I received some wonderful news recently that a friend of mine is expecting his first child with his partner, really great news. That reminded me of my wife’s own experience at the hospital when each of our 2 children were being born. A very happy end but the delivery of both was no picnic and a really challenging experience. Not the Idyllic situation we wanted and even imagined. Inductions were involved and a lot of waiting!
Board games were a welcomed distraction during this very un relaxing time (not good during child birth). We had many games in the back pack that really played an important part in helping us both relax and pass that waiting time for the arrival of our children. I am pleased to say that both were delivered successfully, eventually.
This inspired this feature and whilst our result was a joyous one, not everyone visiting a hospital is there for such reasons, but whatever the reasons for the visit, there can very much be a lot of waiting to be completed first. Whilst the people working in them complete incredible work, the conditions can be cramped and uncomfortable so our team of bloggers have a range of ideas of games you can take to hospital to play that were useful to them from their own experiences. Take a look.
Friends Trivial Pursuit – David Ireland
As noted, we had a lot of waiting to do. We are huge Friends fans and the Trivial Pursuit edition of this was nothing short of a superb game to have in our hospital bag. Being Teens at the time when Friends came to its end, there’s a huge amount of nostalgia wrapped up for us in this game, that happy nostalgia.
The game is actually for 2-6 players but it works superbly as a 2 player. Your 6 colour categories are equally divided amongst series of the iconic show. Players roll a dice to determine which series they will be answering on. Players need to answer 1 question correctly to then have a chance to answer the next correct to score a point. If you answer the scoring question correctly, take the card and score a point. Players keep going in this way until they do not answer correctly. Then play passes. The first player to get 6 cards (or points) wins. You could pick a score here.
These questions are niche but that is no bad thing. The detail gave us so many laughs when playing the game and really took us back to those moments in the TV show that have you creased up chuckling away. It’s a perfect companion in a hospital. There are hundreds of questions contained within so the laughs just keep coming and the game came out on both occasions when we were in hospital.
OK Play – Charlotte Curzon
OK Play is, to put quite simply, a game of 5-in-a-row, so what makes it different and why is it good in this situation? OK Play can be played with 2-4 players, and there’s no player board so players aren’t restricted by gravity as with games like Connect 4, and it’s totally wipe clean and very portable: With no box, OK Play can clip onto your belt loop or bag and you can carry it around, and you can play on practically any flat surface from waiting room tables to your bed or the floor if you wish. It’s somewhat more competitive than you might initially think, especially when playing with more than two.
I didn’t actually own OK Play when I went into hospital myself, it was a game I acquired much later, but if I’d owned it at the time it would have been included in my bag for sure. My own hospital visits were to give birth to my children so there wasn’t really a need for many games anyway, but having a child who requires regular hospital check-ups, OK Play often gets stuffed into my purse or clipped onto his book-bag so we can take it to play in the waiting room. He loves it, I love it, and it’s perfect for when we want something quick and simple.
So why should OK Play be on your list of hospital bag picks? It’s portable, easy to learn, quick to play, makes you think without being too demanding on brain power, and is good for adults and children alike.
Faraway – Tim Evans
Two step forwards, one step back, that is often the feeling when sat in what seems like an endless cycle of waiting for your next appointment or result. Whether those patient moments are to last only a few minutes, hours or even days and weeks, a game which can bring any amount of joy or levity to an otherwise tense and serious situation is special in so many ways.
Faraway is one such title I have turned to in those moments. With a run time of only 30-40 minutes (shorter still if you are amongst those used to the flow of the game) and variable easily between 2-5 players (up to 7 with the people from below expansion mixed in), this game is a fun, fast and versatile puzzle. Consisting largely of a two small decks of cards, it is also very travel friendly, and its stunning cartoon art style will lure into both adults and children alike.
It is also a very easy teach, with a show and tell approach often being the most direct way. That first round will have players scratching their heads on how to score well, but that soon clicks and has many players instantly looking for a first true competitive play.
Whilst it is not designed for solo play, I have also considered the use of an unofficial solo mode. Set yourself a score target (maybe just beating your best?) and play out a one person variant, offering the choice of two cards to be added to your hand.
Whilst not an official way to play, this small brand of solitaire can keep those quiet alone moments at bay, but I have never been short of interested new players for long when I take this box out.
I hope this small box gem can take you and your friends faraway for that little bit of escape whenever you need it most.
Push – Roger BW
This 2-6 player push-your-luck game by Brian Kirk and anonymous others from the Prospero Hall group is a quick and solid distraction.
You can learn it in a few moments: on your turn, you turn up cards until you decide to stop (or you’re forced to). Most cards go into one of three stacks in front of you; a single stack can’t have two of the same number or colour. If you stop before that happens, you collect one stack to your “bench” (scoring piles), then players round the table collect the others in rotation; if you don’t, not only do the other players get to take the stacks you were building, but you have to roll the penalty die and lose all cards of one colour from your bench. There are cards that produce this effect too; they end up in the stacks and whoever takes the stack has to roll the die and lose a colour.
Or you can give up your turn to “bank” one colour of cards from your bench. That leaves them completely safe from penalties, but means you didn’t gather any more points. Your final score is the total of the numbers, 1-6, on all the cards you had when the deck ran out.
At the most basic level you can play this as a luck-pushing game, which is involved enough to provide a distraction. But there’s more to it than just luck; often you’ll try to build up one “good” stack that you want (with high value cards). and two “bad” columns that have low value and penalty cards. But which one is which can change as the cards come up and you have to put a prize card onto what was going to be a “bad” stack.
Trio – Roger BW
I’m normally very bad at memory games, but this is one that I can play and often win. The cards are split between player hands and a central tableau, and in your hand you arrange them into numerical order. You can only play from one or the other end, i.e. your highest or lowest card.
On your turn you reveal cards until you get all three of a number (in which case you win that trio), or until one comes up that doesn’t match. If there are three matching cards at one end of your hand, that’s easy. Otherwise, you may want to reveal cards from an opponent’s hand (“show me your highest/lowest card”) or from the table. When you see someone else’s card, so does the rest of the table; so you want to pick things that will give more information to you than to anyone else… as far as that’s possible.
You win by scoring the triple 7, or any three other trios; in the “spicy” version, the triple 7 or two connected trios (linked by numbers in the bottom corners).
This game is at the right level of mental demand for me: it takes concentration, which distracts me from other worries, while also not demanding so much concentration that I can’t play it when
I am worried. It fits into a fairly small space (just enough for the central tableau which won’t be more than nine cards). The actual demands on my memory are quite light: Bob has an 11, the third card in the tableau is also an 11, and I have the other one, so on my next turn I’ll reveal those two and the 11 I have in my hand.
Final Thoughts
We hope our team has given you a few ideas to aid you when waiting in hospital and take your mind elsewhere, just for a little while. Going to hospital can be challenging for all sorts of reasons, we hope we have made that a touch easier for you.
