December 23, 2024 • 27 mins
Dave, Jon, and Ben are joined by super special guest expert and board game aficionado, Jeff to talk all about board games and card games! In part 2 of this episode, they conclude their conversation about their favorite games from young adulthood until now as well as play a board game fun-fact quiz. Jeff explains what makes a good game and Ben shares insights into the psychological benefits of games. It's a great time!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
Hey, welcome back. We hope you enjoy listening to part two of this episode.
(00:06):
All right, John, what about you? What are some of the board games, card games that you liked as a
young adult to now? Yeah, you know, growing up, I think Scatagories was always super fun.
Oh, yeah. And I know there's multiple versions that you can play now and all that.
Phase 10, loved it. I put it as an app on my phone and spent way too much money, so I had to delete it
because there's still a lot of money for me. So, you know, Domino's and Domino's has multiple
(00:31):
variations of that as well. And then I got to play it on my iPad. It's a free app, amazingly.
It's called Massac and Train. And I was playing it right before we started here tonight.
And I play at least two rounds. It's Domino's, right?
Yeah. But that's a fun one. It's good even for just a regular basic game. It's got kind of neat
little graphics and stuff too. And then Yahtzee, always been a big fan of the Yahtzee.
(00:57):
Although I got that as an app too and I spent way too much money on that.
But I'll play regular Yahtzee.
It's a good time, man. Yeah, for sure.
So the last game that I liked a lot that we actually played,
and you might have heard of this game, it's called Perudo. We call it Liars.ice,
but it's a Peruvian game. And basically you got a bluff. So like everybody's got their little
(01:20):
shaker. And so you shake it up, shake it up. Everybody's got five dice that you start out with.
Shake it up. And then you flip it over. And only you look at your dice and you
you got to say, okay, depending on how many people are playing, because okay, I think there's,
how many people playing? I think there's eight threes on the board. So then everybody has to say,
okay, well, I've got two and then you count it up and see. And if you're wrong,
(01:44):
you lose one of your dice. Yeah.
And that is a fun game, man. That's a, that's a good one.
That sounds fun, John. That's cool. All right, Ben, what about you?
As a young adult, we started playing a lot more games that were, I just felt like social,
like not so competitive. So like Mad Gab was one of those where it was like something where even
(02:05):
if you mess up, you're not doing so well, it's just funny. You know, like people mispronouncing
words and stuff. And, and anyone could kind of join and listen in and leave whenever they want to,
you know, it could kind of change the rules a lot. So there were quite a lot of those kind of games.
Penny Dominoes was one I probably started in my teen years that my mom introduced us to, I think,
(02:26):
but it's kind of stood the test of time for me, you know, like still play that once in a while,
you know, same. And then more recently, a couple of games that have been popular in my family is
one is called Wingspan. That's a good one. In Scythe, those are two longer kind of games,
where you get like a lot of resources, you have some strategy for Wingspan, it's a matter of
(02:49):
getting enough birds and eggs, things like that of different territories and stuff, whether it's like
a water based bird, or whether it's forest or something like that. And then Scythe is sort of
like a kind of take over the world and get as many areas taken over as fast as you can. But there's
a certain strategy to it because you get bonuses for different things. And so those ones, my wife,
(03:11):
especially just loves having a lot of strategy, she wins most of them, I think, more often than
not, because she's really good at it. But those are pretty fun too now. Nice, nice. You know,
I'd served a mission for my church and risk was something that I got introduced to on my mission.
And that was a good time on our days off, we would play that for a good chunk of time.
(03:35):
Card games like Rummy and Spades. And John mentioned it, but Scatogorias, I always loved
trying to come up with like multi words with the same letter or whatever to get those extra points.
Yeah, start some fights with using adverbs and stuff.
Yeah, exactly. Yeah, exactly. Yeah.
(03:55):
Yeah, exactly. And I'm terrible at like, bibbing games where you have to like, you know, pretend
like you're not the bad guy or whatever thing like that. But beyond Balderdash, where you get to write
like an answer that you are trying to pretend is the right answer, is a good time. So if you've
heard of Balderdash, it's like where there's these words that nobody knows, pretty much, and you have
(04:15):
to just make up a definition. And then, yeah, they might even be fictional. I think there's, I swear
there was one that was like real that I'm like, I know that one. But anyways, maybe not. The one
person is a Dasher reads the definitions, and then we all vote which one's the right answer.
And if they guess yours, he gets points and things like that. But beyond Balderdash is cool because
it does that. But it also has famous people like why they're famous or dates, why they're important,
(04:39):
or even movie titles, you have to write like a one sentence synopsis for. And that's pretty fun. I
like that one. And then as we started having kids, those games with young kids playing, you know,
shoot some ladders and Candyland and Hi-Ho Cherry-O and stuff like that was a good time. So in fact,
especially with my youngest, when he was little, he would play with his toys and he'd be like,
(05:00):
he always said this, I don't know where it came from, but he'd be like, this one has all the
superpowers, items of magic. And so we played Shoot the Ladders, but with all the superpowers,
items of magic. So when you spun, we would have the categories and there'd be like this list of
superpowers or this list of items and this list of magic. And you could choose which one your
player was going to do to get past the other way. And it was fun. Good times. Yeah. Yeah. So kind of
(05:26):
like a game here, we got a fun fact quiz, Fat Dumb and Happy style. Go around and we'll just
see what everyone thinks. First question. What is the oldest known board game in the world?
Multiple choice here. A Mahjong, B Senate, or C the Royal Game of Ur. What are you guys thinking?
And nobody knows, right? So it's okay if you don't get this right. I'm a little stuck here. I'm
(05:49):
guessing it's the Royal Game of Ur. That one looks old. So I'm going to go with that as well.
Yeah. The only reason I would say that is because it looks old. If you just read the titles,
that's what I told you Mahjong, but yeah. So I'll go with Ben and John on the Royal Game of Ur.
It was probably made like 15 years ago, but thanks a lot, Dave. Yes. It is a game I got from my
(06:10):
neighbor in a garage sale. It is not, no, I'm just kidding. It is, it's Super old. That's the oldest
one right there. The Royal Game of Ur. It's like from 4,600 years ago, ancient Mesopotamia. Nice.
