The recent trend of board game restaurants is creating nostalgia for us late 90's and early 2000's kids. All around, little coffee or frozen yogurt shops are popping up around us with one crucial difference from their other confectionery counterparts: these offer the chance to play board games while you enjoy your coffee or fro-yo. And they aren't just any old board games, no sirree, they are the board games we used to play when we were children. My sister went to a frozen yogurt shop a couple of weeks ago and they had cards, board games and even chalk to play with. She said it made her feel nostalgic for the past when she was little. It was also a great stress-reliever. There is this cafe called The Board and Brew in College Park right by the the University of Maryland, and I bet it draws in some of the college students as a stress-reliever and as a fun time for them. This new trend has prompted me to write this detailed list of ten of the games from the 2000's you may have forgotten about.
1. Candy Land
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Candy Land was one of the first games for many of us. With its candy cane forests and molasses swamps, the goal is to get to King Kandy's Castle. A board game entirely centered around candy couldn't be any more enticing to children. I know I loved this game when I was younger, and I always wanted to be Queen Frostine.
2. Battleship
One of the oldest and most popular games, Battleship has been out since the 1930s, but it continues to come to with new versions every couple of years. When I was in elementary school, this was the game that was constantly fought over to play. Of course I still play it today when I babysit different kids, but it help a certain amount of thrill for me as a child.
3. Scattergories
This game has recently been digitized and turned into the popular app, Stop! I loved this game as a child and still do. The fast-paced tempo of this letter category game brings out my competitive nature. I have always loved this game because the weird always wins; the more unique of an answer the more likely you are to get points.
4. Don't Spill The Beans
I am not going to lie, I forgot about this game until I saw it online, but I cannot believe I had forgotten it. I loved this game and the feeling of the inevitable fall of all of the beans out of the pot and never knowing if it will happen while you are placing them in there. If you never played this game, it is well worth a try.
5. Mancala
I didn't know about Mancala until I was almost out of elementary school, but from the first time I played it, I loved it and I couldn't stop. There have been numerous apps and versions of this game. It has been around for longer than I even know. I didn't know that moving marbles around in a circle could be so popular but I definitely see the appeal. You can now even play it through the messages on your iPhone.
6. Operation
Operation used to scare me so bad, we had to take the batteries out. The noise was too loud for me and it always shocked me. My favorite version of Operation was always the Shrek version because there were references to the movies in the pieces in his body.
7. Hi Ho! Cherry-O
Even though this game is meant to teach kids to count, I never felt like I was learning. It was always fun. In order to win you pick up cherries bit by bit according to the number you spin until you have picked all of your cherries off of the tree. I have always said the name of this game incorrectly. I don't say it like cherry-o, I have always said it like the cereal: cheerio.
8. Don't Break The Ice
Another game where you feel as if you are on edge because as you punch each ice block out you never know when it might all come crashing down. This is a game which requires a strategy so that you aren't the one who puts the figure in the cold water below the ice. I always played this game at my next door neighbor's house when I was little. I don't remember much about being good or bad at it, so I am sure that means I sucked and I blocked it all out lol.
9. Guess Who!
A game that continues to be played today as new versions come out, Guess Who! is a game of yes or no questions to figure out who the other person is. You can flip down the people you don't think they are as you get closer and closer to figuring it out. Nowadays they have new versions like Guess Where! in which you have to guess where certain people are in the house.
10. Chutes and Ladders
Last but not least, Chutes and Ladders is a game of pure luck. Depending on what number you roll or spin you either go up on a ladder or go down one of the chutes. There is no strategy whatsoever to this game, only the goal to get to the top of the board and hopefully not fall down too many chutes.
Hopefully you played and enjoyed many or all of these games when you were young, and that this list brings back fond memories.
