My Retro Board Game Collection

This post is part of Show & Tell, a retro blogging event hosted by Retro Ramblings.

This week’s topic is board games.

Of all the things that have become popular over my lifetime, board games astonish me the most. Sure, I enjoy a good board game, but the fact that there are stores dedicated to gaming, comic cons have setups for folks to play, and Kickstarter is always producing niche board games blows my mind. Board games were just never that serious for me.

When I think of board games, I think about games that you barely need to know the rules for. Something you’d play when you were bored, like when the power went out. Even to this day, I’ll still take a video game over a board game any day, but that doesn’t mean I don’t have some board games lying around. In fact, the games I own are part of my living room decor.

In the late 2000’s, I’d spend my weekends driving around to various thrift shops across North Carolina in search of retro goodness. On a few occasions, I ran across a nearly complete board game for usually a dollar or two. If the box reminded me of my childhood, I snagged it and so my board game collection began.

I went on line and ordered any replacement pieces that were needed so my games were complete and then I sat down to play them. After a few games, (or sometimes just one game) the games got put back into the box and they were stored in my closet for a long time. A few years ago, I realized how much I liked looking at them, so they became part of our decor.

It’s surprising the board games have lasted. I don’t tend to keep things around I don’t use, and I went through a divorce and I walked away from most of my stuff, but somehow these board games are still here. I even debated on donating them just a few months ago as I moved into my new apartment, but no, I kept them and I’m glad I did. They look great under the TV.

Lately, I have been considering pulling them out and playing them. I’m over Battleship (that’s not really a game, it’s just guessing), but I want to give Splat another shot. That was a game that was always on my wish list as a kid and when I stumbled upon it, I was over the moon. I just need to get some Playdough to actual play the game. I will admit, it’s a lot of fun to splat your opponents.

I’d still love to run across a vintage copy of Hungry Hungry Hippos and Crossfire, two of my favorite games as a kid. Like most kids of the 80’s, I always wanted Fireball Island, and thanks to the catchy commercial Don’t Wake Daddy Always sounded like something worth playing.

But when I think of retro board games, the one that stands out the most is Pizza Party, all because of this incredible commercial.