All right. Good job guys. Number two, in which country was the game of chess invented? A India,
B China, C Persia, modern day Iran, or D Egypt. I feel like A and B are too obvious. I'm going to go
(06:38):
D Egypt. I would say Persia. Dang it. That's also a good guess. I'm going for A India. Ben is correct.
It was India. Nice job. All right. I got one. I got one. Yes. All right. What is the most sold
board game of all time? Monopoly. A Scrabble, B Monopoly, C Catan, or D chess?
(07:07):
Chess. Oh, it might be chess. I think it's B or D, but in America, I would say Monopoly.
I'm thinking chess. Ben's thinking chess. Are we limiting to America or are we just saying all time sold everywhere?
If I Google, what is the most sold board game of all time? Because that's how I do these quizzes.
(07:28):
What answer would I get? It's not Catan. Yeah, nope. It is chess. You're right.
You got to think that. Yeah, exactly. Around the world, that is a universal game.
I've never heard of Catan until it popped up in a TV show that I was watching.
(07:49):
And then it popped up in another TV show I was watching. So I guess it's popular.
It's popular. Yeah. Yeah. That's a good one. All right. What was the game risk
originally called? A, domination, B, global supremacy, C, conquest of the world, or D, world war?
(08:09):
Man, I have no clue. I'm going C. The conquest of the world. Jeff, Ben?
I'm thinking A, domination. Yeah. I was going to guess A as well.
The answer is C, conquest of the world. Good job, John.
It was actually French and it was like, I don't know how you pronounce it. So I won't try.
(08:33):
All right. The last question. What is the objective of the game? Hey,
Pa, there's a goat on the roof. It's an actual game. What?
Yes. A, collect the most cans before a player jumps their goat onto the roof of the barn.
B, work together to help the goats escape the farm. C, compete to train their goat to perform
(08:55):
the most impressive tricks. Or D, world domination. Please let me answer B.
I know, right? What do you think, Jeff? What do you think?
I would say B, I guess. Okay. Ben?
I'll go with A. Okay. John?
(09:15):
D, I'm going to go with D. D, world domination.
The answer is A. Ben got it right. Yeah, it's a crazy sounding game. So I thought
let's make up some fake rules or objectives. All right. Just to kind of get our brains going,
I've gathered a list of the games that I have. Actually, I also got Jeff's list of games,
(09:40):
but he has it in boardgamegeek.com. And so I shared screenshots of all a hundred, I think it's like
150 something in the system. But yeah, and we kind of flipped through and just to highlight some of
the games that we saw there that were some favorites. So let's start with Ben. What are some of the
favorites that you saw that we haven't talked about already? Well, you know, one that I wouldn't call
(10:00):
it one of my favorites really, but it just highlights how there are some games that are fun,
but maybe only once or twice. Yes. What is pie face? Yes. What is that? So you have a chance
of getting pie. I can't remember now. You spin a dial and whatever number you get, that's how many
(10:22):
clicks you do. And it's at random that the hand with the whipped cream on it's going to slap you
in the face. It's hilarious that your face basically right in front of this thing where it's going to
shoot some whipped cream on your face kind of thing. I always put my face like this with my mouth,
like wide open, like, like ready for it. But yeah, yes. You have to buy whipped cream in this economy.
(10:44):
That's crazy. But yeah, sorry. Go ahead. Yeah. My family loved it the first time we played it,
but it's funny because I don't know if we played it since maybe one other time. I think one of the
time we played it is, you know, because it's messy. It's, you know, you have this imagining
like all this pie going into your mouth and it often doesn't really make it to your mouth.
(11:06):
It's just, you know what I mean? It gets kind of sticky in your hair. And so like the idea of it,
when you watch videos of it online, you're like, this looks so much fun. And, you know, it is funny
and there is fun to it. It totally is. But it's, you know, it's just a matter of randomness to it.
And once you've done it a couple of times, the magic's kind of gone for me at least. And there's
(11:28):
quite a few games that are like that. So that was like the cliche one of games that are really fun
at first, but then not so much later. I have one that's kind of like that. It's called the upside
down challenge and it's a fun party game. You know, you have somebody over and you play it with them
for the first time kind of thing. What it is, is these glasses that you put on like goggles and
(11:50):
everything's upside down. And then you have to draw a card and it's a challenge like, you know,
draw a dog and it's impossible. Dude, your brain is like, why is my hand going that way? Like I
can't, I am the worst at it, absolute worst. Like my kids are all better than me and it's crazy,
but it's kind of funny too. And it's not all writing and drawing too. It'll be like,
(12:11):
crumple up a piece of paper and throw it in the garbage. And it's so hard when everything's
upside down. It's crazy. It is funny. Interesting. That sounds fun. What about you, John?
So just a couple on this list. I already mentioned apples to apples. Cranium was a fun one.
Yes.
And these don't have to be like, you know, oh, I love it. I'll play it all the time, but you know,
just like you enjoy playing it every now and again.
(12:33):
Yeah. What's cool about Cranium is it's like a mix of games. You know, you got multiple games
in one. I love that.
Yeah. So, you know, you got some Bob and Don moves. Catchphrase, is that the one where you like have
the little circular disc and you have to like give them a clue and they have to guess the word,
right?
Yep. Yep.
Okay. So quick story. Back when I was married, we were playing this with a friend of mine
and his wife and his wife's liked to shop. And, you know, she, she did girl math to wear
(12:58):
like something that was $189 to qualify as a hundred dollars because it started with a one.
So anyway, we played this. So this budgeting wasn't a strong suit. That happened to be the
word that she had to guess. And I'm sitting there with, I probably gave her 15 different clues
and her husband's like, no man, she's not getting it. She's got no clue what you're talking about.
(13:19):
Cause she doesn't. So I thought that was pretty funny. So I'm not listening to that.
That's hilarious. All right. What about you, Jeff?
Okay. I'm going to chill a bit. I'm going to ignore your list and give you a couple of other games
that I, that I left off earlier. And there's a couple of them, do them a little bit by category.
