My eyes are sore and my neck hurts, how can I entertain myself?

I have spent so much time this week staring at my screen and sitting at a – what can only be described as unergonomic – desk. And this weekend, I decided (aside from writing this) I would reduce my screen time. My poor eyes can’t even handle reading, so my boyfriend and I rekindled our love for board games. We own around 30 games – the collection spans from simple to very complex. 

Here are my top recommendations for quarantine from our collection. Before I start, I must add that there’s no role-play involved in any of these games – I’m not a nerd. Most of these games should be available from amazon, or board games retailers online. 

For two players

Easy: Stained Glass of Sintra – 30 to 40 mins

You are a Portuguese glazier! In this game, you collect the most delicious panes of glass (honestly they look like boiled sweets), and place them into your window. The more completed windows, the higher your score. This game is not only stunning (and tasty), but its also quick and easy for everyone to pick up. Its also highly addictive. 

Medium: Suburbia – 40 mins to 1 hour

You are a town planner building a beautiful suburban paradise. The thing I love about this game is that the premise is so so dry and the design is so bland, but it surprises you by being super clever and seriously fun. You can really screw over your opponents by buying tiles they want which is basically my favourite part of playing board games – aside from winning. 

Hard(ish): Great Western Trail – 2 to 4 hours

One of my all time faves. In this game you are a cowboy moseying on down through the great west, buying cows, shipping cows… mostly it’s about cows. Its a sort of economic game, but also you build a deck of cards which give you victory points at the end. It’s really long (which is what I love about it) but less long with two players. 

For four players and above

Easy: Coup – 10 to 30 mins

Basically this game is a sophisticated version of b*llshit. It’s great and I’ve never met a person who doesn’t love it.

Medium: Inis – 1 hour to infinity

You are a Scottish clan, hoping to take over all of the highlands. This one is a bit different to our others as it is a CONFLICT based game. You have to fight other clans to take over and, I’m not going to lie, it has caused problems IRL in the past. Lets just say one time I cried because my boyfriend and his brother ganged up on me. Joke’s on them, because in the end I won. NB: Technically this game could go on and on forever due to the way you can react to each other.

Hardest: Power Grid – 1 to 3 hours

If you really want to challenge yourselves, play Power Grid. This maths heavy game is a real brain fryer but once you “get it” it’s actually super fun. You’re basically building energy plants around America and a bunch of other stuff happens too.

If you want to know more about board games, from people who are actually experts, visit www.shutupandsitdown.com.