Bookish Games

I thought I would write something a little different but still with a bookish focus. I like board games (not in an obsessive, that’s-all-I-do, expert- on-really-advanced-games kind of way), but I enjoy them. Especially on a rainy day. My favourite type of boardgame is one that has a literary theme or one where I need to use creativity. As we are all spending more time indoors, and we seem to have a little more time, I thought I would make a list of four bookish games I would recommend.

First of all, Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective- I absolutely love this game. I am a huge fan of Arthur Conan Doyle’s work. I love the cosy, old-fashioned feel to the Sherlock Holmes series, and I enjoy nothing more than listening to a short story audiobook. I have listened to so many now that I consider myself a bit of a “detective.” I have learnt the general tropes and hints of where the mystery is heading and can often now work out the resolution before the end of the story. Although in some ways, this has taken away the magic of Sherlock, it does feel good to imagine myself as clever as him 😊. Naturally, to be able to then PLAY the mysteries in this boardgame is something I obviously would be drawn to. And there is nothing better than playing this board game on a rainy day, with a cup of tea and a Victorian ASMR room playing on the TV. I play it with my husband, but I think it would be possible to play it with only one player as well, or even larger groups. The game takes you through a Sherlock Holmes themed mystery where you need to use newspapers, maps and “visiting” various areas of London to uncover the solutions to the crimes. I like to think I have gotten pretty good at finding the “secret messages” in the personal section of the newspaper, I mean it is a common place where Sherlock finds some of his clues in the series itself. You can choose how long you want this board game to last- you can play it more competitively and try and solve the mysteries in as few clues as possible, or you can do what we do and try to unravel every last strand we possibly can. Downfalls to this game are that I think we have a relatively early version of the game so there are few typos and once you play a mystery you can’t play it again (as you already know the answers). There are 10 mysteries in the box. I personally prefer games I can play an unlimited amount of time, but I do believe there are expansion packs, so that might be something we will invest in in the future.

The next bookish game is “Paperback.” Although this is about wordplay and more like scrabble than anything, the design of the game is really great, with the cards having illustrations of front covers of an array of different genres of books. It is a quick, easy game- and also one of the only games I actually win at against my husband- that may be part of the reason I like it so much.

Next, we have “Gloom.” I haven’t played this game as much as I would like, although the design is right up my street. I love the gothic, Tim Burton-esque design of the characters and the different “families.” It certainly is quirky and I like the twist that you are trying to make your own family as miserable as possible, whilst making the family you are competing against have “the best life possible.” I am torn with Gloom. It is everything I should love, but I find the competitive, numerical “point adding and subtracting” side quite difficult and would love to focus more on the story-telling component, whereas my husband is more into “just getting the game done” and it being more of a battle/ competition than really developing the narrative behind it. I think with this game, it really depends on who you are playing with.

Finally, “DixIt.” It is a great game for all the family and has been really popular when we have had friends over for “games nights,” all the way back when you could have friends over. It is nice, easy and simple, but does also rely on your creativity. The cards are absolutely stunning and I think the game is a really effective practice in describing something in a succinct and imaginative way- you really need your show, don’t tell skills here!

Anyway, those are my four recommendations- I would really love to hear your thoughts on any of these games and would also love any further recommendations of any bookish games you have discovered and would recommend.