Doom. Doom! DOOOOOOM!

With all the bad news in the financial markets, the real estate markets, and at the fuel pump, I thought I’d lighten the mood up a bit.

What the heck did people do for fun before road trips, video games, cheap airfares, and reality shows? Surely there must have been something more to do than sit around growing fingernails and counting dust motes. How does one keep one’s self entertained without burning up a bunch of non-renewable fuels?

Well, we could try to talk to our neighbors… Nah, that’s crazy. We could follow Sharon’s advice: “Hookers. Lots and lots of hookers.” (Local, homegrown, and sustainably produced, of course.)

For slightly tamer possibilities, what about trying your hand at some low-impact games, like those from Cheapass Games. They’re such cheapskates in fact, they assume you already have things like dice, tokens, counters, and fake money, so they don’t send you more with each game. As their web site puts it, “it’s like bundling a can opener with a can of beans.” They also print and package most of their games on cardboard, using only black ink. Most of their games are under ten bucks, many are under five, and there are quite a few you can download and print yourself for free.

If board games conjure up images of nerds with twelve-sided dice or mind-numbing sessions of Candyland with your preschooler, another low-impact idea is to buy a deck of cards. Or better yet, find that one you already have in the back of the junk drawer.

C’mon, when’s the last time you played cards? With humans, and no, the internet doesn’t count.

If you’ve got a full deck, you’ve got dozens of games at your fingertips. Actually, there are probably a dozens of varieties of Solitaire alone. Gather a few people together and you can play anything from old standbys like Euchre, Spades, or Rummy, to more advanced games like contract bridge. You can get the kids involved with War, Old Maid, or Go Fish. (No special decks required, ya know). You can raise the stakes with blackjack or a dozen flavors of poker, or you can play a whole different kind of wager with strip poker. You can learn a lost classic like Piquet or Whist, or dive into another culture’s games with the likes of Svoyi Koziri, Sueca, or Shichi Narabe.

So there you go. If the shit ever really does hit the fan, you won’t have to sit around bored, gnawing tree bark while counting bullets and cans of spam. You can use them as tokens or wagers in your very own End of the World Game Parlor.

And if that doesn’t cut it, there’s always Grandpa Orlov’s Vodka Recipe.

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2 Responses to “Doom. Doom! DOOOOOOM!”

  1. Wendy Says:
    March 14th, 2008 at 10:24 pm

    Love it! I know where all of the silly board games are, but now to find those cards before the lights go out :).

  2. Rainhame Says:
    March 29th, 2008 at 10:16 pm

    Another cool board game — Munchkin by Steve Jackson Games. Needs a little light, we’ve played boisterously by Coleman and a bit more cautiously by candlelight. You need tokens (we used decorative marbles from a vase, but I was thinking also Vienna Sausage cans?). Supposedly takes 1 hour, but you can add levels or just play again (Rematch! Rematch! I almost won!) Snag the “boots of butt kicking” and “chainmail bikini” and raid a dungeon for treasure. Older kids (about 8) can play. Some faintly risque concepts (that chainmail bikini) but the illustrations are fun and tasteful; I bet a nun would enjoy this.

    Our apartment complex found another great grid down activity is discovering what resources you have. Gather the lawn chairs and go around the circle asking what “old time” skills anyone possesses. We found a medieval reenactor blacksmith, a bread maker, a French hand sewing expert, an herbalist, a guy who reloads ammunition, several vegetable gardeners, and a soft-spoken, nattily attired corporate accountant whose hobby is competition quarterstaff (kick off those stilettos and teach Little John a lesson, who knew?)

    It gives you a new appreciation for neighbors you usually only see driving to their jobs or grocery shopping.

    I saw a post by a blind lady who knits, and she points out that if you practice (not be amazingly talented, just practice) you can knit or crochet by feel, while carrying on a conversation, if you just remember where you left your stuff. Now there’s a skill to cultivate: making clothes while making memories.

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