So there's a couple that we play that are kind of like a speed game. Once cooperative, which is
(13:44):
magic maze. And so that one's kind of neat because everyone's got a different role. And then every
time the game stops, you're supposed to switch roles. Oh yeah. You can move the characters one
direction. You can use a teleport or what have you. And so you're, you're trying to collect all of
the trophies or whatever, and then escape the house, but you have to get to exits to turn over
a new thing. And don't you have to be silent when you're playing? Yeah. You can only talk when you're
(14:08):
on a timer. Yeah. Oh man. That game was crazy. And so the better you do, the more complex you make
the game, which then just frustrates everyone, which is great. And then, and then Dutch is kind
of like those games you talked about earlier, where everyone's got a different deck of cards.
And you have w once someone puts a one in the middle, then anyone can put a two on top of it
(14:30):
and then three to 10. And it's a speed game that becomes frustrating because you can see all these
things happening that you can't play your cards. They just get passed or whatever. Yeah. Yeah. And
then some of the press your luck games we like a lot are you have one of them on here is ink and
gold, which you're like, Oh, I can just, I can go one more round or I can go one more card. The same
thing to that is Celestia, which everyone's on an air balloon and you're trying to go farther,
(14:55):
but you have to have cards to beat the bad weather or whatever. And so you got to push your luck
because the farther you go, the more points you get. And then Port Royals is the same way.
The more cards down, the more cards you get to pick to keep. And so, and then a couple other
collaborative games are Hanabi and Forbidden Islands, which can both be good. Hanabi, I used
(15:15):
to play online, but then I stopped playing because people have like a code that they talk in. And if
you don't learn their code, then I'm like, but once you learn the code, then everyone knows what
everyone has. And it's not, it's like, okay, this seems kind of silly ones that I forgot to mention
earlier. So my two boys favorite is probably Bang. And so that one's a lot of fun. And then
(15:36):
Camel Up cards, which that's another one where it's like a betting game. You're trying to guess
which camel is going to win this round or the race or whatever. And so that one's kind of fun.
There's three games that my wife stopped playing with us. She does not like games that where
someone can be mean or negative to you. And so Dominion, where you have a couple of cards that
can be bad for someone. Citadels, where you can kill someone as an assassin or steal someone's
(16:00):
gold as a thief. And so she's not a big fan. And then Black Fleet, we played once and she never
played it again because the kids were mean to her. And then some other ones that are really big fans
that I didn't mention earlier were Skull King. It's a cheap card game that the kids have a lot
of fun with. And then Twice as Clever, which is a roll and write game. So roll and write games,
(16:24):
probably Twice as Clever and Railroad Inc. are probably the two most popular in our house. And
then other group games, Codenames, Dixit. I mentioned just one earlier. And then why first
is kind of funny because why first is you have to try to get second place to get points. It's a game
where you don't want to be last, but you don't want to be first. You want to be second. And so
(16:44):
that one's that one's kind of, again, that's another relatively cheap game because yeah,
so those are some of the ones that I skipped earlier that are either favorites or haters.
And the house, depending on who you talk to. Yeah, they sound awesome. Yeah, that's pretty
cool. One of the guys left off for a quick card game that we learned. So like it's got different
(17:05):
names, of course, but it's a fun one. It's all about speed and paying attention to the cards.
But the name I first learned it as was it's called Egyptian Rastro. Oh, yeah. Yeah.
Basically, you just lay down cards, lay down cards. And as soon as you see it double,
so like if you both lay down a jack, you got to slap the pile and try to get it. And the
(17:26):
point is just to get all the cards. But so that's your goal of it. But it can get pretty intense.
That's a fun one. Okay. Yes. That's a good one, too. It's a quick game that you have to
pay attention to stuff. Yeah. Yeah, that's a fun one for sure. Is there any game that like Jeff was
just talking about his wife will play? Is there any game that you refuse to play? I don't think
I'd play Monopoly anymore. Yeah. And then Oh, shoot, there was there was one or two we got it
(17:52):
off a recommendation board game. And we played it once. And we're like, Yeah, I think I'm good. I
think Small World is probably like that, which I think it could probably be a good game. But a lot
of times it depends on who you play with. Right. And so I think I just had the wrong group twice.
And like, it's never come off the shelf again. So. But yeah, I think Monopoly, the main reason I
(18:15):
don't like Monopoly is, in probably, I was a culprit growing up is, it doesn't really matter,
because someone can ruin the game by doing a ridiculous trade, right. And so my goal growing
up in any game was to win. And then my second goal was if I knew I couldn't win was to make
sure my older brother lost. And so I would go in Monopoly, I would just I would give my little
(18:38):
brother all sorts of stuff for one property, because then my older brother would lose. And
so it just caused a lot of arguing and hotels, $5, please. So the only other game that I don't
like to play anymore is euchre, because it's a card game that you can play that game 1000 times,
and you can play with someone that doesn't know anything about cards, and they can win because
(19:01):
you have to have good cards to win. Yeah, yeah. So that means chance. Yeah.
Ben, what about you any games that you just don't like to play or won't play?
You know, it's funny, I don't know if I remember them anymore. Because there are games, there
definitely were games like that. But yeah, because I refused to play them anymore. And I don't
remember now. It's been long enough that I don't remember. I feel like there's a game, for instance,
(19:26):
that was it's just a matter of like, keeping track of money, you know, and deciding are you
going to invest this amount of money and then you get that much back and it just was a whole lot of
doing math, you know, almost terrible trade off for a game. It was just like,
this was maybe a little too complicated for me, I guess, or just I don't know, just wasn't that
(19:47):
much fun. And also because people were so so competitive about it. That was like, fine,
whatever dude, you win. I don't care. Yeah, yeah. But doing math during a board game when
you're trying to find this garbage. What about you? I refuse to play Twister. I am too fat and old
and I will not play it. Do not bend the right hand red. That's right. You have to play in a little
(20:12):
coat. Bad guy in a little coat. Yes. I'm out. So my kind of same thing, like,
if it's something that I just, and this I even felt this way growing up because Dave knows between
the two of us, he's got the drawing skills. I don't. And I can never play Pictionary. Yeah.
(20:35):
I was terrible at that game. I freaking hated it. And then charades. I was terrible at charades too.
I could never act out stuff. So it doesn't really matter to me. You can still win a lot of times.
You can, but I don't like to lose. So yeah, there's that whole thing. The reason that we lose is no fun.
