I love a chunky, complex board game—during Covid lockdown I was drooling over Tzolk’in, a Mayan-themed worker-placement game with these gorgeous gears that interlock and move the workers to new spaces. (Click through and look at it—it’s gorgeous. We’ll wait.) I love holding multiple puzzle-y goals in my head, trying to play each turn to support several plans. These games often remind me of the complexity of the world around us, how politics and geology and relationships all have some aspect of needing to be figured out, of having overlapping goals. There’s a lot to hold on to and wrestle with in all of it!

But also, I love a simple game: something classic with clean lines and concise rules, something with few pieces to account for and a depth of how they’re used, something with strategy, but with a clarity that more modern games sometimes lack. “Simple” of course doesn’t mean easy, but for me, it can mean less urgency, less feeling like I’m holding too many things in my head. That’s my daily life, you know? When my family goes on vacation, we don’t want to do a whole lot of running around and sightseeing—we want to rest, to just sit around and read, maybe take a hike if the mood strikes.

You can look below for some venerable, classic board games that might fit this bill, but I wonder what else in your life offers you that less-urgent feeling, that space to breathe more deeply? Are there places that offer that? Or people whose presence is calming and who remind you that this—whatever “this” is—is not the end of the story?

Alice C, board game librarian

Play a venerable classic!

Humans have been playing board games since there have been humans. Some more rudimentary, but others as sophisticated as they are ancient. Go from 2200 BCE in China is famously both elegant and fiendishly difficult when played well. Around the same time period, everyone in Babylon from every class was playing the Royal Game of Ur (yellow cloth board pictured above), what I describe as “faster, meaner Sorry.” Cribbage, Dominoes, Cathedral, Mancala—they’ve all got some meat to them, but they’re calm, less urgent, soothing even—though I suppose that depends on how you play!

Alice C, board game librarian

Try the Pass Go!

She’s 22 ounces of goodness: Lemon and cherry vodkas, Triple Sec, watermelon liqueur, cranberry juice, lemonade, and sprite, all in a charming promo cup. Tastes like fruit and fun, some say it’s a bit like a sweet Long Island Ice Tea. Have one next time you’re in over a game of Cribbage!

Introducing: Green Flags!

It’s like community game night anytime you come in! Ask your librarian or server for a green flag for the table—it means you’re open to having folks you don’t know sit with you to play games and maybe become brand-new friends. And if you see a green flag on someone’s table, you can absolutely ask to be seated with them! Give it a try next time you’re in—play new games, make new friends, enjoy great vittles.