I married a gamer

By certain standards (i.e., standards of people who think gaming is a monthly Taboo night with friends), I could be considered a "gamer." I play board games with other couples who play board games. I know what Eurogames are and Ameritrash is. My favorite board game is Puerto Rico - definitely not a mainstream Monopoly-style board game.

But I'm not a gamer in the sense that my husband is a gamer. He has a regular weekly game night which he supplements with game days on the weekends and PC games at night. He reads about games, posts about games, IMs with other gamers and buys and trades games. He has taught our 22-month old son to punch out counters for new games. My husband plays all types of games - war games, strategy games, Eurogames, card games, abstract games, party games, word games, mind games - oops, that's a different blog.

Even though we've been married for eight years, and been together a lot longer, I've never really tapped into his passion for gaming. What's the big deal about gaming? Why do we need to own so many games (I think we own hundreds)? Why can't we just play the old favorites over and over again? What is there to say about games - why read about them, blog about them, think about them, argue about them? Because argue about them we have.

So for 2009 I have a resolution - if you can't beat them, beat them at their own game. For all of you spouses, significant others, kids, parents, friends, family and coworkers of gamers who wonder what it's all about (and for all of you gamers who wonder why the rest of us don't get it), I will dip into the world of gaming and tell you what I think.

Playing games for me has always been about good company, good food and good drinks. Not only will I tell you what I think of the games I'm learning, I'll also recommend, and provide recipes for, good food and drink pairings to go with the game when possible.

If you are interested in board game reviews by a non-gamer (with some editorializing by her gamer husband), and have always wondered what to serve when playing, then read on...