Game Autobiography

This assignment brought back more and more memories as I wrote, so hopefully I can edit myself and it will not run on too long! I’ve broken it down into the different categories of games.

Board games:

I always wanted to play Mousetrap because the commercials made it look exciting, and it looked like it involved building an elaborate trap for the mouse. But, I only remember us having Monopoly and Clue at home. I liked playing both, but I liked playing Clue more. I liked trying to solve the mystery of the murderer and the weapon, versus the randomness of how money was made and lost in Monopoly, and I don’t remember winning very often.

I played Candyland at a friend’s house. I think it was very similar to Chutes and Ladders, but if not, then I also played Chutes and Ladders at that friend’s house, and I forget what Candyland was actually like.

My dad also had a couple of games that my brother and I would play: Penté and Mastermind. Out of those two, I enjoyed Mastermind more, because you were trying to solve the puzzle the other person created, versus direct competition with a person.

Card games:

My mom still loves to play card games, with Hearts being her favorite. However, she liked to play High, Low, Jack and the Game, and Gin Rummy. I played Poker with my friend, but it was always hard for us to remember the hierarchy of which hands beat other hands (this was before the internet), and I never really enjoyed it. We also played 21 (also called Black Jack), and card games like Go Fish, Crazy 8s, and Uno. I would also play Uno with my family, but I could tell as a kid that my parents didn’t like playing that as much, so I played that more when I was with my friends.

Physical games:

I loved playing flashlight tag, especially when we had lots of people and could define our boundaries involving several houses’ yards, versus just my own yard. A similar nighttime game, Magnum P.I., I would play with my older brother, when it was just us, and we didn’t have enough people to play flashlight tag. We could only play this on certain nights, when a car dealership or another store was having a midnight sale, and was using those giant lights, directed towards the sky, that sway back and forth. I forget the rules, other than my brother and I would run laps around our house, until the light would cross our sky, and we had to jump onto our stomachs until the light had passed (like we were escaping from a prison, and trying to avoid the searchlight). It was called Magnum P.I. because the show was popular then, and my brother typically was Magnum, while I was Rick or T.C. (pretending to fly the helicopter while we ran around the house). Other than that, I played soccer, football and basketball with friends in the neighborhood. But, I wasn’t the biggest or tallest kid, so I think that’s why I enjoyed the running types of games, like flashlight tag.

Video games:

While in elementary school, my friend got an Atari console and we played Space Invaders, Asteroids and Jungle Hunt. There was something about the side scrolling gameplay of Jungle Hunt that made it more fun to play. I think it was the quick progression and variety from one screen design to the next, as you progressed, as opposed to Asteroids and Space Invaders, where you stay in one spot until the level is finished. I enjoyed playing video games so much, that even then, I wondered how my friend handled having it in his house, and how he was able to control his desire to play it. Nevertheless, years later in middle school, I would get my own Nintendo console, with Super Mario Brothers, and I would reignite my side-scrolling excitement!

 

Conclusion:

Something that I remember from my early experiences with games, is that there is a social learning curve for young children and gaming, especially when it comes to the competition aspect. I remember that my mom would often let me win while playing games, but my other family members were more competitive. I also remember crying as a child when I lost playing Hearts with my parents and grandparents. So, maybe I’m the type of personality that avoids conflict, and the competition of certain games brings that up too much for me. Another aspect, specifically related to videogames, is that I have a guilt associated with playing them. Maybe it comes from my parent’s and grandparent’s admonishment surrounding TV-watching, and not to sit in front of the TV for too long. Or maybe, it’s related to if you’re playing video games, you’re not studying or doing homework. Or, maybe it’s related to how much I’ve enjoyed playing them, so I consciously know I’m tempted to devote too much time to them. That said, the games that I still play now are Wordle (based off of Mastermind), Connections, and Spangram, and I wait until the end of the day, after all my “work” is done.