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Looking for something to do during coronavirus boredom? Break out those old board games

Mike Polk Jr. takes a walk down memory lane to help pass the time

CLEVELAND — Trying to find silver linings during a global pandemic can be tricky but I feel like we all owe it to ourselves to try.

Many people are stuck at home, isolated, with limited entertainment options and social opportunities. It’s like we’re all on some weird, nationwide snow day but with germs.

And that means being cooped up inside for long periods of time with your family or roommates or in my case just a cat because I’ve made some weird choices in life up to this point.

Regardless, once you’ve looked at everything on the internet (which doesn’t take nearly as long as you might think) and you’ve realized that there are really only about seven legitimately watchable things on Netflix, you might want to consider introducing some other activities to your sequester in order to avoid going stir-crazy.

I was trying to think about how we used to occupy and entertain ourselves in these types of situations back before we had wi-fi on our wristwatches and I found myself reflecting fondly upon the memory of playing board games in my youth.

On particularly rainy summer vacation days my sisters and neighborhood friends and I would spend hours and hours wrapped up in heated competition trying to be the first to Connect Four, Guess Who or sink each other’s Battleships.

But were those games actually fun, or are my fond memories of them rooted in nostalgia? Would the board games of my childhood stand the test of time? Could these games from my youth be the key to helping to pass the time during this ordeal?

Fortunately, my nieces have an impressive collection of classic board games to revisit, so I thought I’d take them for a spin to see which ones I’d recommend to any viewers who might be looking for something to do to avoid reading books. Game on!

  • Candyland

"The game that encourages kids to fantasize that they are eating candy rather than playing a board game."

  • Sorry

"A child's first introduction to spite as a form of entertainment."

  • Operation

"Because nothing spells fun for kids like performing high-pressure invasive surgery."

  • Clue

"A great way to familiarize children with some of the most popular weapons used to commit murders."

  • The Game Of Life

"Experience life as a grown up so that you know how complicated and terrible things will inevitably become one day. Sleep tight!"

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