Since getting reacquainted with the game last September at my Grandma’s house, I have bought two different versions of the game (a normal one and a Pirates of the Caribbean themed one), discovered that I bought another version (Peanuts) last year on sale and played it at least 100 times. And that’s probably a conservative estimation. The three versions of the game actually have very different feeling dice. The normal one has just regular red game dice. The Pirates’ version has dice that are gray, lighter in weight and have a skull and crossbones on the side of the number ‘1’. The Peanuts’ version, which we just opened when I gave it to Katie to take to school, has larger, round edged dice with pictures of Charlie Brown , Peppermint Patty, Sally, Linus, Lucy and Snoopy. As soon as I got home from my trip last September, I taught/ reacquainted John with the game – actually beating him in one game with a score of 608 – I got 4 Yahtzees in one game! (Never since!) Then, we played it at Thanksgiving, at Christmas teaching everyone in Canada, and multiple times with various age groups during this current trip which comes to a close this Saturday – I will be flying (in a planeJ) home this time.
Yahtzee is a simple game: basically poker with dice. You’re working to get multiples of each dice, 3 of a kind, 4 of a kind, a full house, small and large straights – even a ‘chance’ category – for those times when the roll of the dice doesn’t fit anything else. You see, you have to put a score on your sheet every time, whether it’s an actual number that fits a specific category or a zero if you have nothing. The highest scoring category – and the one for which the game is named – is a roll of 5 matching dice….a Yahtzee.
Despite it’s simplicity, scoring a Yahtzee is really exhilarating! It feels like you’ve done something extraordinary……in reality, it only comes about with a lucky roll of the dice. A fact that Katie hoped, by pointing it out, would ease my frustration. It. Did. Not. However, Katie also pointed out (she did a lot of ‘pointing out’ during our game:) that perhaps I was ultra-sensitive to my ‘bad luck’ because my sleep the previous night had been out of whack……so would that make it more normal? Hmmm…interesting……
Do I have a preference as to a surface on which to play the game? I’ve played it on a ceramic tile table, a linoleum table, a faux wood coffee table, a padded card table, a carpeted floor, a beautiful rug, a round small college apartment table, a simulated wood looking linoleum table in my grandmother’s memory filled kitchen, a large dining room table in my aunt’s front dining room with the gorgeous view, and even in the plastic Pirates chalice that came with that version of the game - just to see what I could roll. There’s a small superstitious part of me that’s a little worried when I do non-game random rolls of the dice that I’ll jinx my ability to roll well during the next actual game………it could happen!
I made a surprising discovery tonight - the dice from the Peanuts’ version give a very satisfying, loud bang as they roll out of your hand across the table – also, they have a LOT of bounce. As to a surface preference……..probably Grandma’s kitchen table where I learned to play the game.
Anyways, back to scoring a Yahtzee – it’s really cool!
