Let's Play a Game....

When you hear that phrase, do you jump up and whoop for joy or, like me, do you wish you were invisible? Do you sometimes feel guilty for not playing enough with your kids? I do. But the games they want to play take FOREVER or are so mindless that I nearly lose my own mind trying to get through one round. And they always want to play more than one round of any game! And then there's the boredom you must endure while you are waiting for your turn to come around again. And the necessity of keeping an accurate scorecard is always a point of contention. And what if someone thinks someone else is cheating? What if someone thinks someone else is taking too long with their turn? The whole "family quality time" takes a nosedive and you wish you'd just turned on the TV and ignored each other all night long.

If this sounds even remotely like your family, have I got a game for you. It is called Bananagrams and it is a load of fun. It reminds me of scrabble, but without the waiting around for your turn and without all of that annoying point counting. Everone gets a handful of tiles, somebody yells "split," and everyone tries to form words that connect (like in the picture - one of my many winning hands!). Everyone plays with their own set of tiles and play occurs at the same time for everyone. As soon as the first person runs out of tiles, they shout "Bananas" and that round is over! If all the words they made are deemed actual words by everyone else, they win. Game over! You can play a game in less than 5 minutes, or you can play until one person wins a certain number of times. You choose.

We had such a great time playing this game last weekend we ended up buying the game for a friend. I can't wait to hear how her family enjoys it. We haven't found a game we were this excited about since we found Apples to Apples a couple of years ago. The entire Bananagrams game fits in a small pouch, so we can take it anywhere we go where we might like to play a game. We haven't been out to eat since we purchased the game, but it would be a great way to spend time together after we order and are waiting for our food to arrive.

The rules aren't much more complicated than I've stated here, but for a better, more detailed description of the game and how it came to be, check out the Bananagrams website.

Enjoy your family this weekend!