there in full display.
• 12:57
  SPEAKER_01: That though she normally likes party games and like games, she took a pretty heavy strategy game.
• 13:02
  SPEAKER_01: I know for a fact she spent hours watching videos and reading that rule book to be able to teach me that game with some other people, and she did an admirable job, and it was awesome.
• 13:15
  SPEAKER_01: So, shout out to Deb.
• 13:17
  SPEAKER_01: That was a better that was a baller move.
• 13:20
  SPEAKER_01: More people do that for the the board gamer in your life that you love because nobody does that for us.
• 13:27
  SPEAKER_00: Find a game that they don't own, go out and buy it, learn it, and then say, Hey, I'd like to play a game with you, and then have it set up on the table.
• 13:34
  SPEAKER_00: That's the equivalent of like rose petals leading down the hall to the to a nice bath that's been prepared.
• 13:42
  SPEAKER_00: That is the equivalent for board gamers, just have the game out and ready.
• 13:45
  SPEAKER_00: You have the teach under control, man.
• 13:48
  SPEAKER_01: That's our love language.
• 13:49
  SPEAKER_01: That's our love language, right there.
• 13:51
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so here are her five games, and I think she she sent me this in text.
• 13:58
  SPEAKER_01: Pretty sure she got the name wrong.
• 13:59
  SPEAKER_01: She said strings and things, okay, which I think she means is things and rings, which has a sequel slash follow-up called Things on Strings.
• 14:08
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, Things on Strings.
• 14:10
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so what she said about that one is that she really likes being the knower.
• 14:14
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, she's always pulling this one out, doing the Venn diagram game.
• 14:18
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you, Reggins, for that.
• 14:20
  SPEAKER_01: He is excited about things and rings as well.
• 14:23
  SPEAKER_01: The next one she shouted out was for sale.
• 14:27
  SPEAKER_01: Said she always wins, but she's not sure why.
• 14:30
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 14:30
  unknown: Yeah.
• 14:32
  SPEAKER_01: Code names, a classic party game.
• 14:36
  SPEAKER_01: So she gets excited to see what connections people are making and if they are obvious or not.
• 14:40
  SPEAKER_01: We kind of talked about this in our um word game episode we did a little bit ago, how those type of games all have that similar thing where it's fun just to see where people came up with the stuff they're saying.
• 14:53
  SPEAKER_01: Um the next one is Boggle.
• 14:57
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, classic.
• 14:59
  SPEAKER_01: What she says with that is I'm wordy.
• 15:01
  SPEAKER_01: So word games, a word game made the list.
• 15:05
  SPEAKER_01: And finally, true colors.
• 15:09
  SPEAKER_01: It's my jam.
• 15:10
  SPEAKER_01: I love personality games.
• 15:12
  SPEAKER_01: And when Mary says nope, which is what Mary says every time true colors is suggested to be played.
• 15:19
  SPEAKER_01: Have you played true colors?
• 15:20
  SPEAKER_01: I have not.
• 15:21
  SPEAKER_01: It's one of those games where I I used to love these.
• 15:25
  SPEAKER_01: I I don't know how I would feel about it now, but you there's like a prompt and you vote like who would you be want to be stuck with, and you put everybody's name in a little voting box, and then you have to decide whether you think you're gonna get the most votes, least votes, or none of the above.
• 15:44
  SPEAKER_01: And she loves that game.
• 15:46
  SPEAKER_01: And I swear to you, it was like my first time bringing Mary over to meet my parents, and she pulled out that game.
• 15:54
  SPEAKER_01: And Mary, I think, has suffered some trauma from that, from having to play a personality game with her boyfriend's parents, yeah, but she doesn't know that like that, you know, like trying to vote on people's that you that's I mean, it's a preposterous thing to do, but she will do that.
• 16:12
  SPEAKER_01: She loves to if we're just sitting around, Deb will just be like, All right, let's play a game, let's say the thing that you like least about the person next to you.
• 16:21
  SPEAKER_01: I'm like, that's just how that's who she is, and she loves a game that will encourage that madness.
• 16:28
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 16:28
  SPEAKER_00: So uh my mom one time, we were at a holiday.
• 16:33
  SPEAKER_00: I we weren't like celebrating the actual day, but it was maybe leading up the week before, whatever.
• 16:39
  SPEAKER_00: And she's like, Oh, I I bought a board game for us to play, and she pulled it out, and it was like basically how to like serious conversation starters with your family, and it was like draw a card and like like what do you want to what do you want done with your remains when you die, or something like Jesus Christ?
