Blog Minx

If you were a kid growing up in the 1970s or 80s, you probably spent rainy weekends playing board games, like me. Did the games teach us valuable life and money lessons, and did they way we played them reveal our futures in some way? May-haps. Consider:

Monopoly
What: A classic board game where you choose a figure (boot, car etc) and make your way around the board trying to buy London suburbs and build on them, while occasionally being forced to pay up if you land on someone else’s property or pick up unexpected tax bills. OR suddenly being sent to jail.
How: Generally it was clear after about the fifth throw of the dice who was going to win. The rest was either a smooth path to riches or a bumpy ride to bankruptcy.
Me: If I was winning, I was so benevolent. I’d loan money to my struggling co-players and let them skip the odd rent payment. If losing however, I’d sulk, and there were times I’d flip the board over, sending game pieces flying everywhere, and stalk off in a huff, much to everyone’s justified annoyance.

Game of Life
What: A deathly dull game which involved lots of paperwork: insurance, bonds, lotteries etc as you made your way through different life stages on the board with the spin of a wheel.
How: The aim was to make money and have a prestigious career, family etc, if you could be bothered.
Me: I skipped about 90% of the paperwork and just moved around the board having babies and inheriting fortunes.

What board games did you play as a kid? What did they teach you for ‘real life’?