(20:57):
Yeah. I hate that. Yeah, that's true. So I got a fun one. It's a Bob Ross game and it's called
Happy Little Accidents. And what you do is everyone starts with a scribble and then the scribble goes
into this pile. You draw it and then you have to take this scribble and then make it into something
else, like draw something out of it, which is, it's kind of fun. Yeah, man. It's a good time. Yep.
(21:19):
Yeah. So Jeff, you know, you've shared a lot of awesome games, a lot of fun things and reasons
why they're fun. What for you makes a game really good, really playable, really a good time for you?
I think it's a mix between, I like it to be a little bit complicated, but like I said earlier,
if the rule book is intimidating, when you take it, like I'm telling you, I've taken Art Nover out
(21:44):
four or five times and I've never played the game because the rule book is just so long.
And so really depends for me, a good game is something that the group of people I'm getting
together with is going to want to play. And so it kind of adjusts depending on who I'm with. So
if I'm getting together with Levi, well, a good game can be way more complicated than,
you know, if I'm trying to get my kids to play a game. And so it's something that's,
(22:07):
you can kind of gauge on the audience, what people are going to have a good time.
And then really how long someone's willing to play a game. Like I said, in my house,
if it's going to be longer than an hour, 75 minutes, they're not as interested. But if I'm
going to sit down with, I had a couple of friends on deployments and over some assignments that,
I mean, we could sit down and play a three hour game and we'd all have a good time.
(22:30):
But I would never pull that out and try to play in my house. So a good game also is something that
I try to play less games that are strictly luck. And so I don't mind luck, like push your luck
games like Inking Gold's fun or Port Royale. And those are quick games or whatever. But if I'm going
to play a game that's going to last longer than 15 or 20 minutes, it's based on luck, that's not
(22:51):
going to be as much fun for me. The only thing I would, I guess, go against that is the family
really enjoys Man of Shevitz, which is kind of like phase 10. And there's a fair amount of luck
in that. And so anyone can win, but everyone enjoys it. And so that's the one game that I probably,
there's some skill or whatever, but I mean, it's kind of depends on what card you draw.
And so that's the one that I think, but yes, so reduce some luck, some complexity might,
(23:15):
like I said, my wife refers to me like a board game snob or whatever. And so for a long time,
if it was at like Tours R Us or Walmart or Target, I wouldn't play it. But man, those Target and
Walmart had picked up the range of games that they sell there. And so you can get some pretty
good, when it says on complexity scale, some games that are a little more thought provoking
(23:35):
or challenging. And so, but yeah, understanding the people I'm playing with is probably the
most important thing. Yeah. That's awesome. No, it makes sense to like knowing your audience kind
of thing and what people will go for as far as duration, complexity, all that stuff. So that's
good answer for sure. All right, Ben, why don't you close us out with some of the psychological
benefits of games? You know, a lot of it depends on the kind of game, obviously, some games are
(24:01):
more mental, right? And some are more maybe even physical, you know, but in general, one of the
things they've found is that board games, it increases your verbal fluency, you know, communication,
being able to put things into words. They found this with, especially when they seen the cognitive
functions of the elderly, it helps prevent deterioration of our brains. And so that's one
(24:24):
of those things where being involved, working your brain, it helps keep us keeps us going. Another
thing is that improves short-term memory, inhibition and flexibility. You know, we have to, as you're
playing games, sometimes you have to change midstream your strategy based on how other
people are playing. And so that's another thing. It also benefits people that have tension deficit,
(24:50):
hyperactivity disorder. It also helps with socialization. So there's lots of things where
you get you interacting with people and it can help reduce stress and promotes concentration.
And so there's really so many different benefits. Some of it can depend on which games you're
playing and learning and following rules at a very young age can help you with so much learning
(25:16):
on school too, you know, to debate and order our ideas is another thing that's like,
just has so many other benefits, I guess you could say, you know, being able to do that.
Awesome.
Some of the things that came up when I did some searches on this and some reading,
there's a lot of studies actually that are showing the increase in memory or dexterity or coordination
(25:40):
and strategic reasoning, all kinds of psychological benefits and emotional benefits.
That's awesome. Yeah, I actually heard in a book that I listened to just today, actually,
a study that was done on games and play, and they said the opposite of play is not work,
it's depression. That actually like the play brings joy and happiness, you know, and so the
(26:06):
opposite of that is actually depression. So I thought that was kind of interesting.
Yeah. So work, when I go to work, got it.
Yep. Work is depressing too.
Nice. Thanks, Ben. I always love it when you bring the psychological aspect of what we talk about.
It's really interesting and really good.
All right. So everybody, everybody, thank you so much for listening to another podcast,
(26:28):
A Fat, Dumb, and Happy. We want to first of all, give a huge thank you to Jeff for making the time.
He's a little bit later for him than us, and we thank you, Jeff, for that. Thank you, sir,
for bringing your knowledge of games. Yes.
Dave is right. You are the superest and special guest experts when it comes to board games.
You must have listed off like 30 games I've never heard of in my entire life.
(26:49):
So everybody at home listening, we can see if we can't get some kind of link up or something
like that. So you guys can see some of these games and expand your collection as well, man.
You know, go have fun with the family and friends, you know. So, Jeff, thank you, sir. Appreciate
you. Welcome back anytime, sir. Yeah, thanks for that advice, guys.
Yeah, absolutely. Ben, thank you, too, for your... This is probably my favorite part, apart from the
(27:09):
eating side of this podcast, is making us less dumb. The insight that you have on this stuff,
man, it's really awesome. So thank you for that. Dave, always thank you for being an awesome
bro host. Appreciate you. Everybody out there listening, we thank you. Please continue to do
so. Make sure that you are notified every time a new episode pops up. Make sure to rate and subscribe.
(27:31):
Five stars, baby. Everybody also remember the holidays are coming up, so please be safe. Make
good choices because rolling doubles doesn't really get you out of jail. Say bye to them and happy,
everybody. See you. Yeah. Bye. Thanks, guys.
Hey, welcome back. We hope you enjoy listening to part two of this episode.
(00:06):
All right, John, what about you? What are some of the board games, card games that you liked as a
young adult to now? Yeah, you know, growing up, I think Scatagories was always super fun.
