Game Night

Social capital theorists, including Robert Putnam, claim that human nature’s interest in civic engagement is declining. We join less community groups, spend more time alone, and are all together less social. As Putnam states in his book, Bowling Alone, “Over the course of the last generation or two, a variety of technological, economic and social changes have rendered obsolete the stuff of American social capital” and “we are right to fear that this transformation has very real costs.”

I however, do not agree. Working in student affairs, we see more and more student groups on campus; each year a record number. I personally am a member of many social groups and ways to engage in community building. Perhaps I might agree that civic engagement is less formalized than the once thriving Elks Lodge and Red Hats Society, but as humans we have an innate social curiosity.

Take for example….GAME NIGHT! One of my favorite things….EVER!! Cranium, Catch Phrase, Cards, Scrabble, Monopoly, Balderdash, DUTCH BLITZ….whatever the game, I love it! I’m not always the best but the challenge, camaraderie, and competition always leave me satisfied after a night of games with friends.

Last night the student group that I work with hosted an event called Charade-O-Rama and boy was it just a simple reminder of how fun game night is. There were four people to a team, and our team was on point (Go Tick Tockers!!). You had one minute per category to get your teammates to guess as many things as possible. 4 categories per round, 3 rounds. My personal favorite category: Animals. I racked up about 14 points for our team with my charading of animals like anteater, giraffe, and sloth. Another round was hobbies, which I thought was going to be easy…boy was I wrong. Please enlighten me on how to charade stamp collecting. Ummmmm….STAMP COLLECTING!! I was at a loss. All in all, Team Tick Tock did not take home first place or second, but we did have a great time! Great job Caroline, Keith, and Tyler (we missed you Stefanie…maybe you could have figured out how to charade Stamp Collecting)!!

What is your favorite game for game night?