January 13th, 2014 - How to play "London Rummy"

As any good nerd should say, video games have always had a special place in my heart.  But what I really love are board games and card games.  I'm better at some than others (I wish that my Monopoly skills translated to my wallet), and for some I still need a lot of practice (Lady Gaga would have no problem reading my my my my poker face).  But even the ones that I'm not all that great at are still fun, and I'm always interested in learning new games.

Today, Jamie Kirschner showed me a game that her family created. It's a Kirschner original called "London Rummy," and I can see it getting pretty addictive.

What I really enjoyed about this lesson was not so much the game itself (it really is just a spin on Gin Rummy with some Phase 10 thrown into the mix).  What I enjoyed the most was that this was a game that Jamie obviously has spent years playing.  Each draw of a card brought back another time and another game surrounded by family.  Stupid mistakes long ago made (like discarding a Joker) had led to a family joke that still gets told each time the game is played.  And the promise of that ultimate win, completing level 8 with the perfect card, was never out of reach because she had seen it accomplished many times.

These little family games and family rules are what I like most about board games and card games.  Video games are exciting and the graphics on the newer systems are out of this world.  But there's something special about sitting around a table with your family and playing a game.  Maybe you played Monopoly a little differently than the family down the street (we always started with two properties for every player at the start of the game).  Maybe the Uno cards you played with had special creases, so you knew when the Draw Four card was on it's way down to ruin your evening.

And maybe, like the Kirschners, you went ahead and made up your own game.  Just like you had made up your own family.  I'm glad that I got to be an honorary Kirschner for the day, and that I got to learn their game.

Because I am TOTALLY going to steal it.