Game on

There’s been a shift in the Frydman tectonic plates.  I find myself interested in playing games.

Lest you rush off to warn Dan, not those kind of games, but card games, possibly even the odd board game.

The world is split into various groups, it seems to me (and yes, there’s a board game for that too, which goes on all night).  Those who enjoy board games tend to be on a different continent from those who don’t.  (I think there’s probably a separate large island for jigsaw puzzlers.  I may swim there some day.)

So to cross over into the game zone is really quite a shift in the substratum.  It helps a great deal not to be fazed by losing.  (I don’t think I will enter the ‘taunting other players while winning‘ archipelago, though I must admit to taking a certain amount of satisfaction winning car races on Facebook.)

So why stay away?  Sometimes what others have said, sometimes what I say about myself.  I have long qualified as a ‘bad loser’, a state which it seems best to avoid mention of entirely, and the easiest way to do this seemed to be to avoid games.

Equally, where others flock to be sociable, and to find activities to do with others, I am quite keen on the opportunity to curl up with a good book, and so on.

What’s changed?  Sure, games are still about competition – nothing but, for some people. Again, I  used to avoid having to be around others being hyped up when thinking they’re on a winning streak.

Now I guess I just think that these things matter less.  I am more interested in the game as a way of being with people, possibly learning something new.  (You certainly learn about friends and family in a new way when you see them play games…and what they do to each other in the process.)

So: having graduated to gin rummy playing, while on holiday with Dan, we played some more while in London with Jen.  I lost all but one game, which was a little annoying, but not desperate.  (Beating them at Star Wars Top Trumps on return was rather nice as a comeback, it has to be said.)

I found myself thinking it might be fun to get a book of card games and try out other ones.  Reading “The Solitaire Mystery” and rewatching “Casino Royale” over the holidays does have to be factored into this thinking too, but there’s also a curiosity – 52 cards, meaning so many things to so many groups of people over the years.

Whether for fun, to occupy most lunch breaks (computer solitaire being one of my former colleague’s habits), or just to try something new, it could be interesting to add another game or two to my repertoire.

So, gentle and not at all competitive reader, let me know if you’ve got any good tricks up your sleeve in this regard.  We might even have reason to look for a charity shop tux to go with them.