Pubs are interesting things in that they are a microcosm of the world around us. Just like the visitors who come from all walks of life, there are any number of things to do at a pub. Watch sports, drink, eat, play games, listen to music... you name it, there is always something happening at a pub. Which gives me a good idea for what the next Pub Prompt should be, so be sure to check out 
Given the electric atmosphere of a pub, it's not surprising that pub games are equally exciting. Plus, given the fact that we now have outdoor pubs and beer gardens and that has opened a whole new door on the variety of games that are available. It's no longer relegated to just billiards and darts. We now have cornhole, and a handful of other games for your entertainment.
That's just the games we are familiar with too. Have you seen some of these crazy pub games from places like Denmark and other countries? I'm looking at you Klask. Just try to watch one of the videos of a match and not get excited. It's pretty crazy.
More recently, there has been a move (at least in the US) to bring back board games. Many tap rooms have shelves and shelves of board games for patrons to sit and play while they are drinking a couple five or six beers. It's not a great way to turn over tables, but as long as people are drinking, does it really matter?
A post earlier this week reminded me of one of my favorite board games as a kid, and that in turn gave me the idea to write this post highlighting some of my favorite games I played as a kid. If you are pushing 50 like me, get ready for some nostalgia as I share some of the games I used to bug my sister to play with me on a cold or rainy Saturday afternoon.
What list would be complete without including Monopoly. I understand why a lot of people don't like this game. It is frustrating and it sometimes takes a long long time to play, but it was always one of my favorites. Even more so later in life when I was given a Star Wars version of the game for some holiday. This wasn't one of our go-to games, but it was one that I remember enjoying playing.
If I had to pick one game that was absolutely my favorite, Stock Market would probably be that game. It was pretty cool because it had the slider that went up and down the middle of the board. Each move you would land on a space and you had to move the slider up or down as many points as the space indicated. Then you could decide if you wanted to buy or sell shares of stock.
I think the coolest part of the game was the little shareholders meeting squares where your stock would split. I took full advantage of those and I remember before long I was pulling in so much money from dividends that we would eventually run out of cash. It wasn't uncommon for us to have to start using a ledger to keep track of our earnings due to the money being all gone. I'd like to think this game prepared me for my current life in traditional finance, but who knows.
It's interesting how many board games revolve around money. I guess if something works, you may as well stick with it. Monopoly is popular for a reason right? Pay Day is another game that I loved to play. The board is basically a month of the year and you would then move your piece through the month getting paid and drawing bill cards that you had to pay each week or each month. The goal was to make it through the month saving more money than you spent, but of course unexpected expenses would often come up to derail that.
Even though it is a bit dated now, this game is still a great way to teach the fundamentals of budgeting and adulting. Those bills keep coming whether you like it or not and being able to manage your finances is super important. I highly recommend this game, you can play a full year or multiple years if you want by simply moving back to the beginning of the board as many times as you want.
I'm including this game not because it was one of my favorite games, but simply because Knight Rider was just so cool back in the day. The idea of the Knight Rider game was actually kind of dumb. You basically drive around the board and one person gets to be KITT. The other players chase KITT with their cars. If you get on the same board space as KITT, each player lays a card down face down. If your crash into KITT head on, you lose the duel and the other player gets to keep being KITT. If you pass KITT, you get to take over being The Knight Rider.
I don't really remember how you actually win this game, but by the time I got it, it was so simplistic that I don't think we played it too much.
Finally, in closing I just wanted to share this old commercial with you from the Run Yourself Ragged game.
I actually just recently got rid of this game. That's how long I held onto it and our nieces and nephews got a lot of enjoyment out of this old game. It was pretty epic for the time, and that timer never really got easier to beat. Especially once you lost yourself inside of the blind maze.
Do you have any favorite childhood board games? Leave them in the comments or write your own post about them!
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All pictures/screenshots taken by myself or 
