Family games for a holiday evening (with and without major warfare)

Many years ago friends bought Cog a card game.  It has gone on every excursion abroad ever since and is our go-to game to spend a bit of family time together.

HWMBO is Australian.  He must win.  It is written in his genetic code.

He can just about manage Maunz-Maunz without it resulting in family warfare.

What I learnt this holiday is, that despite it being almost exactly the same game, he cannot play Uno without behaving like he is playing for the ashes.  Many families around us were playing Uno without shouting at each other.  I pondered how they managed to do this whilst watching my family stomping off (one to bed and one to the bar.)

In an attempt to bring back harmony a few nights later I introduced them to Crazy Eights.  This is Uno, Mau-Mau and every other similar card game in its original form.  We made it through play still intact.

I thought we were ready as a family to move onto Knaves.

I was wrong.

In another desperate attempt to negotiate an evening of peace (I should work for the UN) we moved to Tier-Yatzi.  The whole coloured animals thing makes it a much less contentious game than yahtzee proper.  The real dice cause us massive issues but animals we manage not to kill each other over.  I'm not saying it's easy, just less bloodshed.  I think political negotiators should take a lesson from this.

I really needed a night off from peace keeping so I moved to one of my favourite past-times "wind up the teenager".  She really didn't want her photo taking.











Not from any angle.

At least it gave HWMBO and I a common target for once.  5 minutes of marital harmony before we shuffled the card deck again.