Stratego

[Flying Spaghetti Monster]

So my brother and his kids came to visit. My nephew is 6 and he is easy to shop for (Star Wars, etc) but my eight year old niece is more difficult. She likes some girly stuff, but she is also a good reder, very intelligent, likes mysteries, spying all of that, and buying her a "girly" toy, well, for some reason I just can't picture myself doing that for her. Add to that the fact that I don't know what girls are into at that age, trends change all the time.

To the point: I got her Stratego. That simple capture the flag board game is not easy, and since each time you play, you choose how you can set it up, and the fact that there is an odd balance to the pieces, makes it interessting. She wound up really liking it, and we played many competitve games.

Here's the fascinating art. My nephew usually feels left out if he is not in on the action, but for some reaso he agreed to sit next to me and watch. And he started to become so excited so negaged.. the suspence of who was going to get the flag, of where on the board, captivated him. He was more excited than anyone else as to the outcome of a game. That is saying a lot considering that he wasn't even playing.

Yes, even those old games, games that seemingly have gone out of style in the modern age of technology and the internet can still work.

 

[FPAlpha]

Good games never go out of fashion.. they may be forgotten for a while but you always return to them.

 

[Flying Spaghetti Monster]

Did they change the board? I know that there is an alernate version of the rules here each piece has a special ability, but the you can use the basic rules as well. My question is that the pieces are set up on the last three ranks. I seem to remember four.

 

[Flying Spaghetti Monster]

This is the version I bought for my niece. Yeah it seems kind of strange bying a game with war and violence for an 8 year old girl, but she is smart and I remembered playing in the old days and I knew there was a good amount strategy and daring to it, and that she could learn it and formulate strategies.

Anyway, even in using this version of the game, I so far only tought her how to play using the old rules, with the scout, slayer and dwarf (spy, scout and miner in the old version) are the only ones that have special abilities. They say in the rules that is the classic game. However, compare the picture above to this. Why is the board different (four rows instead of three?)

 

[Mistral]

I quit playing when I figured out a lay-out that ALWAYS let me win-as long as I was first.

 

[FordSVT]

This is the version I bought for my niece. Yeah it seems kind of strange bying a game with war and violence for an 8 year old girl,

Nah, it's no more about "war and violence" than a game of chess is.