Stuck at Home & the Game Store is Closed?
OH NO! Of course, many game stores are offering curbside pickup (at least some are here in mid-Missouri) and there are plenty of places to order games online. (For example,www.PlaygoGames.com... sorry, the "boss" would be mad if I missed a chance to plug the online store!)
That all means that if you really truly want to buy a new game while you're staying at home practicing social distancing, you still can. If you'd prefer to wait until the world gets back to normal, there are plenty of options for having fun with what you've already got plus many free games to play online.
#1 - Use What You've Got
Replay Old Games: Revisit some of the games on your shelf that haven't been played for a while. Maybe they've been "in retirement" long enough that they are exciting again. You could even make up a few house rules to change things up a little.
Accept the Challenge: You could pick a game that everyone in the household really loves and set up a tournament to name the "Ultimate Champion!" Get crafty and make a medal or crown the winner can wear... until someone else claims it from them!
Create Your Own Games: Lastly, get super-creative and make up a brand new game of your own! You can use the bits from games you already own but really, any small items you have enough of will do just fine (paper clips, bits of colored paper, small toys, etc...) Below is my own homemade attempt at designing a new game. I taped symbols on regular dice to make custom ones. (I really need to get back to work on that one!)
#2 - Learn a Classic
You most likely have a deck of cards at your house. Go online and look up a few classic card games that require nothing more than those 52 cards. Poker, Crazy 8's, Solitaire, Rummy, Gin, Spit, War, Old Maid, Go Fish... and tons more.
Many of you probably have dice lying around the house as well. You can find lots of great dice games to play with a simple online search too.
#3 - Print & Play
Our Epic Monster Tea Party game has a downloadable Print & Play version on the website that is absolutelyFREE!Simply download it, print it out, cut out the pieces, & start playing. Except for the rings around the hero pieces, it's in black & white so you've got bonus coloring pages if you're feeling artsy too!
Ours isn't the only tabletop game that offers a print & play version.BoardGameGeek.comcan point you in the direction of quite a few of them.
#4 - Free Games Online
Recently I've been finding quite a few tabletop game apps that usually cost money are waiving the fees and offering them for free. It's a wonderful way to check out a game you've been curious about. Give it a test drive on your mobile device or computer. You may just discover that it's exactly what you had hoped it would be and you can add it to your list of "Games To Buy."
I don't do a whole lot of gaming on my computer, but I believe there are sites out there that offer tabletop gaming that way as well. Sorry I can't point you in a direction for that, but figured it was worth mentioning.
#5 - Video Chat a Friend
Finally, when you've played all the games you can with the people you're trapped in the house... or, I mean... getting to spend extra quality time with, take advantage of technology to virtually get out of the house. "Phone" a friend online using a group video chat.
Google Hangouts, Skype, and Zoom are all platforms I have used personally, mostly successfully. There are quite a few out there though, so there's bound to be one perfect for your needs.
We hope you are all staying healthy and doing your best to keep yourself & everyone around you that way. Eventually, this will be over and we can all get back to the game store to discover new games and play a few of them with fellow game lovers in person.
Until then, we hope that these tips give you a few fresh ideas to keep your days "stuck at home" a little more interesting.
Until we talk again...
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