• 16:58
  SPEAKER_00: Like, yeah, this is a game, yeah.
• 17:01
  SPEAKER_00: This is morbid.
• 17:03
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, uh, they weren't all like that, but it was like get to know your family basically in a card game and yeah, uh rated zero out of ten on BGG.
• 17:14
  SPEAKER_01: Dang, well, I bet.
• 17:16
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so that was Deb's top five.
• 17:20
  SPEAKER_01: We got the party game side covered there.
• 17:23
  SPEAKER_01: You want to do Rachel?
• 17:24
  SPEAKER_01: You want to talk about Rachel's some once you become um like a husband of a wife that's had a child, like you celebrate them as a mother as much as your own mother's, at least until the children are old enough to give them proper due.
• 17:39
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 17:40
  SPEAKER_00: So because any child under eight uh does not have the wherewithal to do any sort of arts and crafts by themselves.
• 17:48
  SPEAKER_00: So that is largely on the spouse of that person to go out and purchase the supplies and to coordinate that effort.
• 17:54
  SPEAKER_00: Um I'm kind of in the weird phase right now where like I'm not gonna get my daughter to do any sort of crafting.
• 18:01
  SPEAKER_00: Uh so we can get her a card and celebrate her and flowers and wine or whatever.
• 18:07
  SPEAKER_00: Woke up early and made breakfast this morning, no big deal.
• 18:11
  SPEAKER_01: Good man, good man.
• 18:12
  SPEAKER_00: So uh let's talk about Rachel's sport game.
• 18:16
  SPEAKER_00: So Rachel has been an excellent sport, um, but we're kind of hitting this kind of weird tipping point where she now knows that she's got nobody left to impress.
• 18:27
  SPEAKER_00: Like, who who am I impressing by playing this game?
• 18:30
  SPEAKER_00: We've been married eight years now.
• 18:32
  SPEAKER_00: Like, I can just say no and get away with it scot-free.
• 18:35
  SPEAKER_00: So yeah, the uh the board gaming has uh kind of dwindled around here, which is why I've been briefing so many solo games lately.
• 18:44
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, but she's been a good sport about it.
• 18:46
  SPEAKER_00: She she loves uh Splendor.
• 18:48
  SPEAKER_00: Splendor is probably her number one, like with a bullet.
• 18:50
  SPEAKER_00: Love Splendor.
• 18:52
  SPEAKER_00: Um, it's simple enough, it's got kind of interesting take that player interaction.
• 18:58
  SPEAKER_00: Um, maybe not take that, but like at least blocking actions for other players.
• 19:03
  SPEAKER_00: And I think she likes that kind of feeling of the race.
• 19:05
  SPEAKER_00: Like, I I know what I have to do, but can I get it done before the other person takes what I need?
• 19:10
  SPEAKER_00: Um, she really likes games like that.
• 19:12
  SPEAKER_00: And then when we travel, she's open to play all sorts of small box games with me.
• 19:16
  SPEAKER_00: She likes the uh sea salt and paper, she likes the uh the uh what was the one that you mentioned earlier?
• 19:24
  SPEAKER_00: Um Lost Cities.
• 19:26
  SPEAKER_00: We played Lost Cities Roll and Right.
• 19:27
  SPEAKER_00: I really like that one to for travel.
• 19:30
  SPEAKER_00: Um we played like small fjords.
• 19:33
  SPEAKER_00: Uh yeah, she's down to play those games as long as they're fast.
• 19:38
  SPEAKER_00: They can be explained in like under 10 minutes and uh you know they're not super super complex.
• 19:45
  SPEAKER_00: So she's been a good sport, she's played plenty of games with me.
• 19:49
  SPEAKER_00: She knows when to say no to games.
• 19:52
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, I will pull out a rule book and she'll go, that doesn't look like my type of game.
• 19:56
  SPEAKER_00: Uh so she also likes uh cooperative games a lot of time.
• 20:02
  SPEAKER_00: Um like the Ravensburger, um there's a horrified, she likes those ones, she'll she'll play those.
• 20:10
  SPEAKER_00: Um, they also have the Ravensburger Aliens game where you're like on the Nostromo and you're walking around trying to avoid the alien.
• 20:20
  SPEAKER_00: She liked that one.
• 20:21
  SPEAKER_00: Um anything with cards that have text on the cards that correlates to a special action or move, like I don't know, say Marvel Champions or any of those games of that ilk, she is like hard no.
• 20:34
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, she has quit on those games in the middle of the round.
• 20:38
  SPEAKER_01: Um, that's like me, honestly.
