Play a game

Magic the Gathering is a collectible card game that people who play love and those looking from the outside in scratching their heads.  To a non Magic player, players may sound a bit odd while playing.  It is not uncommon to hear some of the following lines:

"I am going to summon a Goblin Wardriver"
"I am going to attack with my Blightwidow which deals damage to players in poison counters and to creatures in -1/-1 counters."

On Friday night at midnight, my friends and I attended a pre-release tournament for the latest expansion of Magic the Gathering: Mirrodin Besieged.  One would think that only a handful of people would show up to play a card game in the middle of the night; at least that is what I thought.  You would be wrong.  We needed to show up an hour early to secure our spot.  Before midnight, the start of the tournament, the shop stopped accepting players because they reached their goal of around 110 people.  People who didn't get a place in the tournament were offering $100 dollars to anyone who would sell their seat, which cost them only $25, just to play the new expansion set.

I had never played in a Magic tournament and have only been playing for two months.  The style of play was different that I was use to.  However at the end of the tournament, which was around 6 am, I had a record of 2-2-1 (W-L-D).  With this I won a booster pack of cards.

During the night I got to meet all types of people.  I think most of the people there, like me, perfer board and card games over a video game these days.  The introduction of mass multiplayer and online play video games brought a chance to play with people from around the world.  I think this is an incredible technology that nobody could have ever dreamed of when playing games in the early 90's. 

This type of video game style disconnects people more from direct human interaction.  Facebook is cited in sociology studies of possibly handicapping social interaction with others [interaction].  This topic could be beat to death, or I could get to the point.  I will do the latter.  It is good to see people playing card games together instead of at home playing a video game wearing a headset so they can trash talk back and forth with squeaky voiced 'tweens.' 

Magic doesn't have to be the game you choose to play, especially if summoning zombies or dragons to protect you from your opponent is not your thing.  Monopoly, Scrabble, or any card game can be just the ticket to getting together with friends and family all while being entertained.  Best of all, most of the games out there are less than one video game.  So get together, play a game, and get to know each other!



Here are some of my favorite games in no particular order:

Monopoly - Classic game that has new theme versions and even customizable games.
Risk - This game is a classic that now has a futuristic version.
Heroscape - A game that is currently discontinued, but the basic set can be purchased on ebay for cheap. It is a strategy war game that can be played in a basic and advanced mode.

Magic the Gathering - A collectable card game that is always evolving.
Rummy - Many types, a great classic.
Nerts - A fast card game that uses normal playing cards.  One deck is required per player.