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Life : Ten Retro Board Games To Revisit Over Easter

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April 7, 2012
Be Happy
11 Comments

I am not sure about you, but I certainly know that Easter is my favourite holiday. There is not a HUGE amount you HAVE to do, apart from a bit of bun baking and egg hiding, and generally you get to lie about and eat chocolate and drink cups of tea.

A few Easter holiday days still stretch out lazily in front of us. We could be cooking or watching telly or gardening or going for nice walks.  We could be reading books in bed or making pots of coffee or painting our nails or knitting a jumper.  We could be flipping through magazines or gazing at Pinterest or reading the papers from front to back. Or we could  play games. Not mind games. Oh no. Board games. Oh yes.

Did you grow up playing board games?  We did. I have a brother and a sister and our holiday days were punctuated with rounds of various dice throwing, popper clicking, wheel spinning competition. Sometimes things were fierce or sulky. Sometimes things were quiet and smiley.  I mostly remember that things were fun. Don’t you want to do that again? Don’t you want to play board games?

Vintage Board Games You Must Revisit!
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Vintage Board Games You Must Revisit!
Scrabble. Because I am good at Scrabble and maybe you are too!

Are you a fan of board games? Did you have any of these? Which were your favourites? Do you want to click the Pop-O-Matic?

 

 

image credits : Trouble, Trivial Pursuit, Chinese Checkers, Scrabble, Mastermind, Peanuts Game, Skippy Game, ET Game, Discover Australia Game

  • Sandra Fox

    Indeed I did have some of those games.  I also had one called “Mystery Date” where you had to open the door to reveal your date and hope you had the appropriate outfit ready. Not a game for feminists.  Come to think of it…was quite a shallow moral to that story…hmm.

    • http://www.justbaustralia.com.au/ Pip @ JustB

      I have not heard of that one, Sandra! I am going to look on Etsy for it now! x

  • http://twitter.com/JackieCupcake Jackie Brown

    I love board games!  When I was a kid we often used to get them out after dinner – especially the original, Cold-War-era version of Trivial Pursuit.  My Nanna & Poppa also had heaps of board games – Trouble, Hungry Hippos, Monopoly in AUS imperial currency, and a huge metre square wooden board with Ludo on one side and Chinese checkers on the other (I think my Poppa may have made that one).

    • http://www.justbaustralia.com.au/ Pip @ JustB

      Oh my gosh. Your poppa sounds ace. How NOISY was Hungry Hippos?! Oh my! x

  • Gerry

    Yes I wish I still had my old collection of board games. I loved mastermind and we had OzQuiz (came in an esky) and battleship (not the electronic one). We also had a popboard game that I cannot remember the name of. You pressed a board base down into a platform recess and a timer would tick away while you had to put puzzle blocks together before the platform popped up. It was my absolute favourite!!! Does anyone remember the name of this board game??? Thanks Pip for the trip down memory lane

    • http://www.justbaustralia.com.au/ Pip @ JustB

      Oh I don’t know what that one is, Gerry! It sounds pretty rad. I hope one of our commenters will know! x

    • Michelle Samain

      I can help out here.  The game is called Perfection and is made by Croner.  Amazon still sell it!  My family has been playing this for years.  It’s a favourite.

  • Olinda

    Settlers of Catan is an awesome game. First you get to make the board each time, because it comes in lovely hexagonal pieces. One of the things I like about it is that, unlike Monopoly, it is not clear who is winning until the end. 

    • http://www.justbaustralia.com.au/ Pip @ JustB

      Oh that’s pretty cool, Olinda. I always get a bit anxious in Monopoly, so maybe Settlers of Catan would be more my cup of tea! x

  • Carol

    I am at our holiday home in Marlborough Sounds, NZ – we have left the old board games here and everyone loves them. Chinese Checkers / Checkout (as if you were shopping at a supermarket) / Monopoly / Pick Up Sticks / Snakes and Ladders and so many more. I love Rummykub – great mental agility  . . .  we always played crib, 500 etc with cards or a board game and then we really felt like we were on holiday then . . . Back to Melb next week

  • Michelle Samain

    We still have game nights and the most favoured games are the old school ones.  My niece (11) & nephew (7) love Kerplunk, Trouble and Mousetrap the most.  My brother and his wife still have Connect 4 wars (there’s a permanent scoreboard on their wall).  My favourite is Othello but that’s only for 2 players.