merry x-mas to all,BEST GAME FOR X-MAS

The game that I best remember receiving one Christmas was an electronic boardgame called "Dungeons & Dragons". No, it wasn't the rpg.

The game board was a grey plastic castle shaped thing with a fairly large (20 x 20?) grid of square flat buttons on the top. You could play 1 or 2 player, and the goal was to try to steal the dragon's treasure. You had little metal figures to represent the players, the dragon, and the treasure.

The kicker was that you couldn't see anything. The players set their start positions, and then it's player 1's turn. You press the buttons along the path you want to walk. The game would beep at each step, and make a different sound if you hit a wall or door (at which point your turn was over), and yet another sound if you woke the sleeping dragon. Then it would be the next player's turn, and then the dragon (if he was awake) would fly.

There were little plastic walls that you stood up between the buttons to indicate where they were as you heard about them. You knew the dragon was moving by the flying sound he made, but you never really knew where he was. And, of course, once your opponent had taken the treasure you could try to steal it from him.

It was a great game, creating all the tension and atmosphere you could possibly want with just a few little "beeping" noises. The first game that I played where I realized that a game can be more than just fun, but can actually create an experience (like a movie or a book) for the players to share.

I still have it, and am waiting for my kids to get old enough to play it with me.

Wow, that was a trip down memory lane. Thanks!

Merry Christmas!

My favorite game gift as a kid was Mousetrap, which I loved. I was smart enough then to realize that the game itself kinda sucked, but the Rube Goldberg device was absolutely fantastic, and I'd set it off (and reset it) again and again and again.

Which reminds me that the first game I remember buying for myself (maybe age 10 or so) was Masterpiece, my first auction game and one that I really, really loved. Wish I still had either of them, in fact.

-- Matthew

I have great Dark Tower memories as well. It can be found online in several awkward to play formats. Not that the original was all that unawkward, but it's great memories! I tried to look it up again to buy a copy last year, and only found them on eBay for hundreds of dollars. A shame my parents lost mine after I moved out! Or before... not sure really.

To the original question, I don't know what board games I ever got for Christmas, but the one played the most throughout my teen years was always Talisman.