Games on a Budget

So if you are anything like me (and I know a lot of you are), you stand looking at the rows and rows of table top games that you would love to buy but can't afford. Well I have some news for you, it's not the size of the box that matters. Yes, some of the more complicated games can be lots of fun, but you can have just as much fun with some 6 sided dice and a deck of cards. So here's some fall back games that we play if we have no other choice.

Games are expensive... but dice and cards you can get at the dollar store. Heck, you may have them at the bottom of your junk drawer. They are no longer only there for when grandma comes by! Dice and Cards have a large amount of simple and fun games that you can play with a crowd. No I'm not going to talk about poker or eucher, if you are anything like most of the highschool kids I knew, you probably learned one or both of these on your lunch hours.

Source; Wallpaper Abyss

Dice 10,000

This is a game that states it's for max 6 but we have had games of 7 and 8 easily. The nice thing is that it's fun, it's simple, it's easy to learn and it's pretty quick. I have played this with friends, and even a combination if my parents, and friends. It's great because it doesn't require so much concentration that you can't have conversations over it, and yet everyone can get very involved in it.

Okay I could totally break down all the rules but this Wikihow has most of how we play it. Now within my family (and most family) there are some changes to the way we play it versus the way it's written.... Remember ever combination for scoring on the chart is based on ONE single roll. You can keep rolling the dice for more points but they don't accumulate. Example: if you roll three of a kind 2's = 200, with your next 3 dice if you roll a 2 it doesn't add onto the other 2's. (If you don't play it this way I'd love to hear your family rules as well). We also have a stealing function in our family. Once you are done rolling and haven't went bust (rolled nothing useable) then your remainding dice can be rolled by the person to your left. If they roll a winning combination they have then stollen all your points. What's cool with this rule is that you can have one roll accumulate around the whole board. Now if the person trying to steal your points goes bust they lose that turn and you get to keep your points. Also, as long as you are scoring points you can keep rolling. So if you have rolled all 6 for points, you can then roll them all again for more. You can do this until you decide to stop rolling or go bust. We also do the On the Board but if we are playing with little kids we sometimes lower it to 500 instead of 1000 to get on the board.

If you want more dice I recommend checking out the All About Dice site. There's a few games (including Ship-Captain-Crew and Help your Neighbor) that look like they'd be lots of fun to play.

Source: Strategy

Old Maid

Okay, I'm sure you are groaning that I said Old Maid can be a fun card game to play. What's great about it is that there is no real age specification needed... you are all taking cards and matching them. There's nothing better than being about to call your friend an old Maid at the end of the game. If you need to know how to play there are very good instructions on Classic Games and Puzzles. This has a few others that I have played or that I would like to play. They include:
Card Dominoes: I love sequential games, there is one we play that is similar... but I can't remember what it's called I think it's a version of Go Boom .
Through the Window: Now I've never played this game but it looks like it could be really fun with the right crowd...heck I worry with the wrong crowd it might turn into something like Cards against Humanity.

So now you have options. Don't spend a lot of money you don't have, instead find a way to play games with friends with the money you do have.

If you have any games that you and your friends or family play I'd love to add them.

Until next time.
Keep on, Geekin' on.
Angie