With everything else going electronic, why not family fun night? There are several different varieties of video games that the entire family can play, and you never have to worry about losing tiny pieces or keeping track of play money. Video games do all the figuring for you. Monopoly is a good example. We have it for Play Station 2. Four players can play at one time, or one person can even play against the computer if no one else is up for a game. It’s played just like the board game, except the “board” is your TV screen.
Any video game can be adapted for family fun night or for a little friendly competition. Even if a game only allows for one or two players at a time, family members can take turns and keep track of high scores.
If you don’t have a console such as Play Station 2, you can also find great games for the computer. I mentioned Bejeweled in a previous post, and while it was something my family thought that I would enjoy specifically, everyone else likes to play it too. We have a running contest and take turns holding the high score.
Do you remember Atari? If so, you must be almost as old as I am. It was a simple system with graphics nothing like those you’ll find today, but the games were still very enjoyable. You can now pick up an Atari console with several games installed (instead of a bunch of cartridges) for about $35.00. It hooks right up to the ports on your TV and you can begin playing games from the good old days instantly.
While your kids will probably laugh at first (mine did), they’ll end up having a lot of fun with it, and you can’t beat the price. If you want to run the Atari games by your kids first, you can pick up the Atari CD for Play Station, which contains several of your old favorites.