First-Years Turn to Board Games

Bored?

More and more first-years with nothing to do say they are playing board games.

For a class that has taken to electronic mail, board games might seem anachronistic. But all over the Yard, intrepid first-years spend their nights and days playing Monopoly, Scattergories and Pictionary with their friends, for reasons ranging from the pragmatic to the megalomaniacal.

"I think we're victims of the TV-computer attitude," says Joshua D. Rogaczewski '97, who plays Monopoly, Trivial Pursuit and Scrabble. "Why read a book when you can see a movie; why play a board game when you can play a computer game. [A computer game] is a lot easier but you lose a lot."

One resident of Grays Hall says she likes the ease of picking up a board game on cold winter nights.

"When no one feels like getting dressed and going outside and there's nothing good on TV, you pull out a board game," says Grace S. Cheng '97.

She and her roommates favor Scattergories, a game in which one picks a card with 10 different categories and rolls a die whose faces show 20 different letters.

The players think of a word for each category that starts with the letter rolled. A sample category could be "things you find in a refrigerator."

Members of another first-year rooming group say they play Trivial Pursuit, Monopoly and Scrabble to fill their free time.

"We had free time on our hands and had to fill it up," says Rogaczewski, a Weld Hall resident.

Of course, at competition-crazy Harvard, Scrabble players can be ruthless.

"Scrabble is a little more intense [than Monopoly] because people here have big vocabularies and get mad if they only get a 6-point word," Rogaczewski says.

Some first-years say they stick to the classics, as one Weld resident and his friends did during a Monopoly filled weekend.

"Once, someone brought Monopoly into the room," says Pablo H. Padilla '97. "We played once and formed teams and played again and formed new teams and played again and thenplayed again the next day."

Not all first-year board game aficionados playbrand-name games, however. One Canaday Hallresident owns Cafe International, a game sheacquired one summer in Germany.

"In Germany, we played it all the time. Anytimewe had nothing to do, we played it," saysKatherine K. Huang '97. "I think we tried to playit here once, but they didn't quite get it."

Huang says her parents gave her a game forChristmas that strikes closer tohome--Harvardopoly--but that she hasn't yet hadtime to play it.

According to one clerk at the Coop,Harvardopoly is a success among Harvard students.

"It sells very well," says Sotiria Karavitis,sales clerk in the stationery department. "We sellit primarily to Harvard students. They want toknow what it's all about."

Marc E. Saint-Pierre, assistant manager atKay*Bee Toy in the Cambridgeside Galleria, saysthat college students are a significant but notoverwhelming percentage of the board game marketat his store.

"Board games, as far as we are concerned, fallinto two categories--adult board games andchildren's board games," says Saint-Pierre, whoestimates that college students are responsible atmost for 15 percent of his board game sales.

Not everyone, however, has chosen the cardboardover the microchip.

"I used to play Monopoly a lot [in highschool], but now computerzied games have come out,so board games have been eliminated from my life,"says Amy B. Erenrich '97.

Good, Clean Fun

The board game may be emerging as analternative to drinking, which pleases at leastone proctor.

"I think there should be more of them--moreboard games and less drinking," says Thayerproctor Gregory M. Duhl.

The playing of board games is not limited tothe confines of the Yard, however. One room ofsophomores in De Wolfe lists Scrabble among itsfavorites.

"My roommate plays Scrabble a lot more than Ido," says Allan S. Piper '96. "But my favoritegame is not a board game but a card game [namedBali], where you can build up words over a longperiod of time and you can make words like'fusillarian' and 'metaphysical.'

Not all first-year board game aficionados playbrand-name games, however. One Canaday Hallresident owns Cafe International, a game sheacquired one summer in Germany.

"In Germany, we played it all the time. Anytimewe had nothing to do, we played it," saysKatherine K. Huang '97. "I think we tried to playit here once, but they didn't quite get it."

Huang says her parents gave her a game forChristmas that strikes closer tohome--Harvardopoly--but that she hasn't yet hadtime to play it.

According to one clerk at the Coop,Harvardopoly is a success among Harvard students.

"It sells very well," says Sotiria Karavitis,sales clerk in the stationery department. "We sellit primarily to Harvard students. They want toknow what it's all about."

Marc E. Saint-Pierre, assistant manager atKay*Bee Toy in the Cambridgeside Galleria, saysthat college students are a significant but notoverwhelming percentage of the board game marketat his store.

"Board games, as far as we are concerned, fallinto two categories--adult board games andchildren's board games," says Saint-Pierre, whoestimates that college students are responsible atmost for 15 percent of his board game sales.

Not everyone, however, has chosen the cardboardover the microchip.

"I used to play Monopoly a lot [in highschool], but now computerzied games have come out,so board games have been eliminated from my life,"says Amy B. Erenrich '97.

Good, Clean Fun

The board game may be emerging as analternative to drinking, which pleases at leastone proctor.

"I think there should be more of them--moreboard games and less drinking," says Thayerproctor Gregory M. Duhl.

The playing of board games is not limited tothe confines of the Yard, however. One room ofsophomores in De Wolfe lists Scrabble among itsfavorites.

"My roommate plays Scrabble a lot more than Ido," says Allan S. Piper '96. "But my favoritegame is not a board game but a card game [namedBali], where you can build up words over a longperiod of time and you can make words like'fusillarian' and 'metaphysical.'