When I heard it was National Game and Puzzle week, I jumped at the chance to write a post. I’ve always LOVED playing board games and doing puzzles. Growing up, I remember playing board games with my mom before I went off to school. Some favorites included: Chinese Checkers, Othello, Backgammon, Parcheesi, and Sorry!. My all-time favorite was Clue – I’d play it for hours on end with my cousin, my sister…anyone who would play it with me! And when relatives came to visit, we’d break the giant, 1000 piece puzzles – which was the perfect way to bond with my cousins (especially since they only spoke a little English.)
I started thinking of games in books:
- Ron teaches Harry to play Wizard Chess Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (and Wizard Chess plays an important part later in the book!) Other popular wizard games include Exploding Snap and Gobstones.
- Percy teams up with his Cyclops half-brother Tyson and his friend Annabeth in a chariot race in Percy Jackson and the Sea of Monsters.
- The card game War plays an important part in the book From The Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E. L. Konigsburg. When Claudia and Jamie Kincaid run away to The Museum of Natural History, they use the money Jamie has saved from playing War on the school bus every day (although he cheats!)
- The ladies play various card games in Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice.
Sometimes, an entire book (or book series) can be about a game:
- In The Hunger Games, the tributes are forced to play in the annual Hunger Games. Besides being a physical game, it’s also part mental. Before they enter the Arena, Katniss wonders if Peeta is playing a game to trick her.
- In Maggie Steifvater’s book The Scorpio Races, Puck enters the Scorpio Races, which take place every November. The rules are fairly simple: riders must stay on their water horses and make it across the finish line.
- In The 39 Clues books, Amy and Dan Cahill are part of a scavenger hunt.
- Jumanji by Chris Van Allsburg is a picture book about a jungle adventure game that comes to life. Judy and Peter deal with a stampede, a monsoon, and an explorer – until they finally reach the end and Judy yells out “Jumanji!”
There are so many fun ways to celebrate puzzles and games this week! Play one of the word games Maggie McGuire suggested from this guest OOM post. Try a kit from Klutz, like the Book of Impossible Objects, Coin Blaster Arcade, The World According to Klutz, or Battery Science.) See if you can finish the crossword puzzle or Sudoku in your newspaper. Challenge your family members to a game of Scrabble or Monopoly. Or, read a book about a game!
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