We all have that go-to game to play when there is a gathering, but there is a side effect that comes with some of these games. One moment, everything is perfectly fine and the next thing you know, there is a huge argument about who cheated or what happened (or in my case, I didn't get to finish the round or I didn't get the chance to take my turn). There are a lot of games that are fun but are bound to cause a bunch of arguments.
Phase 10
When my friends and I meet up, Phase 10 is our go-to game. It's composed of ten levels that get harder and harder, and over time, more points will keep coming in. The point of the game is to complete all 10 levels and you only move on when you complete a round. The frustrating part is when someone else completes it before you right when you finish the round. I have dealt with this so many times. As I play this more, I would think that I could get used to it, but no. It only gets more aggravating, especially when I've been stuck on the same level for over five times. When someone completely finishes a level, that's when the yelling starts. Most of my friends will start cussing at the winner of the round out of anger, so it gets really bad. I don't cuss, but this game has made me almost cuss on so many occasions that I'm starting to think my first cuss word will be because of this game. It's a really fun game and I would love it if more people played it, but it just requires a lot of patience and tranquility, which will soon diminish away as it is played more.
Monopoly
If someone were to suggest this game, I would immediately shoot it down. Monopoly riles me up slowly and the fact that it takes a long time to finish doesn't help. It builds the anger up and there is no way to get rid of it. In the beginning, it's fun to play because it's easy to gain properties and there are not many rents to pay. As the game goes on, you realize that it's the little things that get you angry; such as, not having anyone land on any of your properties or not rolling the number you need to land on Electric Company or Free Parking, which I miss every round. Then, there are the people who continuously make deals that make others bankrupt. That's how I always lose most of my money. There's also that one person who always lands on Free Parking and rakes up all the money. I end up losing my money to the point where I can't even pay the doctor's fee and the next time I land on chance, I don't even win the beauty pageant.
Scattegories
Scattegories is my favorite game to play with my family. Since we all think alike, especially me and my brother, we end up putting the same answer, thus not getting the point. Because of this, it leads to a lot of yelling, name calling, pencil throwing and quitting. What creates these arguments is that the time limit in this game — 120 seconds for me — allows for common answers and sometimes different answers, but there is more of a chance of getting the same answer than different. Then there are arguments over if the answer is even valid. Let's say the letter is "G" and the category is things you eat. There are lots of foods that you eat that start with "G," but people will end up putting green lettuce, green celery, green cilantro, etc. Having to validate this answer will take 10 minutes, in my experience. My family would be shouting, arguing and debating with each other either to get the point or not. I usually put answers that I think my family members would put just to make sure they don't get the point, so when I put the same word as them, there's a lot of name-calling and pencil throwing. It's so much fun to play, but it's an easy way to cause arguments.
Jenga
It's my opponent's turn. They slowly but confidently take out a wooden block and place it on the top. The tower shakes a bit. I begin to get angry at the set up that was left. I find a loose block but the tower begins to shake. It then falls. I stare at it as it slowly crumbles. It was like finding out your favorite TV show just got canceled. The anger just builds up from there. This is where the arguing comes in. It was my opponent's fault because he took out the piece last. It was my fault because I touched a piece last, but I didn't take it out. This could go on for sometime before we rebuild the tower again. The whole process starts all over. Jenga is basically a game where someone can confidently make your shaky world collapse. This is a game to see if your friends want you to fail. In this game, there will always be someone to blame and to take your anger out on.
Apples to Apples
Apples to Apples is a fun and easy game to play. All you have to do is choose a card that will fall into the category that is chosen. Sounds fun, right? It is if you take out the arguments that follow. I've always had a problem with this game. It has no logic to it and is biased. Because of this, I've had to sit through arguments on whose cards are whose and who "deserved" to win. A round would begin and we all give our chosen card to the judge. Then, he or she will select the winner and bam! The yelling has begun. It's even worse for the judge because the yelling is directed at him or her. What makes this game more prone to arguments is that it uses no logic, so everything is all over the place. The fact that this game uses no logic makes me upset because everyone argues on whose card is the better choice, not the most logical one. You can make random stuff up just win a green card.
War
This is a simple card game that can easily rile someone up. It's a game of chance, but when I keep getting the lower card, it's going to get annoying. It will reach a point where I will quit the game because I'm too angry to play. I think it's the easiest game to get angry in. I've done it, my brother has done it and so have most of my friends. The fact that it is a game of chance is what makes it even more annoying because it's not in your control. Sometimes I will play it and sometimes I won't.
Spit/Speed
This two-player card game is the reason I'm competitive in card games. The amount of speed that is required is a lot, so when I lose, it is very frustrating. This game requires you to think fast and multitask and it goes really fast. It keeps you on your toes. The point is to win by ending up with zero cards. There are two piles that are created during this game. When each round is over the one who wins that round gets the smaller pile. Here's where the anger comes from. You're winning every round and your stack is getting smaller and smaller. All of a sudden, you lose. You now have the large pile of cards. Shock courses through your body as you realize you just lost. Your opponent laughs. It's times like this when I have to calm myself down or walk out of the room. It's harder for someone who is very competitive in card games like me.
Clue
Clue is a personal favorite of mine, mostly because it is so easy to cheat, and it is very easy to cheat in this game. This makes all the players more guarded and they're so into protecting their cards that they forget to cover the paper that helps them figure out the murderer or vice versa. The arguments come from trying to prove a rumor wrong. If no one can prove a rumor wrong, mostly because the player creating the rumor uses some of their own cards to figure out the missing piece, there's a period of time that I make to convince the person to create another rumor. It buys me more time. Before all the players realize this, I figure it out. Most of the time I get away with it, but there were times where I had to fight my way out.
Uno
Who doesn't love a good game of Uno? The satisfying feeling when you can't put down the color or number that you need to, but you instead have a wild card. It's not just any wild, but a wild with a +4 on it. The next person has a +2 of the color that you chose, so they put that down. Now, the next person has to pick up six cards. The look of anger that comes on their faces is pure satisfaction until it's your turn to pick up all those cards. Yay. Then there's the time where I end up only having the card that I can't put down or having one left when somebody yells "Uno!" before me and now, I have two cards left. It's aggravating.
Egyptian Rat Slap
This is a wonderful and fun card game to play. That's not sarcasm; it is actually fun, but it's intimidating to some people. It's fast, but it also hurts. I have ended up with a bright red hand from all the slapping in trying to get the cards. The point is to get all the cards and to do this, you need fast reflexes and quick thinking. It's frustrating when I begin to lose all my cards and the only thing that is keeping me from losing are the Jacks. It's even more frustrating when I go to slap, but someone else beats me to it. It's a bit satisfying when I hit that person's hand hard because of all the momentum in my hand. As the game goes on, it only gets worse, especially when there are only two people left. That is when it gets rough and it's not pretty. No wonder some people are too scared to play this.
