A Visit From Mom

Thursday, my mom, my sister and the twins arrived from Brownville, NY for a short visit. My mom, a retired nurse, nursing instructor and former captain in the Army Reserves loves board games. Much to the dismay of my father, my mom has been known to stay up late at night playing Stone Age on  www.brettspielwelt.de. Highlights of my week include her texts, emails and occasional phone calls to let me know that she just played with people from Germany, Australia, and other locales all over the World.

Last night, my mom and I played Power Grid: Factory Manager. This was her first time playing, and I hadn't played in quite awhile. We muddled through the setup, which can be tedious because of all the individual tiles, and then proceeded through the rulebook step-by-step. The premise of the game is that each player manages a factory and must balance resources of money, men, and energy to increase the production and storage capacity of the factory. Players earn money (Elektro) according to their production and storage, however, the amount of cash earned is based upon the level of the lower capacity.

Mom took an early lead, but over extended her workers in Round 3. She was cranking out lots of cash, but in the following round, had very few workers and fewer options. I capitalized on this and increased my production and capacity just enough to eek out a win in the final round.

11-12-2010 Me and My Mom

We had a great time playing. When we play games, it is less about winning, and more about bonding, making connections, and enjoying our time together. Time that seems to get less and less as the years go by.