Oh, yeah. And I know there's multiple versions that you can play now and all that.
Phase 10, loved it. I put it as an app on my phone and spent way too much money, so I had to delete it
because there's still a lot of money for me. So, you know, Domino's and Domino's has multiple
(00:31):
variations of that as well. And then I got to play it on my iPad. It's a free app, amazingly.
It's called Massac and Train. And I was playing it right before we started here tonight.
And I play at least two rounds. It's Domino's, right?
Yeah. But that's a fun one. It's good even for just a regular basic game. It's got kind of neat
little graphics and stuff too. And then Yahtzee, always been a big fan of the Yahtzee.
(00:57):
Although I got that as an app too and I spent way too much money on that.
But I'll play regular Yahtzee.
It's a good time, man. Yeah, for sure.
So the last game that I liked a lot that we actually played,
and you might have heard of this game, it's called Perudo. We call it Liars.ice,
but it's a Peruvian game. And basically you got a bluff. So like everybody's got their little
(01:20):
shaker. And so you shake it up, shake it up. Everybody's got five dice that you start out with.
Shake it up. And then you flip it over. And only you look at your dice and you
you got to say, okay, depending on how many people are playing, because okay, I think there's,
how many people playing? I think there's eight threes on the board. So then everybody has to say,
okay, well, I've got two and then you count it up and see. And if you're wrong,
(01:44):
you lose one of your dice. Yeah.
And that is a fun game, man. That's a, that's a good one.
That sounds fun, John. That's cool. All right, Ben, what about you?
As a young adult, we started playing a lot more games that were, I just felt like social,
like not so competitive. So like Mad Gab was one of those where it was like something where even
(02:05):
if you mess up, you're not doing so well, it's just funny. You know, like people mispronouncing
words and stuff. And, and anyone could kind of join and listen in and leave whenever they want to,
you know, it could kind of change the rules a lot. So there were quite a lot of those kind of games.
Penny Dominoes was one I probably started in my teen years that my mom introduced us to, I think,
(02:26):
but it's kind of stood the test of time for me, you know, like still play that once in a while,
you know, same. And then more recently, a couple of games that have been popular in my family is
one is called Wingspan. That's a good one. In Scythe, those are two longer kind of games,
where you get like a lot of resources, you have some strategy for Wingspan, it's a matter of
(02:49):
getting enough birds and eggs, things like that of different territories and stuff, whether it's like
a water based bird, or whether it's forest or something like that. And then Scythe is sort of
like a kind of take over the world and get as many areas taken over as fast as you can. But there's
a certain strategy to it because you get bonuses for different things. And so those ones, my wife,
(03:11):
especially just loves having a lot of strategy, she wins most of them, I think, more often than
not, because she's really good at it. But those are pretty fun too now. Nice, nice. You know,
I'd served a mission for my church and risk was something that I got introduced to on my mission.
And that was a good time on our days off, we would play that for a good chunk of time.
(03:35):
Card games like Rummy and Spades. And John mentioned it, but Scatogorias, I always loved
trying to come up with like multi words with the same letter or whatever to get those extra points.
Yeah, start some fights with using adverbs and stuff.
Yeah, exactly. Yeah, exactly. Yeah.
(03:55):
Yeah, exactly. And I'm terrible at like, bibbing games where you have to like, you know, pretend
like you're not the bad guy or whatever thing like that. But beyond Balderdash, where you get to write
like an answer that you are trying to pretend is the right answer, is a good time. So if you've
heard of Balderdash, it's like where there's these words that nobody knows, pretty much, and you have
(04:15):
to just make up a definition. And then, yeah, they might even be fictional. I think there's, I swear
there was one that was like real that I'm like, I know that one. But anyways, maybe not. The one
person is a Dasher reads the definitions, and then we all vote which one's the right answer.
And if they guess yours, he gets points and things like that. But beyond Balderdash is cool because
it does that. But it also has famous people like why they're famous or dates, why they're important,
(04:39):
or even movie titles, you have to write like a one sentence synopsis for. And that's pretty fun. I
like that one. And then as we started having kids, those games with young kids playing, you know,
shoot some ladders and Candyland and Hi-Ho Cherry-O and stuff like that was a good time. So in fact,
especially with my youngest, when he was little, he would play with his toys and he'd be like,
(05:00):
he always said this, I don't know where it came from, but he'd be like, this one has all the
superpowers, items of magic. And so we played Shoot the Ladders, but with all the superpowers,
items of magic. So when you spun, we would have the categories and there'd be like this list of
superpowers or this list of items and this list of magic. And you could choose which one your
player was going to do to get past the other way. And it was fun. Good times. Yeah. Yeah. So kind of
(05:26):
like a game here, we got a fun fact quiz, Fat Dumb and Happy style. Go around and we'll just
see what everyone thinks. First question. What is the oldest known board game in the world?
Multiple choice here. A Mahjong, B Senate, or C the Royal Game of Ur. What are you guys thinking?
And nobody knows, right? So it's okay if you don't get this right. I'm a little stuck here. I'm
(05:49):
guessing it's the Royal Game of Ur. That one looks old. So I'm going to go with that as well.
Yeah. The only reason I would say that is because it looks old. If you just read the titles,
that's what I told you Mahjong, but yeah. So I'll go with Ben and John on the Royal Game of Ur.
It was probably made like 15 years ago, but thanks a lot, Dave. Yes. It is a game I got from my
(06:10):
neighbor in a garage sale. It is not, no, I'm just kidding. It is, it's Super old. That's the oldest
one right there. The Royal Game of Ur. It's like from 4,600 years ago, ancient Mesopotamia. Nice.
All right. Good job guys. Number two, in which country was the game of chess invented? A India,
B China, C Persia, modern day Iran, or D Egypt. I feel like A and B are too obvious. I'm going to go
(06:38):
D Egypt. I would say Persia. Dang it. That's also a good guess. I'm going for A India. Ben is correct.
It was India. Nice job. All right. I got one. I got one. Yes. All right. What is the most sold
board game of all time? Monopoly. A Scrabble, B Monopoly, C Catan, or D chess?
(07:07):
Chess. Oh, it might be chess. I think it's B or D, but in America, I would say Monopoly.
