It’s amazing how much board games have developed over the years, and how fun they can be
By Jonathan Sim
Typically, when you say “board games”, the classics like Snakes and Ladders, Monopoly, or even Risk come to mind. But it’s amazing how complex and sophisticated board games have developed into since those days of my childhood.
A Different Kind of Game
One day, I joined my friend and a few of their friends for a day full of board games! One game in particular amused me a lot. It’s called “A La Carte”.
What’s so cool about it is the fact that you have a real made-of-actual-metal frying pan that’s about the size of a hand, and it even has an accompanying cardboard stove for cooking, and a cardboard spatula. So cool!
The objective of the game is to become a 3-star Michelin chef by preparing three perfect dishes (or by winning the most points by cooking as many dishes as possible).
Unpredictable Variables
You’re supposed to take one recipe and put it in your little frying pan. And, when it’s your turn, you have to do three actions, where you can decide to either roll the dice (to adjust the stove), or attempt to add some of the ingredients to your stove.
Here’s where it gets challenging. You can shake the ingredient shakers only once. Sometimes nothing will come out, or sometimes too much of the same ingredient comes out (which can spoil your dish), or a “salt” crystal will come out (thus ruining your chance at getting the perfect dish and that Michelin star).
From Cute to Futuristic
Once you’re done with the dish (i.e. you’ve got the right amount of ingredients, and the stove is at the right number), you can take it out and flip the recipe over to reveal the dish. It’s pretty fun!
Another game that’s quite fun was some space game. At the start of each round, you have to quickly build your own spaceship. What I love about this game are the astronaut characters!
For the fun of it, I decided to make my own astronaut platoon. “FALL IN!!!!!” I got too amused by the astronauts that I forgot to take photos of the rest of the game. Haha!
Basically, at every round, there will be a scenario card where you can either get money, or experience damage to your ship. Especially if your spaceship wasn’t well-built, it’ll be more susceptible to damage, thus losing your cute little astronauts or precious cargo.
It’s really amazing how much board games have evolved since my childhood. They’re more complex, and definitely a whole lot of fun. I look forward to the next one!
From www.themyriadthoughts.wordpress.com
About The Myriad Thoughts
Jonathan Sim is a young man with a love for philosophy. He has many other interests – such as calligraphy, religion, drawing, cooking, tea, and kungfu – and a zest for life.
Dr Vivian Balakrishnan, Minister of Environment and Water Resources, likes his blog and has met him.
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