• 20:40
  SPEAKER_01: I I feel I feel her there.
• 20:42
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 20:43
  SPEAKER_00: But even I mean, yeah.
• 20:44
  SPEAKER_00: So we've kind of reached this understanding where I know what game she will play and which game she will get at least a little enjoyment out of.
• 20:51
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 20:52
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and lately I've recognized that most of her favorite games are the ones that I don't know are uh hits with her until I give them away.
• 21:02
  SPEAKER_00: It seems like every time I give a game away, she's like, Oh, what did you do with that game?
• 21:05
  SPEAKER_00: I'm like, Oh, I sold that six months ago.
• 21:07
  SPEAKER_00: And she's like, What the heck?
• 21:08
  SPEAKER_00: I love that game.
• 21:10
  SPEAKER_00: Um the latest one was when Jared was leaving here uh when we overlapped.
• 21:17
  SPEAKER_00: I gave him um Gorilla Marketing.
• 21:19
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 21:20
  SPEAKER_00: And that's kind of a party game, it's kind of like yeah, write your own apples to apples.
• 21:25
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 21:25
  SPEAKER_00: And did not know that this was such a hit, but uh she wanted to play it in every holiday since then.
• 21:33
  SPEAKER_01: Of course, and I don't have it.
• 21:35
  SPEAKER_00: So and of course, it's not like uh one that you can readily pick up, so yeah, yeah.
• 21:39
  SPEAKER_00: That's kind of been the uh that's kind of been my luck lately.
• 21:42
  SPEAKER_00: But uh thank you, Rachel.
• 21:44
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you for being the mother of my child and also for playing video board games with me.
• 21:50
  SPEAKER_00: I almost said video games.
• 21:51
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you for playing board games with me.
• 21:53
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, it's been great, and you are a uh behind the scenes could contributor to Operation Game Night.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_00: And a lot of these discussions would not happen unless you were willing to sit down at the table and play these games with me.
• 22:05
  SPEAKER_00: So thank you.
• 22:06
  SPEAKER_00: And thank you for giving me the time to talk with my friends every single week about board games and then put that conversation on the internet.
• 22:14
  SPEAKER_00: This is what we do.
• 22:15
  SPEAKER_01: This is what we do.
• 22:16
  SPEAKER_01: Cool.
• 22:17
  SPEAKER_01: A rapid fire question about Rachel.
• 22:19
  SPEAKER_01: What do you think the heaviest game is that she likes?
• 22:22
  SPEAKER_00: That is a great question.
• 22:26
  SPEAKER_00: She oh I think anything above like a two and a half.
• 22:32
  SPEAKER_00: She like she'll play like heat pedal to the metal.
• 22:34
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 22:35
  SPEAKER_00: Um I don't know if that's I mean it's not heavy, but like it takes a little bit of a learning curve to like get into heat.
• 22:42
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 22:42
  SPEAKER_01: It's a lot of phases.
• 22:44
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it's a lot of anything with like more than two or three phases, she'll like glit her eyes will glaze over and you you've lost her already.
• 22:50
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I do want to talk with you about a game that uh we had a like joint game night that I want to talk to you about that uh we played a game.
• 22:59
  SPEAKER_01: Is that our next episode?
• 23:01
  SPEAKER_00: It'll be our next episode.
• 23:02
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, cool.
• 23:03
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I look forward to it.
• 23:05
  SPEAKER_00: I can't wait.
• 23:08
  SPEAKER_01: One more question.
• 23:09
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 23:10
  SPEAKER_01: Has being a mother changed Rachel's gaming in any in any shape or fashion?
• 23:16
  SPEAKER_00: 100%.
• 23:17
  SPEAKER_00: Um we used to like have regular game nights uh when we were in Wyoming, and you know, uh we've we've had recurring game nights before with different groups of different makeups, and now when we have any free time, it's like, why would we want to pull out a board game and go through the rigmarole of setup and the teach?
• 23:41
  SPEAKER_00: I I've talked about this before, but like I have to do the majority of the learning and the majority of the teaching.
• 23:46
  SPEAKER_00: And she has been so busy, and it's like she just wants to relax and not have to think about a million rules that are going on in a game.
• 23:54
  SPEAKER_00: So we go to the same old, same old hits uh when we can.
• 23:58
  SPEAKER_00: Um and anything that's above a 2.0 weight, it's not probably not happening.
• 24:04
  SPEAKER_00: So it has changed our habits and the way that we game.
