Fun Games That Challenge

Battleship

This is a game of logic and strategy played on pegboard grids. Each player has a game unit that folds in half, with an "ocean field" on the bottom and a "target field" on the top. Each player gets five ships that fit into the peg holes of the ocean field's grid. Players call out coordinates, for instance: B-2 or D-5. When your opponent calls out a coordinate, see if any part of a ship lies on that spot. If not, call out "miss. If so, call out "hit." Each ship must get "hit" a specificn amount of times to be sunk. Track hits and misses on the target field. Use white pegs for misses and red for hits. Whoever sinks all their opponent's ships first wins.

Chess is a game of strategy, originating in the 6th century. You play chess on a board of 64 squares, usually in alternating colors. Each player has eight pawns, two rooks, bishops and knights and one king and queen. Pawns move forward, one space at a time, save for the initial move, where two squares are allowed. Rooks move any number of squares in straight lines, while bishops move diagonally. Knights follow an "L" pattern: such as one square up and two squares over vice versa. The queen moves in any direction and number of squares. The king moves any direction, one square at a time. Players plan strategies with pieces to capture the opponent's king and win the game.

Chessboards often come with chess and checker pieces, because they use the same board. However, checkers only uses the dark squares. Pieces are 12 flat discs set up along the first three rows of each side of the board. The object is to "jump" all of your opponent's pieces, capturing them. Initially, you can only move the pieces diagonally forward. When a piece hits the opponent's last row, it's "kinged." Kinged pieces move forward and backward. Moves are once a turn. Jump over pieces need an open square on the other side. Multiple jumps in a continuous row are allowable.

Scrabble is played on a board of squares. Some squares are blank. Others have scoring phrases like "triple word" or "double letter." There are 100 tiles with letters used to create words. Each letter carries a point value. Players can create words adding to words already on the board. When no more words are possible, the game ends. The highest score wins.