Game night

Much of what I learned in life came from playing games. It started with Rummy with a babysitter. War, Uno, Phase 10, Go Fish and Hearts (my minor in college, I joke), all helped me understand statistics, mathematics, patterns and logic. Besides card games, Monopoly, Risk and the new favorite, Settlers of Catan, captivated my household when I was a kid and remain addicting now that I am a larger kid. Over Thanksgiving, when our Stratego game was interrupted after two hours by dinner, the rest of the family begged my oldest son and I to stop arguing about who would have won had the game been “allowed” to continue.  While I usually implore my children to go to bed, if it’s game night and I haven’t won, the night doesn’t end until I do. We’ve had some very late nights indeed! Games have taught me plenty about math and its intellectual cousins. Additionally, they teach life lessons that aren’t captured in the Common Core or formal curricula. From games we learn how to win humbly, to accept defeat gracefully, and to navigate the various gray areas that go with die that roll off the table or with the establishment of “house rules.” Games teach strategizing, bluffing, deception and the establishment of alliances, all bound by a set of formal or informal rules. Inevitably, the outcomes of games have spilled over into my relationships with friends and family.How I have participated has affected whether I’m viewed as moral and ethical, or not.

The best poker players know how to read the other players at the table. A good friend shared how effective an older colleague, who grew up in Soviet era, was at sizing up potential customers and business partners because his very survival had depended upon it. Games teach these life skills in much gentler ways. And just as a master storyteller brings you into a character’s life, a good game forces you to understand your opponent.