• 24:10
  SPEAKER_00: Um and it has changed our attention span for gaming, and we are trying to work around that as best we can.
• 24:19
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it's a game changer for sure.
• 24:21
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, yeah, for real.
• 24:24
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, let's talk about Mary.
• 24:26
  SPEAKER_00: There's something about Mary, and I want you to share about it.
• 24:29
  SPEAKER_01: There is something about Mary, she is out there doing laundry as loud as she can because mothers never stop.
• 24:37
  SPEAKER_01: That's right.
• 24:38
  SPEAKER_01: Even on Mother's Day, even on Mother's Day, she's letting you she's letting me podcast while she is cranking through some laundry.
• 24:46
  SPEAKER_01: Uh go moms go.
• 24:47
  SPEAKER_01: Go moms.
• 24:48
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, Mary, much like Rachel, you know, has been my gaming partner of choice for many, many years, but she also has become more fickle about what she's willing to play.
• 25:06
  SPEAKER_01: I you know, early on, I could rope a doper with some scythe and be like, hey, look at this, this is fun.
• 25:14
  SPEAKER_01: And she would play, but now it it doesn't even get in the door before she's telling me that's off limits.
• 25:20
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so I've got her list here, and I'm excited for this one.
• 25:26
  SPEAKER_00: I because I know that she's like passionate about a couple of games, so she is.
• 25:30
  SPEAKER_01: She, and you'll you'll probably recognize these from me talking about it.
• 25:36
  SPEAKER_01: I'll just go with the one right off the bat.
• 25:38
  SPEAKER_01: Castles of Burgundy is her favorite.
• 25:41
  SPEAKER_01: Bar none, she loves just that thrill of always getting points.
• 25:46
  SPEAKER_01: She says, Um, this is the game literally every week, and we have not been good about it lately, but we always had one Wednesday where we would sit down and play a game after the kids go to bed.
• 25:59
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and every week I'm trying to pull something new off the shelf, and every week she says, Let's play Castles of Burgundy.
• 26:07
  SPEAKER_01: And there's only so many times I can play Castles of Burgundy, but it is a great game, and I have loved playing that with her.
• 26:15
  SPEAKER_01: The next one she says is Everdell.
• 26:18
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 26:19
  SPEAKER_01: What she likes about Everdell is Jews want to come in here, Mary?
• 26:23
  SPEAKER_01: You want to come in here and talk about it?
• 26:24
  SPEAKER_01: Come on, come on.
• 26:25
  SPEAKER_01: In the doorway, I think she wants to tell us all about it.
• 26:28
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so in Everdell said she likes the free animals building action.
• 26:33
  SPEAKER_01: So in Everdell, you can get those critters that belong to certain buildings, and the thrill of being able to throw that combo together is fun for her.
• 26:45
  SPEAKER_01: And somehow she throttles me in this game so bad every time.
• 26:50
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, her city is just filled up by like I don't remember which order the seasons go in.
• 26:57
  SPEAKER_01: Is winter the last one or fall?
• 26:59
  SPEAKER_01: By the second to last season, she's like winter to fall.
• 27:02
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, she's like almost filled up her whole city of 15 cards, and I've got like four out there.
• 27:07
  SPEAKER_01: I was like, what is happening?
• 27:09
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, the other thing she said about Everdell was that she loves that final season and just how much you get done, that build in Everdell.
• 27:17
  SPEAKER_01: Like if you played Everdell that first season, you're like, I ain't never gonna do anything.
• 27:22
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and until you get to the final season, you got all the cards with the abilities and the more workers, you're like, boom, boom, I got I got so much going on for me.
• 27:31
  SPEAKER_01: The next one is Lost Cities.
• 27:34
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 27:35
  SPEAKER_01: So this is the other one.
• 27:37
  SPEAKER_01: If we ever have a quick, we don't have a ton of time, she'll say, Let's play Lost Cities.
• 27:42
  SPEAKER_01: She calls it Lost City.
• 27:44
  SPEAKER_01: Bothers me a little bit.
• 27:46
  SPEAKER_00: But incredible.
• 27:50
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, much like other people, she likes those agonizing decisions about when to when to play a card, when to hold off, and like you know, try and you know, do I play the four a while or do I try and get the two and three before I start going in blue?
• 28:04
  SPEAKER_01: You know, those decisions in Lost Cities are always so juicy and nice.
• 28:08
  SPEAKER_01: Um that's another one.
• 28:11
  SPEAKER_01: So that's three.
• 28:12
  SPEAKER_01: Number four is Cubitos.