I'm thinking chess. Ben's thinking chess. Are we limiting to America or are we just saying all time sold everywhere?
If I Google, what is the most sold board game of all time? Because that's how I do these quizzes.
(07:28):
What answer would I get? It's not Catan. Yeah, nope. It is chess. You're right.
You got to think that. Yeah, exactly. Around the world, that is a universal game.
I've never heard of Catan until it popped up in a TV show that I was watching.
(07:49):
And then it popped up in another TV show I was watching. So I guess it's popular.
It's popular. Yeah. Yeah. That's a good one. All right. What was the game risk
originally called? A, domination, B, global supremacy, C, conquest of the world, or D, world war?
(08:09):
Man, I have no clue. I'm going C. The conquest of the world. Jeff, Ben?
I'm thinking A, domination. Yeah. I was going to guess A as well.
The answer is C, conquest of the world. Good job, John.
It was actually French and it was like, I don't know how you pronounce it. So I won't try.
(08:33):
All right. The last question. What is the objective of the game? Hey,
Pa, there's a goat on the roof. It's an actual game. What?
Yes. A, collect the most cans before a player jumps their goat onto the roof of the barn.
B, work together to help the goats escape the farm. C, compete to train their goat to perform
(08:55):
the most impressive tricks. Or D, world domination. Please let me answer B.
I know, right? What do you think, Jeff? What do you think?
I would say B, I guess. Okay. Ben?
I'll go with A. Okay. John?
(09:15):
D, I'm going to go with D. D, world domination.
The answer is A. Ben got it right. Yeah, it's a crazy sounding game. So I thought
let's make up some fake rules or objectives. All right. Just to kind of get our brains going,
I've gathered a list of the games that I have. Actually, I also got Jeff's list of games,
(09:40):
but he has it in boardgamegeek.com. And so I shared screenshots of all a hundred, I think it's like
150 something in the system. But yeah, and we kind of flipped through and just to highlight some of
the games that we saw there that were some favorites. So let's start with Ben. What are some of the
favorites that you saw that we haven't talked about already? Well, you know, one that I wouldn't call
(10:00):
it one of my favorites really, but it just highlights how there are some games that are fun,
but maybe only once or twice. Yes. What is pie face? Yes. What is that? So you have a chance
of getting pie. I can't remember now. You spin a dial and whatever number you get, that's how many
(10:22):
clicks you do. And it's at random that the hand with the whipped cream on it's going to slap you
in the face. It's hilarious that your face basically right in front of this thing where it's going to
shoot some whipped cream on your face kind of thing. I always put my face like this with my mouth,
like wide open, like, like ready for it. But yeah, yes. You have to buy whipped cream in this economy.
(10:44):
That's crazy. But yeah, sorry. Go ahead. Yeah. My family loved it the first time we played it,
but it's funny because I don't know if we played it since maybe one other time. I think one of the
time we played it is, you know, because it's messy. It's, you know, you have this imagining
like all this pie going into your mouth and it often doesn't really make it to your mouth.
(11:06):
It's just, you know what I mean? It gets kind of sticky in your hair. And so like the idea of it,
when you watch videos of it online, you're like, this looks so much fun. And, you know, it is funny
and there is fun to it. It totally is. But it's, you know, it's just a matter of randomness to it.
And once you've done it a couple of times, the magic's kind of gone for me at least. And there's
(11:28):
quite a few games that are like that. So that was like the cliche one of games that are really fun
at first, but then not so much later. I have one that's kind of like that. It's called the upside
down challenge and it's a fun party game. You know, you have somebody over and you play it with them
for the first time kind of thing. What it is, is these glasses that you put on like goggles and
(11:50):
everything's upside down. And then you have to draw a card and it's a challenge like, you know,
draw a dog and it's impossible. Dude, your brain is like, why is my hand going that way? Like I
can't, I am the worst at it, absolute worst. Like my kids are all better than me and it's crazy,
but it's kind of funny too. And it's not all writing and drawing too. It'll be like,
(12:11):
crumple up a piece of paper and throw it in the garbage. And it's so hard when everything's
upside down. It's crazy. It is funny. Interesting. That sounds fun. What about you, John?
So just a couple on this list. I already mentioned apples to apples. Cranium was a fun one.
Yes.
And these don't have to be like, you know, oh, I love it. I'll play it all the time, but you know,
just like you enjoy playing it every now and again.
(12:33):
Yeah. What's cool about Cranium is it's like a mix of games. You know, you got multiple games
in one. I love that.
Yeah. So, you know, you got some Bob and Don moves. Catchphrase, is that the one where you like have
the little circular disc and you have to like give them a clue and they have to guess the word,
right?
Yep. Yep.
Okay. So quick story. Back when I was married, we were playing this with a friend of mine
and his wife and his wife's liked to shop. And, you know, she, she did girl math to wear
(12:58):
like something that was $189 to qualify as a hundred dollars because it started with a one.
So anyway, we played this. So this budgeting wasn't a strong suit. That happened to be the
word that she had to guess. And I'm sitting there with, I probably gave her 15 different clues
and her husband's like, no man, she's not getting it. She's got no clue what you're talking about.
(13:19):
Cause she doesn't. So I thought that was pretty funny. So I'm not listening to that.
That's hilarious. All right. What about you, Jeff?
Okay. I'm going to chill a bit. I'm going to ignore your list and give you a couple of other games
that I, that I left off earlier. And there's a couple of them, do them a little bit by category.
So there's a couple that we play that are kind of like a speed game. Once cooperative, which is
(13:44):
magic maze. And so that one's kind of neat because everyone's got a different role. And then every
time the game stops, you're supposed to switch roles. Oh yeah. You can move the characters one
direction. You can use a teleport or what have you. And so you're, you're trying to collect all of
the trophies or whatever, and then escape the house, but you have to get to exits to turn over
a new thing. And don't you have to be silent when you're playing? Yeah. You can only talk when you're
(14:08):
on a timer. Yeah. Oh man. That game was crazy. And so the better you do, the more complex you make
the game, which then just frustrates everyone, which is great. And then, and then Dutch is kind
of like those games you talked about earlier, where everyone's got a different deck of cards.
