Board Game Anxiety Disorder.
I am SURE I have it.
I think my anxiety comes from being intimidated and bullied while playing difficult strategy games with my Scientific ex-husband and my Engineering (eye-rolling, loud sighing) wonderful son. I can''t blame them completely though. It stems back to boarding school where games were never for fun, always to win, whatever it cost.
Don't get me wrong, I LOVE board games. I just never got to play the ones I liked because my family didn't want to play them.
Aren't games supposed to be relaxing fun between loved ones? Whether they be family, good friends, peers, comrades-in-arms, fellow geekers?
Apparently not in my house.
This is how a typical board game evening would go....
Me: Hey you two, want to play a board game tonight?
Them: Hang on, we just want to finish this instance. (They lived in the Man Cave downstairs playing World of Warcraft)
2 hours later...
Me: You finish your instance yet? Let's play a game together.
Them: Ok, Ok, coming now.
20 mins later.....
Them: So what are we playing?
Me: How about Scrabble? Or Balderdash? Or Huggermugger?
Them: Oh, do we have to? They are boring and dumb.
Me: Well, what do you want to play?
Them: Risk!
Me: Uh, you know I don't play that game well.
Them: That's because you aren't thinking hard enough. It's not that complicated.
(They know me well, gauntlet thrown....)
Me: Ok, I will try again.
3 hours later....
I'm almost in tears.
They feel jubilant as they basically annihilated me by some kind of male bonding code with each other.
I suggest next time they play a game I would like to play.
They say "Sure".
Never happens.
The cycle begins again.
So, when my partners suggest playing a board game I don't know a thing about, I immediately go into panic. The thing is I WANT to enjoy playing with them. I love being with them and having fun together. They assure me that they don't care who wins or loses. It's just a game for fun. It's ok if I fail, if I don't understand how to play the game. They aren't going to be mean about it.
Wish me luck, I am going to breathe and dive in and hopefully be triumphant over my BGAD and bask in the bosom of board game bliss.
