What's the Best Board Game?

by Michaelie Clark (subscribe)

Whether you're trying to keep the kids entertained, bored on a blustery Sunday afternoon or having a few quiet drinks at home with friends, the old collection of trusty board games will always prove a winner in the sport of diversion – that's a given.

The lesser known fact about board games is that they are an unerring medium for providing insight into a person's character. It's true. Forget voting for the next political leader – set the opposing parties up with a game of Trivial Pursuit (the apt choice) and then sit back and watch. Before you know it, someone will have deliberately read a question with a strange inflection to lead the other team astray, done some double bluffing or taken a slice of pie that they haven't earned. Then it's just a matter of gauging whose dirty tactics on the board are better suited for running a country.



But it needn't be all about cheating and politics. There is fun to be had and understanding to gain in playing any top board game.

Scrabble
A person who chooses Scrabble often has an aptitude for words and enjoys the studiousness of the game. There are usually three types of Scrabble players. The first is the type that pores over the dictionary for twenty minutes before taking each turn, often winning by default because the other players have perished from boredom or left altogether.

The second type will try their luck at anything, putting likely sounding but completely invented words on the board. They revel in the confusion in their opponent's eyes and rejoice when the word goes unchallenged by the other player, reluctant to voice their ignorance of the definition.

The third type plays primarily to put rude words on the board, and especially relishes the opportunity to use archaic profanities that are hard to fit into the everyday conversation of a modern-age individual.

Monopoly
Classic game of the procrastinators. They'll clean the house and do the ironing and pay the electricity bill after the game is finished. Given that the game seems to have no apparent ending, you'll be able to judge just how much dallying a person will engage in by seeing how long they persist with the diversion at hand. If they end up in squalor and with the power cut off, you'll know what you're dealing with.

Snakes and Ladders
A fast-paced game of soaring highs and plummeting lows, driven by chance. The clue to personalities with this one lies in the final result. Look out for exultant winners skiting over their triumph and sore losers tearing the board apart in a fit of petulant rage.

Connect Four
Dedicated Connect Four players are pedants, one and all. They like order and engross themselves in the pursuit of getting all their ducks in a row (or their counters lined up in the grid). There will often be tooth grinding and nervous twitches apparent whenever an opponent clocks their strategy and makes a mess of their sequencing.

Guess Who?
The most difficult of the game-players to figure out, these chameleons are adept at hiding their true personas. Don't be surprised if your opponent turns out to be a Russian spy. Even if they're in grade three.

From Cluedo to Hungry Hungry Hippos; there's an awful lot of fun to be had playing board games. Tell us what your favourite is – we promise not to judge you (much)!

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