Anyone who has spent any time with my siblings knows that we are avid board game fans. I don't know why we are so drawn to them. Perhaps it was the fact that we were denied video games until later in life and only one person at a time could generally play the computer games. Growing up, we would generally focus on one game that we liked a lot and play it obsessively. The following are some of the more memorable games (some are more applicable just to me rather than the whole Broadbent family):
1. Monopoly. For years this was the bread and butter of Broadbent family gatherings. We memorized all the rents of all properties with all combinations of houses and hotels. We generally completed a game in about 45 minutes. Outsiders who played with us generally could not keep up. On one Sunday afternoon we played 7 games in a row. We would have standings on white boards that showed everyone's ranking and how many times they had finished first, second, third, etc. The downfall came when trading properties became too heated of a discussion and everyone would leave with bitter feelings. We decided we needed a game with less heated exchanges. We still break it out occasionally, but after we play we are reminded of why we quit playing regularly.
2. Acquire. Acquire is a great strategy game that favors people with good memory. The height of Acquire came when I was in law school when we (fellow classmates) would play till the break of dawn, much to Sheralie's chagrin (who rarely played past midnight).
3. Settlers of Catan. One of the later developing games, Settlers is a classic. We also played this in law school late into the night (you wonder when we actually studied) on this one and have had many Broadbent games. Great as a 2 player game too (unlike Acquire and Monopoly). We have only played the Cities and Knights version a couple times, but it is pretty fun too.
4. Chess. Almost every Broadbent family reunion had a chess tournament. I think I only won it one year when I had my brother knock off my cousin Sheldon. Not everyone got as into chess though, since chess requires a lot of games to refine the strategies. I was fortunate to have a great job at BYU - working at the checkout desk at the law library. No one ever checked out books there. In the 6 months I worked there I probably logged in about 1000 games of chess online. Even when I went to law school myself, I would often miss the last bus home because I didn't want to quit my chess game. Chess is obviously only a two player game but if the two people are not evenly matched, the game is not much fun. Jeffrey is just starting to learn chess and really likes it.
5. Scrabble. Scrabble has been a more enduring game than many for the Broadbents. Sheralie and I used to play Scrabble every Sunday night before Sunday became so exhausting that Sunday night was only good for staring blankly at the wall. The larger Broadbent family also plays sometime, though a timer is essential for keeping some people from slowing the game down exponentially.
6. Beyond Balderdash. I was surprised to see this game has gone out of production. It is so much better than the regular Balderdash. Broadbents have always enjoyed this one for the comedic value.
7. Civilization I and II. This is actually a computer game and not a board game, but we spent so much time on this game in our youths that it cannot be ignored. When people were away at school or on missions and we couldn't field a good Monopoly game, this was the game of choice. We tried the multi-player version several times, but the games took so long that they never reached a conclusion.
8. Puerto Rico. This board game took us by storm last year. It is a great board game because you can also play it for free online (which you can probably do with many games now). Last year we set up standings and rotations and tournaments and it was all very organized. After several months of playing quite frequently, everyone burned out.