And you have w once someone puts a one in the middle, then anyone can put a two on top of it
(14:30):
and then three to 10. And it's a speed game that becomes frustrating because you can see all these
things happening that you can't play your cards. They just get passed or whatever. Yeah. Yeah. And
then some of the press your luck games we like a lot are you have one of them on here is ink and
gold, which you're like, Oh, I can just, I can go one more round or I can go one more card. The same
thing to that is Celestia, which everyone's on an air balloon and you're trying to go farther,
(14:55):
but you have to have cards to beat the bad weather or whatever. And so you got to push your luck
because the farther you go, the more points you get. And then Port Royals is the same way.
The more cards down, the more cards you get to pick to keep. And so, and then a couple other
collaborative games are Hanabi and Forbidden Islands, which can both be good. Hanabi, I used
(15:15):
to play online, but then I stopped playing because people have like a code that they talk in. And if
you don't learn their code, then I'm like, but once you learn the code, then everyone knows what
everyone has. And it's not, it's like, okay, this seems kind of silly ones that I forgot to mention
earlier. So my two boys favorite is probably Bang. And so that one's a lot of fun. And then
(15:36):
Camel Up cards, which that's another one where it's like a betting game. You're trying to guess
which camel is going to win this round or the race or whatever. And so that one's kind of fun.
There's three games that my wife stopped playing with us. She does not like games that where
someone can be mean or negative to you. And so Dominion, where you have a couple of cards that
can be bad for someone. Citadels, where you can kill someone as an assassin or steal someone's
(16:00):
gold as a thief. And so she's not a big fan. And then Black Fleet, we played once and she never
played it again because the kids were mean to her. And then some other ones that are really big fans
that I didn't mention earlier were Skull King. It's a cheap card game that the kids have a lot
of fun with. And then Twice as Clever, which is a roll and write game. So roll and write games,
(16:24):
probably Twice as Clever and Railroad Inc. are probably the two most popular in our house. And
then other group games, Codenames, Dixit. I mentioned just one earlier. And then why first
is kind of funny because why first is you have to try to get second place to get points. It's a game
where you don't want to be last, but you don't want to be first. You want to be second. And so
(16:44):
that one's that one's kind of, again, that's another relatively cheap game because yeah,
so those are some of the ones that I skipped earlier that are either favorites or haters.
And the house, depending on who you talk to. Yeah, they sound awesome. Yeah, that's pretty
cool. One of the guys left off for a quick card game that we learned. So like it's got different
(17:05):
names, of course, but it's a fun one. It's all about speed and paying attention to the cards.
But the name I first learned it as was it's called Egyptian Rastro. Oh, yeah. Yeah.
Basically, you just lay down cards, lay down cards. And as soon as you see it double,
so like if you both lay down a jack, you got to slap the pile and try to get it. And the
(17:26):
point is just to get all the cards. But so that's your goal of it. But it can get pretty intense.
That's a fun one. Okay. Yes. That's a good one, too. It's a quick game that you have to
pay attention to stuff. Yeah. Yeah, that's a fun one for sure. Is there any game that like Jeff was
just talking about his wife will play? Is there any game that you refuse to play? I don't think
I'd play Monopoly anymore. Yeah. And then Oh, shoot, there was there was one or two we got it
(17:52):
off a recommendation board game. And we played it once. And we're like, Yeah, I think I'm good. I
think Small World is probably like that, which I think it could probably be a good game. But a lot
of times it depends on who you play with. Right. And so I think I just had the wrong group twice.
And like, it's never come off the shelf again. So. But yeah, I think Monopoly, the main reason I
(18:15):
don't like Monopoly is, in probably, I was a culprit growing up is, it doesn't really matter,
because someone can ruin the game by doing a ridiculous trade, right. And so my goal growing
up in any game was to win. And then my second goal was if I knew I couldn't win was to make
sure my older brother lost. And so I would go in Monopoly, I would just I would give my little
(18:38):
brother all sorts of stuff for one property, because then my older brother would lose. And
so it just caused a lot of arguing and hotels, $5, please. So the only other game that I don't
like to play anymore is euchre, because it's a card game that you can play that game 1000 times,
and you can play with someone that doesn't know anything about cards, and they can win because
(19:01):
you have to have good cards to win. Yeah, yeah. So that means chance. Yeah.
Ben, what about you any games that you just don't like to play or won't play?
You know, it's funny, I don't know if I remember them anymore. Because there are games, there
definitely were games like that. But yeah, because I refused to play them anymore. And I don't
remember now. It's been long enough that I don't remember. I feel like there's a game, for instance,
(19:26):
that was it's just a matter of like, keeping track of money, you know, and deciding are you
going to invest this amount of money and then you get that much back and it just was a whole lot of
doing math, you know, almost terrible trade off for a game. It was just like,
this was maybe a little too complicated for me, I guess, or just I don't know, just wasn't that
(19:47):
much fun. And also because people were so so competitive about it. That was like, fine,
whatever dude, you win. I don't care. Yeah, yeah. But doing math during a board game when
you're trying to find this garbage. What about you? I refuse to play Twister. I am too fat and old
and I will not play it. Do not bend the right hand red. That's right. You have to play in a little
(20:12):
coat. Bad guy in a little coat. Yes. I'm out. So my kind of same thing, like,
if it's something that I just, and this I even felt this way growing up because Dave knows between
the two of us, he's got the drawing skills. I don't. And I can never play Pictionary. Yeah.
(20:35):
I was terrible at that game. I freaking hated it. And then charades. I was terrible at charades too.
I could never act out stuff. So it doesn't really matter to me. You can still win a lot of times.
You can, but I don't like to lose. So yeah, there's that whole thing. The reason that we lose is no fun.
(20:57):
Yeah. I hate that. Yeah, that's true. So I got a fun one. It's a Bob Ross game and it's called
Happy Little Accidents. And what you do is everyone starts with a scribble and then the scribble goes
into this pile. You draw it and then you have to take this scribble and then make it into something
else, like draw something out of it, which is, it's kind of fun. Yeah, man. It's a good time. Yep.
(21:19):
Yeah. So Jeff, you know, you've shared a lot of awesome games, a lot of fun things and reasons
why they're fun. What for you makes a game really good, really playable, really a good time for you?
