Playing for time

Shove ha'penny, pool, bar billiards, darts and table skittles are well accepted activities in pubs but S and I are becoming aficionados of more obscure games.

We found out, not long after we first met, that we both really liked board games, but that we didn't get to play them as often as we would like. So it's a special delight that my favourite drinking buddy, is also my favourite game partner/opponent.

How fitting, then, to combine playing games and drinking beer.  Games don't take the place of conversation - they often augment it, so it's all kinds of good.

Quite a lot of pubs have board games in them - but we've only one or twice indulged in provided games.  I think that's mostly because there are only usually the two of us and a lot of board games are better with more people.

So - generally, we take our own games with us.  When we play at home size and complication of game isn't really a consideration.  When you go to the pub - there are things you really need to take into account.

If you're not going straight to the pub, you need to carry the game(s) with you so it needs to fit easily into a bag you're happy to carry on your walk (in our case, typically a 15l rucksack which also has glasses, phones, water, coats, etc as well)

It may need to be played on a fairly small, circular, pub table (you really don't want to act like a jerk in a busy pub and monopolise a table big enough for six people).

It probably needs to have a fairly basic set of playing rules but with built in deeper strategies - that means you're not forever having to consult a huge rule book or forget what you were doing as soon as you have to fetch more beer or go to the loo.

Shortish playing time is probably a good idea too since you don't want your six hour marathon to be prematurely terminated when a bystander accidentally stumbles against your table and sends all the pieces to the floor in an irretrievable mess.

In our case - we quite like games not to be totally abstract...so they're games that sort of tell a story.  That means most traditional card games like crib wouldn't make the cut (although personally I had a tremendous evening a couple of years back playing crib all evening with my much-missed buddy/workmate, TD in a pub in Maidstone whilst on a business trip).

So - you're probably thinking that the choice is very limited.  Actually you'd be quite wrong as the Boardgame Geek website would show you.
I guess we started with "Battle Line" which we bought to take on holiday when we were travelling by train.  It's a strategy game...which is kind of like poker in some respects.  It's simple to learn but takes a while to get the strategies in your head and for play to get interesting.  It can be played (just about) on a standard smallish round pub table and each round seems to take us about 30mins, depending on the draw of cards and what other converations we might be having.  I usually lose.

Then there's Fluxx.  My brother-outlaw, M, bought me my original pack years and years ago from the US.  It's now much more widely available, and in several different variations - hence I bought a pack of "Monty Python" Fluxx cards for S for a present a couple of years back and both our sets get regular outings.  Fluxx can be played in next to no space and can take 5 minutes or an hour to play.  It's very simple but it can take a couple of hands to get your head around.  It's the most portable thing we have because it's simply a pack of cards. It's a game of skill but there's a LOT of luck involved as well.

Our daftest game for an excursion has to be Zombies!!!
It's a little bit bigger than you'd normally want to carry (a bit like a very thick hard-back book) - but we weren't travelling far and we'd already decided to go to the Half Moon on a gloomy winter afternoon; sit by Howard's roaring fire; drink beer and play.
Our table was on the main thoroughfare in the pub so we got lots of people passing.  Most of these looked to see what we were doing but then politely passed by.  Then one of the bar staff (and daughter of the owners) looked quizzically  for a while...then got Howard to come and confront us. "Are you playing with Zombies in my pub?", he asked.  "Uh...yep", we replied.  "Fair enough" said Howard, with a chuckle and went back to doing what a good landlord should.
Zombies!!! is a tremendously silly game (if that's not obvious from the name) and you make a playing board from tiles that you play in your turn.  It needs a bit more space than our other games so doesn't get that pub outing as often but if you've got the space without making yourself a nuisance, it's definitely worth a go.  It's a combined luck and strategy game.  I don't think I've ever won.

The latest addition (and it was playing this that made me think about posting on this subject) is Chrononauts.  Invented by the maker of Fluxx, it's again based on cards and so is very portable.
You create a game board from 32 of these cards so you need a bit of space to play it.  It's a nice strategy game with a few twists and turns and one where the game seems to get longer the more you play it (and become aware of how your opponent might be able to thwart you). I bought this for S for his recent birthday and we've played it in the garden of the Nightingale, in the Half Moon and in The Bricklayers.  Once again, because it's an unusual-looking game, it draws a few glances but that's part of the fun.

We don't only play games in pubs where people know us.  We take them on holiday and play in the pubs there.  So if you see us - please don't judge us...we're just a couple of middle-aged folk who, being the youngest siblings in our families by a long way, didn't get to play as many board games as we wanted when we were kids.  Or maybe it just gives us a good excuse to stay in the pub longer...