My Favourite Board Games

I have always been a board game fan. But unlike most, I prefer games that offer interesting, unusual, and clever features, qualities, designs, and what Board Game Geek calls ‘mechanics’. I avoid games that are highly competitive or encourage ganging up on other players, bluffing, or cutthroat strategies. Back in 1969 when I was a teenager, I discovered a new British game called Galt Connect. It was (and is) a gorgeously designed game built on the ‘mechanics’ of dominoes, where to win you have to play the tiles you’ve drawn to match the patterns of the tiles already in play. Connect was a very successful game back then, but eventually went out of print. It’s been reintroduced and is now available again. I played it with my parents and friends in the ’70s and later with my own kids. It has that certain quality that I think gives games endless appeal: Easy to learn but still offering great opportunity for strategy; not terribly competitive, and suitable for all ages without being either…