YOU GOTTA KNOW SAN FRANCISCO SPORTS TRIVIA GAME
Released in October, the newest entry in the “You Gotta Know … Sports Trivia” line focuses on the Bay Area’s gridirons, stadiums and arenas with 500 questions to test your knowledge of sports teams, including the 49ers, Sharks, Giants, Warriors, A’s and the (ahem) Las Vegas Raiders.
Game co- developer David Gram describes it as “a lifetime of Bay Area sports memories in a 5-by-7 box.” It’s not just pro ball questions, either. One card asks which athlete was named male freshman of the year at Stanford in 1995 and Sports Illustrated sportsman of the year in 1996. (Psst, it was Tiger Woods.)
It’s a deep dive into serious Bay Area sports lore — so I failed ignominiously, but perhaps you will know the name of the first player ever drafted by the San Jose Sharks, the Stanford quarterback picked first by the Baltimore Colts in the 1983 draft or the Giants lefty who was MVP of the 2014 World Series. Yes? Then this game’s for you.
GOOD TO KNOW >> This is a game for die-hard sports enthusiasts. If you’re looking for more general trivia or a more mellow, less-sports focus, try Listography.
ZOOM-ABILITY >> All draw- a- card-read-the- question trivia games are good candidates for virtual game night.
DETAILS >> This Bay Area-centric game ($20) from You Gotta Know is the newest in the company’s series of 33 different sports trivia games aimed at teens and adults.
TOKAIDO
We can’t jet off to Asia right now, but we can capture some of the joy of travel — exploring new terrain, trying new foods, seeing new things and meeting interesting people — in this beautiful game. Tokaido, which was originally released in 2012 and has been updated with fresh art since, follows Japan’s 11th-century road connecting Edo (now Tokyo) and Kyoto. By the 17th century it had become a popular route, with travelers breaking up their then-two-week journey with stops at inns, hot springs and other attractions. Now you can make that journey, too.
In Tokaido, just as in real-life travel, the winner isn’t the player who finishes first. It’s the one who collects the most varied experiences along the way. And though the board game is linear — you start in one city and progress to the other, passing 53 temples, inns, hot springs and merchants along the way — the order of play is not.
There are no dice, no spinner. You move as many places as you want to move, and the next player to go is the farthest one back. Rush ahead, and you’ll find yourself cooling your heels while other players soak in the hot springs, listen to the shamisen, view stunning landscapes and pick up souvenirs, before spending their cardboard yen on sashimi and udon.
We rushed through the game the first time — how can first-tothe-finish be wrong? The second time, we stopped everywhere on a leisurely, meditative journey. We also gave our meeple — the wooden playing pieces — personalities drawn from 10 possibilities, including a street entertainer, an artist and an orphan, who started out with little money but reaped free food at every inn.
GOOD TO KNOW >> There’s an adaptation for playing with two players, instead of three or more, that involves creating an imaginary friend, which is silly. Just play by the normal rules.
ZOOM-ABILITY >> No — this is an in-person game for a quiet game night at home.
DETAILS >> This game ($40) from Funforge is designed for two to five players, ages 8 and up. It takes 45 minutes to play.
SANTORINI
Looking to indulge your inner Demeter? To channel your Dionysius alter ego? This strategic board game has players vying to build an ancient Greek city by constructing whitewashed towers. The first player to build and ascend to the third floor of a tower wins the game, which sounds easy enough. But a stack of “god cards” confers superpowers — doubling your construction capability, for example, or allowing you to jump over opponents — and can completely change the rules.
Created by mathematician and teacher Gordon Hamilton, this is a great-looking game — from a distance, you can’t tell those towers are plastic. We spent a happy afternoon pretending we were in the Aegean and plotting where and how to build our towers on this green island game board. Each player has two worker/pieces to maneuver around the board, building and climbing towers. Blue domes let frantic architects cap off their towers if opponents get too close for comfort.
GOOD TO KNOW >> The instructions urge players to play by the basic rules for the first round or two, before introducing the “god cards” and their superpowers — and you probably should, for the first, incredibly boring round anyway, so you understand how the rules work before bringing the “simple gods” cards into play. The game doesn’t take flight until you add the “advanced gods” and suddenly the game becomes all about strategy, with rules that shift from round to round.
ZOOM-ABILITY >> It might be possible to play this virtually, the same way that you can play chess by mail. But it won’t be anywhere near as fun as playing with the actual game board and pieces.
DETAILS >> The Santorini game ($30), from Spin Master Games, is designed for two to six players, ages 8 and up.
LISTOGRAPHY
This trivia box is the game board offshoot of the bestselling themed journals — Food Listography, Music Listography, Travel Listography, et al. The game version sends players along a serpentine path, competing to compile lists of things that do or do not match other players, according to the cards you draw.
Draw a “One-on-one” card and everyone must write lists of 10 things associated with pirates, perhaps, or sports that require a glove, with a point for every item that matches an item on only one other player’s list. For a “Threefold” card, players jot down three things — body parts you can live without, for example — in the hopes of matching as many other players as possible.
And a “Forgotten Four” rewards items with no matches at all. So when challenged to name four movies based on, say, Stephen King books, “It” will do you no favors. You’ll have to go deep into the King canon to pluck out something no one else is likely to think of — or do a fake out with a heavy sigh, a muttered “Well, everyone will have that” and an elaborate crossing out, then sneaking “It” or “The Shining” onto your list. (Just ask my husband, who won the bagel flavors round with “plain bagel.”)
GOOD TO KNOW >> You need at least three people to play the actual game. With just two players, the points are identical and you win in unison. That said, there’s plenty of fun to be had by drawing cards and comparing lists, without caring who wins — especially with the Forgotten Four cards.
ZOOM-ABILITY >> This one is perfect for virtual game play.
DETAILS >> This 2016 game ($25) from Chronicle Books is designed for three to six players, ages 12 and up, although younger children could certainly play if you curate the cards for a younger crowd.