Nothing gets in the way of game night
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 16/04/2020 (1145 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
My house is well known for hosting “game night” on Saturdays.
We have a huge stack of games and a group of regulars who show up to have some fun. We haven’t let a little thing like a global pandemic ruin our game nights, either. We’ve been playing games online to keep in touch and have some fun during these unprecedented times.
On the first missed game night, my daughter and I went through our stack of games to see which we could adapt to online and remote play.
We came up with “Skype-A-Gories,” which I invented. We took our regular Scattergories game and typed up our own game cards. Then we emailed the Word document to our friends to print at home. At our agreed time we Skyped each other, and there they were — all my friends ready to play.
Everyone had their beverages and snacks of choice, and we were ready. I rolled the letter dice and set the timer at my end, then we all wrote our answers until the buzzer went off. The usual arguing ensued over answers, and then we were on to the next card. We played and laughed for the better part of two hours.
Another friend mentioned a phone app called Houseparty. We tried this next. It is like Skype (where you can see everyone), and it features games you can play with your friends. Everyone player needs a device, though. There are several trivia games, a fill-in-the-blank-style game, a drawing game and Heads Up (like on Ellen). It was also hours of fun and catching up with friends.
For the group of people who enjoy Cards Against Humanity we are using an app called Evil Apples. However, it doesn’t enable players to see or hear each other. It is not as much fun to play remotely, so we fixed that… by putting on our long johns and winter boots, grabbing some lawn chairs, and having a bonfire. We made a very exaggerated social-distancing circle, and played outside with friends.
This is where I admit to you that I had never Skyped before and required my daughter to set that part up for me. I learned that by using Skype with your friends, you actually have to change out of your pajamas and put make-up on. That is to say — you have to act human again.
That said, we are not going to let a little thing like a pandemic interrupt our game nights.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the front-line workers keeping us healthy and fed. Stay safe, everyone.
Wendy Hrynkiw is a community correspondent for East Kildonan. Email her at wendyhrynkiw@shaw.ca
Wendy Hrynkiw
East Kildonan community correspondent
Wendy Hrynkiw is a community correspondent for East Kildonan. Email her at wendyhrynkiw@shaw.ca