Slice of Life: It is Not the Game of Life ... Or Is It? #SOL20 #TWTBlog
You’re in charge of picking the game tonight.
He comes back up the stairs and holds up a game.
Thinking this one might be good.
I don’t know whether to laugh or cry.
Is there really a board game about pandemics?
It would appear so since I’m holding it.
I’m still learning to love young adult humor … and yes this is a real game.
We have started to fall into a routine of playing a game each night after dinner. Pandemic was given to us by family friends in February. To be honest, we never opened it and I never even thought twice about the name. Pandemic didn’t really have a lot of meaning for me before last week, so I am certain it simply washed over me.
I have to say at first I was averse to playing a game about pandemics while in the midst of a pandemic. Why would I want to do that? Playing a game is supposed to take my mind off of everything that is happening not force me to think more about it. I was overruled and we played. In fact, we have played most nights and I highly recommend it.
Besides begin fun, it really hits home the importance of working together. The game is completely collaborative – players vs pandemic. Players talk, negotiate, debate and plan together. Ultimately each player gets to make the final decision for their turn. If you don’t work together, you feel the impact over the course of the game. In most games you work on your own, make the move the best benefits you. In this game, you quickly learn that the only way to win is to work together. You have to sacrifice your move for three moves in the future that will be played by your teammate. You plan to give cards away. You work together to cure an area that doesn’t impact you directly. You race against time.
As I read the news and follow social media threads, I wonder if everyone should play this game. This is not about a certain group of people. This is not an overreaction. This is real and everyone needs to be a part of the solution. This will impact young and old; healthy and sick; people you know and don’t know. We are in this for the long haul so we need to think beyond our own immediacy and plan for three moves ahead. Getting through the next few months will require cooperation, sacrifice, generosity … and maybe some good old fashioned family games.
If you are looking for a new board game to play with your family, I do recommend the game: https://www.amazon.com/Z-Man-Games-ZM7101-Pandemic/dp/B00A2HD40E
Stay safe and be well.
Thank you, Stacey, Beth, Betsy, Kathleen, Melanie, Lanny, Kelsey, Marina, Amy, and Therapi for hosting this weekly forum and the March Challenge. Check out the writers, readers, and teachers here.