• 28:15
  SPEAKER_01: Mary is a push your luck fiend, and nothing satisfies her more than grabbing the fistful of colorful dye you get in cubitos and rolling them, and then rolling them some more, and then eventually busting and then moving up the fan fan track.
• 28:32
  SPEAKER_01: But yeah, if you haven't played cubitos, it's it's a riot.
• 28:37
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, you literally get just a fistful of these colorful dice, and it is uh tedious, but also a joy to roll them all.
• 28:46
  SPEAKER_00: I think you need to get her on some too many bones.
• 28:49
  SPEAKER_00: If she likes rolling a whole bunch of dice at once, maybe a little too too many bones is good for her.
• 28:55
  SPEAKER_01: I think I know exactly what she would say if I showed her that box.
• 29:01
  SPEAKER_01: The last one, here's another thing about Mary.
• 29:04
  SPEAKER_01: Mother Mary, she uh only really likes playing.
• 29:11
  SPEAKER_01: I hope people don't take this the wrong way, they play games with us, but she really does not like playing games with people other than me because she has an aversion to downtime.
• 29:22
  SPEAKER_01: Like most people don't like it, like you, you know, somebody's taking too long on their turn, they're like, come on, let's go.
• 29:28
  SPEAKER_01: This game shouldn't take this long.
• 29:30
  SPEAKER_01: But Mary hates it.
• 29:32
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so most games she would rather just play with me.
• 29:35
  SPEAKER_01: Get I take quick turns, so does she, so we can rock games pretty fast.
• 29:40
  SPEAKER_01: But the one game she is willing to play with other people is Rebirth because she loves how lightning fast the turns are in that game.
• 29:48
  SPEAKER_01: Like that game just zooms around the table.
• 29:52
  SPEAKER_01: Next thing you know, it's your turn again, and she also likes taking over people's castles.
• 29:58
  SPEAKER_00: That that one was also a hit with Rachel because it goes so fast and the rules are so light.
• 30:03
  SPEAKER_00: You can just draw a chip, put it in the matching space, ready, go.
• 30:07
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah, it's awesome.
• 30:09
  SPEAKER_00: Let the chips fall where they may.
• 30:11
  SPEAKER_01: What we learned about mothers is they don't got the time or mental bandwidth to be putting up with all this board game fluff, or their husbands, yes, especially their nerdy husbands, nose deep in rule books all the time.
• 30:28
  SPEAKER_01: So that's Mary for you.
• 30:31
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, man, don't we have some awesome moms in our life?
• 30:34
  SPEAKER_01: We do, we're lucky.
• 30:36
  SPEAKER_00: We are, we sure are lucky.
• 30:37
  SPEAKER_00: And if you don't have a mom out there and you're listening to this episode, and you're like, Man, I sure do wish I had a mom to game with.
• 30:45
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, just go adopt somebody else's mom.
• 30:47
  SPEAKER_00: Go go find somebody special and go play a board game with them, and they could be your mom for the day.
• 30:52
  SPEAKER_01: Empty Nest Board Mama might be a good one.
• 30:54
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, hit up empty death board mama.
• 30:57
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, she will be your mom.
• 30:59
  SPEAKER_00: She is the board game sphere's mama, and I introduced her as the mama cita of meeples the other the other day.
• 31:04
  SPEAKER_00: So yeah, uh, she is out there and she has an empty nest that's not so empty anymore, but she always has room for the board gaming community.
• 31:12
  SPEAKER_00: So hit her up, Amanda.
• 31:14
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you for being the board game community's mom.
• 31:17
  SPEAKER_01: Yep, yep.
• 31:18
  SPEAKER_01: She's gonna find out about this on Tuesday.
• 31:21
  SPEAKER_00: That's right.
• 31:22
  SPEAKER_00: Happy Mother's Day, Amanda Lee.
• 31:25
  SPEAKER_00: And happy Mother's Day.
• 31:27
  SPEAKER_00: Happy Mother's Day to all of you out there.
• 31:28
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you for listening.
• 31:29
  SPEAKER_00: Clay, thank you for interviewing all of your the moms in your life.
• 31:33
  SPEAKER_00: And uh, let's see if we can get some moms to play some board games.
• 31:36
  SPEAKER_00: This is what moms do.
• 31:37
  SPEAKER_00: Let's do it.
• 31:38
  SPEAKER_00: All right.
• 31:39
  SPEAKER_00: This has been Operation Game Night.
• 31:40
  SPEAKER_00: I have been Travis, he has been Clay, we have been sons of moms and uh husbands of other moms, and uh, we are out.