Card Games: Level-Up Board Game Club Week 3 Recap

Not everyone likes playing games with kids. Just check out the casual dehumanization of children throughout this supposed "advice" thread that I staked an opinion in late last year. To each their own; especially those without children reserve the luxurious right to play only with those who they absolutely want to. I, for one, like playing games with kids. I guess I wouldn't be an elementary school teacher nor host a board game club at that elementary school if I wasn't inclined to like teaching and enjoying games with and among a younger audience. The pure, unbridled enthusiasm they can bring to a game and their innocent ability to imagine and pretend to vividly create such gratifying gaming experiences.

I will admit, however, that it is not always easy. Many of the assessments of sharing a gaming table with young children espoused by the grognards in the above linked thread have some kernel of truth to them. The shorter attention span of some children can be difficult to manage during a game that requires constant attention to the state of play. Patience to learn and understand is a virtue not all young children have yet learned. And sometimes a game just goes over a kid's head conceptually or thematically in a way that dilutes the spirit of the game. And as patient as I am—trained and practiced to be so with this particular age group—my board game club was driving me up a wall last week.

Ok, so it was the first week back from Winter break and the first club meeting in at least the better part of a month. Maybe they hadn't seen their friends in a while and were still settling back into a routine. But to see how some of them lost all semblance of regulation, surrendering every ounce of self-control and intention with their words and actions, just talking over one another and me ... it was just exasperating. At one point I was explaining Machi Koro 2 to a group and not 30 seconds into the demo a kid who is usually one of my rocks just starts launching into a cacophony of questions while hopping around the table. "How many coins do I get?" "What do I use the coins for?" "How do I buy the cards?" After several reminders to focus on listening to the rules and ask questions specific to what I'm explaining, I had to give him the "I'm about to lose it" teacher look to finally get him to quit it.

Another student brought in her copy of Pusheen Purrfect Pick to share for card game week and while she was explaining the premise, another student who wanted to be part of the game was just sifting through the cards, ignoring every word she said, and then had the resolute audacity to complain that the game didn't make any sense to him. I spent so much time redirecting attention and behavior that we didn't even get to work on our design projects this week. Nor will we get to them next week as I begin the session with a refresher on all of the expectations we set in week 1.

There are some days that every teacher has, where we're driving home in complete silence, numb to the world around us, monkey-with-a-tambourine mental state, repeating the words "is it worth it?" over and over in our heads. Last week's board game club ran me to that state. "Is it worth it" to try to instill an appreciation of board games in these young students when inevitably a majority of them won't think anything of their experience once they leave the four walls of the classroom we meet in? "Is it worth it" to spend an extra two hours every Friday staying late to offer these students in the after school program something structured and stimulating to do? "Is it worth it" putting intention into the curriculum I've worked on, intentionally selecting games and trying to build deeper understanding about and around games when half the tables end up divulging into unstructured chaos and sophomoric hysterics more appropriate for preschoolers than 2nd and 3rd graders?

Now that that's out of the way, the theme of the week was card games. And where does one begin when selecting a handful—maybe 4 or 5 titles—of games that exemplify such a vast category? Do I limit it to games where cards are the only component or do I consider games where cards may be tertiary but are utilized in unique and innovative ways? Should I hunt down the obscure or stick with some tried and true? In the end, I used a mish mash of criteria. For this expansive week, I picked only games that I've played and enjoyed in a casual group; this way I know how playable they are for the age group and how teachable they are in a reasonable amount of time (again, thinking about that attention span for explanations). I also decided that cards needed to be featured as central to the game itself and the game must include some kind of mechanism that manipulates those cards (like drafting), but that cards did not need to be the only components. I ended up with the following:

Machi Koro 2 was a big hit with my group of 2nd grade boys who have been working through a game of Wingspan one turn at a time during choice time every Friday since October. I figured they would be able to recognize and appreciate the light engine-building aspect of the game, that gradual accumulation of hits from the die the larger their city grew. Plus, purchasing new buildings isn't so restrictive that there would be multiple turns in a row where students couldn't make some kind of progress. Machi Koro 2 is forgiving like that and isn't meant to punish players too much for bad luck on the roll. And since some cards hit on opponents' rolls, the game demands students' attention even when they aren't the active player. I absolutely LOVE games like this for this particular age range who have the stamina to last the entirety of the game but will inevitably get wiggly if they're not doing something at all times. Overall, it went over really well and I'm considering bringing it back for dice games next week. Plus, I got a nice email from a parent telling me his kid enjoyed that one so much that he wants to get a copy for the family to play at home.

Dragonwood from back in week 1.

Dragonwood made another appearance after a few inquiries from students throughout the week. Apparently there was some unfinished business after the first playthrough. It's a set collection game and one of the few I have on hand that I think is fully appropriate for 7-9 year olds. Being "good" at it doesn't require brain-melting strategizing; rather is more of just a point and shoot based on the first run of cards you find yourself holding. That some of the kids were already familiar with it, meaning one less teach on my part, also made it an easy add to the pile.

For some of my students that struggle a little more with executive functioning, Sushi Go! was a blast. They were quickly able to grasp the drafting aspect of the game (pick one and pass) and just had a good time choosing the sushi they like. If they made a combo that scored: great. If not, the nigiri were silly and we all shared a good laugh at the jiggly pudding. By the second round though, at least one kiddo was sequencing her selections just right and hate drafting to keep me from completing my tempura sets.

Each week, I invite students to bring games from home that match the theme. This week, one of my second graders brought her copy of Pusheen Purrfect Pick to share with everyone. Since before break she's been elated to bring in this game, popping over to me every day during lunch to tell me a little bit more about how the game works. And when it came time for the pitch and the teach at board game club, she was ready. And when it came time to wipe the floor with us and trash talk our strategy—in this very strategy-light game—she was even more ready. Maybe that moment, seeing her enthusiasm, her passion, and her undivided focus on walking us through something she had spent hours in front of, was made it "worth it."

The whole group wrapped the session with a big, truncated game of Dixit, the game I was most excited to share with them. "There's nothing on these cards," cried one of the kiddos who just stepped out of the game of Machi Koro 2; he had just been burdened by buy prices and a steadily accelerating dice action economy. Instead, he found that Dixit had maybe the MOST on its cards, layered imaginaries of unusual false worlds. Again, this was one the kids took to quickly and after a few rounds were clever in their clues to throw off just enough of the bunch to score their lot. Here is another original favorite of mine that I would like to bring back in the later week on social deduction.

Next week is dice games and the potential is looking just as open as this week was. So far on my list is LCR, Shut the Box, Qwixx, and Roll in One (which they've seen before).