Day 7 of NaBloPoMo is upon us and as we finish out week one, we're going to stay in Colorado for the next in my series of things for which I am thankful.
This isn't really about Colorado though, other than that is where I used to play late-night marathon games of Risk with my uncle Bob.
Risk is a turn based war game and while totally unrealistic, it is a complex strategy game that requires careful thought and planning to be successful.
But we have to step back first for a bit of background. Bob is really good at strategy, he is a Grand Master at Bridge and a whiz at pretty much any card game. I really was way out of my league.
But that didn't stop us from playing - a lot. He used to say that his goal was to teach me so that he had a challenging partner, surely no fun to play a game that he was always sure to win. He would explain to me my mistakes (after I had made them) and how I could have done things differently. I got better over the years and while he still usually won, I was able to put up a respectable fight.
I think we would have played anyway though. Our games took hours and it wasn't unusual for us to be still awake in the morning when Carole woke up for work. It gave us time to talk. Some talks were serious, other times we laughed until tears fell.
I learned a lot during those games, not only about Risk - but about the game of Life as well.
SB
If you started in 5th grade, my nephews should be old enough to start teaching them - I'll have to get on that.
SB
BG
I think I have found a decent online Risk game though if you want to give it a shot.
On a related note, I asked my nephews about their interest in learning Risk today and got an apathetic response from one but Ryan seemed really interested - so we'll go with that.
SB