I think it's a mix between, I like it to be a little bit complicated, but like I said earlier,
if the rule book is intimidating, when you take it, like I'm telling you, I've taken Art Nover out
(21:44):
four or five times and I've never played the game because the rule book is just so long.
And so really depends for me, a good game is something that the group of people I'm getting
together with is going to want to play. And so it kind of adjusts depending on who I'm with. So
if I'm getting together with Levi, well, a good game can be way more complicated than,
you know, if I'm trying to get my kids to play a game. And so it's something that's,
(22:07):
you can kind of gauge on the audience, what people are going to have a good time.
And then really how long someone's willing to play a game. Like I said, in my house,
if it's going to be longer than an hour, 75 minutes, they're not as interested. But if I'm
going to sit down with, I had a couple of friends on deployments and over some assignments that,
I mean, we could sit down and play a three hour game and we'd all have a good time.
(22:30):
But I would never pull that out and try to play in my house. So a good game also is something that
I try to play less games that are strictly luck. And so I don't mind luck, like push your luck
games like Inking Gold's fun or Port Royale. And those are quick games or whatever. But if I'm going
to play a game that's going to last longer than 15 or 20 minutes, it's based on luck, that's not
(22:51):
going to be as much fun for me. The only thing I would, I guess, go against that is the family
really enjoys Man of Shevitz, which is kind of like phase 10. And there's a fair amount of luck
in that. And so anyone can win, but everyone enjoys it. And so that's the one game that I probably,
there's some skill or whatever, but I mean, it's kind of depends on what card you draw.
And so that's the one that I think, but yes, so reduce some luck, some complexity might,
(23:15):
like I said, my wife refers to me like a board game snob or whatever. And so for a long time,
if it was at like Tours R Us or Walmart or Target, I wouldn't play it. But man, those Target and
Walmart had picked up the range of games that they sell there. And so you can get some pretty
good, when it says on complexity scale, some games that are a little more thought provoking
(23:35):
or challenging. And so, but yeah, understanding the people I'm playing with is probably the
most important thing. Yeah. That's awesome. No, it makes sense to like knowing your audience kind
of thing and what people will go for as far as duration, complexity, all that stuff. So that's
good answer for sure. All right, Ben, why don't you close us out with some of the psychological
benefits of games? You know, a lot of it depends on the kind of game, obviously, some games are
(24:01):
more mental, right? And some are more maybe even physical, you know, but in general, one of the
things they've found is that board games, it increases your verbal fluency, you know, communication,
being able to put things into words. They found this with, especially when they seen the cognitive
functions of the elderly, it helps prevent deterioration of our brains. And so that's one
(24:24):
of those things where being involved, working your brain, it helps keep us keeps us going. Another
thing is that improves short-term memory, inhibition and flexibility. You know, we have to, as you're
playing games, sometimes you have to change midstream your strategy based on how other
people are playing. And so that's another thing. It also benefits people that have tension deficit,
(24:50):
hyperactivity disorder. It also helps with socialization. So there's lots of things where
you get you interacting with people and it can help reduce stress and promotes concentration.
And so there's really so many different benefits. Some of it can depend on which games you're
playing and learning and following rules at a very young age can help you with so much learning
(25:16):
on school too, you know, to debate and order our ideas is another thing that's like,
just has so many other benefits, I guess you could say, you know, being able to do that.
Awesome.
Some of the things that came up when I did some searches on this and some reading,
there's a lot of studies actually that are showing the increase in memory or dexterity or coordination
(25:40):
and strategic reasoning, all kinds of psychological benefits and emotional benefits.
That's awesome. Yeah, I actually heard in a book that I listened to just today, actually,
a study that was done on games and play, and they said the opposite of play is not work,
it's depression. That actually like the play brings joy and happiness, you know, and so the
(26:06):
opposite of that is actually depression. So I thought that was kind of interesting.
Yeah. So work, when I go to work, got it.
Yep. Work is depressing too.
Nice. Thanks, Ben. I always love it when you bring the psychological aspect of what we talk about.
It's really interesting and really good.
All right. So everybody, everybody, thank you so much for listening to another podcast,
(26:28):
A Fat, Dumb, and Happy. We want to first of all, give a huge thank you to Jeff for making the time.
He's a little bit later for him than us, and we thank you, Jeff, for that. Thank you, sir,
for bringing your knowledge of games. Yes.
Dave is right. You are the superest and special guest experts when it comes to board games.
You must have listed off like 30 games I've never heard of in my entire life.
(26:49):
So everybody at home listening, we can see if we can't get some kind of link up or something
like that. So you guys can see some of these games and expand your collection as well, man.
You know, go have fun with the family and friends, you know. So, Jeff, thank you, sir. Appreciate
you. Welcome back anytime, sir. Yeah, thanks for that advice, guys.
Yeah, absolutely. Ben, thank you, too, for your... This is probably my favorite part, apart from the
(27:09):
eating side of this podcast, is making us less dumb. The insight that you have on this stuff,
man, it's really awesome. So thank you for that. Dave, always thank you for being an awesome
bro host. Appreciate you. Everybody out there listening, we thank you. Please continue to do
so. Make sure that you are notified every time a new episode pops up. Make sure to rate and subscribe.
(27:31):
Five stars, baby. Everybody also remember the holidays are coming up, so please be safe. Make
good choices because rolling doubles doesn't really get you out of jail. Say bye to them and happy,
everybody. See you. Yeah. Bye. Thanks, guys.
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New Heights with Jason & Travis Kelce
Football’s funniest family duo — Jason Kelce of the Philadelphia Eagles and Travis Kelce of the Kansas City Chiefs — team up to provide next-level access to life in the league as it unfolds. The two brothers and Super Bowl champions drop weekly insights about the weekly slate of games and share their INSIDE perspectives on trending NFL news and sports headlines. They also endlessly rag on each other as brothers do, chat the latest in pop culture and welcome some very popular and well-known friends to chat with them. Check out new episodes every Wednesday. Follow New Heights on the Wondery App, YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen to new episodes early and ad-free, and get exclusive content on Wondery+. Join Wondery+ in the Wondery App, Apple Podcasts or Spotify. And join our new membership for a unique fan experience by going to the New Heights YouTube channel now!