Growing up, I loved board games. My brother and I played Monopoly as often as we could — my go-to mover was the brass boot — and I loved the narrative of Clue and the buzzer with Taboo.
But somewhere along the line, that passion for face-to-face strategy phased out. (Looking back, it was probably around the time Thomas' Library — my bedroom book collection, carefully curated from Book Fair finds — also closed without ceremony.)
That would have been in sixth grade, when birthday presents included a Macintosh Performa 6116CD. The system came loaded with games (that was back when a lot of premium software came bundled with the computer).
The Nintendo — which I'd long neglected — had nothing on the computer, which was the only thing that successfully supplanted board games and books as pastimes. (I mean, I was a Pizza Hut Book It! kid.)
But living in the country, seeing children my age — or anyone other than family and my dog, Teddy Bear — much, much less than my classmates, made the computer a popular attraction, especially when my brother got busier with high school.
I must have played parlor games since those childhood days, but just don't recall it.
However, Friday night, while with friends in Niceville, the host pulled out Telestrations, a drawing version of the popular Telephone game. (You know, you whisper something to someone, they whisper it to someone else, and when you reach the end of the line, the resulting, distorted message is humorous.)
After someone drew something, another person had to guess it, and the dry-erase tablet was passed from one person to the next. After everyone finished drawing and guessing, and each player received his or her tablet back, I laughed so hard it hurt when everyone individually paged through the results.
So when I read through reporter Brian Hughes' feature on North Okaloosa's board gamers, I just thought, "I get it."
There's nothing wrong with video games or the internet, which can expose people to different cultures and viewpoints.
But when you spend most of your life in front of a computer, tablet or smart phone screen with work, it's nice to see people face to face.
Just like the good old days.
What's your view? Write a letter to the editor or tweet News Bulletin Editor Thomas Boni.
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: EDITOR’S DESK: Board games bring a welcome, personal distraction