Bored? Create Your Own GAME...

One thing that my roommates and I were great at throughout college was creating strange games when we were bored. Many of these had to do with alcohol, but a ton of them did not. Last weekend, Andrew, Fletcher, and myself brought a game back from our freshman year, prompting me to think about all the glorious games we created during our time at Amherst College.

This post will highlight the game that brought all the memories back for me: Strategic War. Maybe one of the most innovative games we EVER created and also one of the first. The only materials you need are a deck of cards, a bottle of whatever you like, some chasers, and a few shot glasses (ideally, one of these is a triple shot glass, also known as a glass). Normally, we played this game with 3 people but it can be played with more (I think?), but to play this game with 2 people is asking for a bit too much. The rules are simple: you play war except you get to pick which card you want to throw for every hand rather than blindly throwing out your next card.

Now, there are a few catches if an ace is thrown and a 2 is thrown, the 2 automatically takes down the ace. In every other hand, however, the 2 loses to everything. The same rule applies to a 3 and a King. A 3 takes down a King if one is thrown but nothing else besides a 2, of course. Now, a war has a major influence over the game. If the two highest cards are the same, a war ensues. Now, everyone participates in the war, however, the two players who threw the high cards get to blindly choose cards from each other as well as the other player who threw the low card while he patiently waits. After the choosing of three cards from each player, each player picks out a card to throw for the war.

This is truly where the "strategery" comes into play. Do I throw an Ace, a 2, a King, or maybe even some random middle card because I assume everyone is going to throw low? Very complex decisions to be made. After all cards have been thrown, the player with the least amount of cards in front of them has to take a shot. Now, in our infinite freshmen year of college wisdom, Fletcher, Andrew, and myself decided that this shot should be a triple shot, and that we should play with rubinhoff every night. For these reasons, after playing Strategic War, participants often looked like this - AMAZING. Just look at the various states of everyone's clothing as well as the use of indoor shades - great stuff. On a side note, this game may be the reason none of us can take vodka shots any longer while also being the reason for some of the greatest memories I have from Freshmen year, including in no particular order, the WB night, I am the most religious person in all of the world night, "Brandon your not drinking, please leave the room because you make me uncomfortable."

There is one last wrinkle in the game. After the deal is finished, everyone makes their best 5 card poker hand with the cards they have. Now, whoever has the worst hand has to take a regular shot before the game even starts, something no one wants to do, but, you also do not want to show the good cards which you have in your hand either... decisions, decisions.

This game was created freshmen year. There were many others, including Boddington's, Fetch, Snow Golf with Monster Golf clubs (the first picture in this post), that game we never named but played in La Casa with the ball that you had to juggle soccer style over the pool table, Marcus's "Drink while you Think," just to name a few. A great way to keep it live as much as possible - whenever bored, CREATE YOUR OWN GAME. If you have created your own game, please leave comments describing them. It would be much appreciated.

Man, tuition well spent if you ask me.