Board games are pretty universal. You can play Chutes and Ladders, Checkers or Hi-Ho Cherry-O in New York, North Carolina or Nevada and it's the same game. Heck, you can even play it with people who speak different languages because talking isn't necessary. You don't need to know the people you play with which makes them perfect for parties (okay, I think I'm done with the alliterations for now).
Enter Rummikub.
If my family had to pick a game that represented us I believe it would be Rummikub. It's the one game I believe everyone knows how to play and will play if asked. It's the go-to game on Sunday afternoons and could quite possibly be called a Sunday afternoon tradition. I can't imagine life pre-Rummikub. It's probably like parents trying to remember pre-child life...impossible!
Sadly, Rummikub is not a universal board game. But it is a great example of the demise of American intelligence. Sometime between the time my family purchased the game in a black box and the time that many others purchased it in a newer blue box, the makers of the game decided to change the rules. Apparently no one told them you can't just change the rules to board games because they're universal.
By "changing the rules" I mean they completely took out some very important rules that made the game a game of strategy! Instead of a thought-provoking game it's just another think-every-once-in-a-while-but-not-enough-to-cause-you-to-actually-use-brain-juice game. I detest the new rules. And besides my family, I don't think any other person I've met plays with the old rules. I feel like it's up to the Ohio Tuckers (since even my own grandmother and great-grandmother play with the new blue box rules) to save the original Rummikub!
So if anyone plays with the watered-down blue box rules and would like to learn a more advanced version, feel free to contact me. I won't charge you for lessons and I may even let you win once or twice.
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