| When we get a bad bout of weather like we've had lately all I want to do is stay inside. Now, I should use being banished to the indoors as the perfect opportunity to clean my house from top to bottom. But well…there are so many rainy days that gets old pretty fast. I do enjoy an occasional movie marathon (we like to go with themes – movies set in exotic places, movies with really bad special effects, mob movies) but usually too much of a good thing makes me glaze over and a wee bit brain dead. I could knit (if my fingers were nimble enough to attempt such feats), bake (if I didn't burn things so much) or call people to catch up… but of course I do none of these things. What do I do? Well, mostly, I play games! Shocking, I know. But I don't play just online games. I have amassed quite a collection of board games since childhood and although some are a bit tattered and missing pieces, I do bust them out quite often. I'm never afraid to challenge any of my houseguests to a little game after dinner.
As a kid, I played TONS of board games and I became pretty competitive early on because my older siblings never let me win. I loved Life, Sorry, and Pictionary. I was even pretty good at Trivial Pursuit at a young age. But my favorite game to play with my siblings was Balderdash – you know the game where you need to guess the real definition of the big word you've never heard of? I rule Balderdash. I could always dupe my siblings if my made-up definition was "a rare plant that only grows in dark places" or something like that. Rare shrubbery was always good.
One of the best things about games is playing with other people. Although solitaire is an a-okay game, it's just not as fun as playing cards with a gang of friends (or enemies after you beat them to pulp with your mad skills). Playing games with real live friends is great, but it's sometimes harder to organize than I would like. So when I'm in the gaming mood and I don't feel like loading up Jewel Quest or TextTwist, I check out which of my buddies is online and challenge them to one of my favorite board games. INSANITY you say! Board games aren't online! But alas, they are. And right here I'm gonna highlight my favorite MSN Messenger and online games (some of them board games!) that you can play with buddies – whether they be friends or family or fellow MSN Gamers that you get matched with.
UNO®
I can't believe we have UNO on our site! Oh, the fond memories I have of UNO. My UNO skills were pretty good when I was a kid. I think I had a long undefeated streak against my sister when I was about 10 or so. The thing with UNO is that a lot of it is sheer luck. Yes, there is a certain skill to knowing what cards you play when. It's always great to smack someone with a draw four card when they are thisclose to calling UNO. But sometimes, you just get dealt some yucky cards and then your playmates keep hitting you with one draw four after another.
Before I had a chance to play UNO with any of my friends or family online, I played a few games against the computer and jumped into a number of games with fellow MSN Gamers. And I have to admit, I stunk! I think I won one game out of ten. The UNO mojo I once had was now gone with the wind. Until, I challenged my brother and my best friend to a game by using our Invite a Friend option and… I was victorious! My mojo was back and my faith in my UNO skills has been restored.
Messenger UNO is also one of a number of games that you can play on MSN Messenger. Playing on with your buddies on Messenger is great because all it takes is a couple clicks and the game pops up right in your chat window. You'll be calling "UNO!" in a matter of minutes!
The online version of UNO is still in preview (which I call "super secret special feedback mode" for short) and you can send our team any feedback you might have. We're mighty proud of this game but we will certainly consider anything that might make it better… well except take out the draw four cards cuz even though they've caused me pain the dev guys won't remove them!
Checkers
Checkers may not be the most complicated of games but if you face off against a skilled player it can be a challenge. Now I must confess, I have beaten quite a few of my nieces and nephews at Checkers in the past. Yes, I know I should have maybe let them win but don't worry, my nephew Andy now has a vendetta to never let me win a game of checkers again. When we were hanging out, he never missed an opportunity to plop down the checkers box in front of me and start the smack talking immediately. Now that he lives on the other side of the country, we rarely have a chance to play in person so we play the online game or MSN Messenger Checkers quite often. Although the smack talk isn't as effective in type the games are still pretty good. I've even won a few games but I probably can expect many more trouncings by Andy in the future.
Chess
Chess is often referred to as a "mental sport" so I must be way far down on the bench in this brain game. I can't play Chess at all - despite many attempts to learn it. It's a game I just can't get my brain to understand even though I am very eager to learn. Some of my MSN Games co-workers are chess experts and they have offered multiple times to teach me… but I'll stick to checkers and leave chess to them. Ineverwin@zone is one of our resident chess pros. He's been playing chess since he was 5! (See? maybe that's my problem. I shouldn't have waited 'til I was *age withheld* to learn how to play!) He plays our online Chess quite often versus fellow MSN Gamers and I must say he has a pretty impressive record. He's only lost 3 games and he blames one of those losses on trying out the new ten minute timer. He says it's not for him but I know it was implemented because it was in high demand by our users so I hope you guys are enjoying it (despite it causing him a few moments of grief).
Bankshot Billiards
Billiards is not a game for the uncoordinated and clumsy. A few of my friends have realized this when they have witnessed my billiard skills in person. I hold the cue wrong, I lose my balance when I go for wacky maneuvers, balls somehow end up flying off the table - I'm a mess basically. But apparently, it's a great show for my friends! I love our online billiards games because my clumsiness is never revealed! There is 8 Ball, 9 Ball and Cutthroat - which sounds pretty scary but it's not. After a few online games, I look like a pro (okay, an amateur) without trying that hard. Sure, I'm still not that great at it but at least my friends are a little more impressed with my pool playing ability online than they are in person.
So check out these multiplayer games for some fun during your downtime – even when it's not raining! There are even more on our site including Texas Hold 'Em, Dominoes and Hearts and a bunch on MSN Messenger like Minesweeper, Reversi and Sudoku Too. So invite your friends or meet some new ones and have a blast. Games are always more fun when you can "woot" to an actual person instead of a computer. | |
| Tech Time
Some gamers are having a little tech issue with GameSpring but no worries – it is easily fixed. If you try to log in to GameSpring but it doesn't recognize your email and password go to our home page and click "Sign Out." Then, click "Sign In" and uncheck the option to automatically sign in. You should then be able to log into GameSpring with no problem. Pretty easy, right?
Stay dry, Coffee Breakers! See you next time! | |
