Heard a dad at the game store say something that stuck with me

I was picking up a copy of 'Cascadia' yesterday and overheard a dad trying to teach his young kid 'Ticket to Ride'. The kid was getting frustrated, and the dad just said, 'It's not about winning, it's about the track we build together.' Honestly, that hit me. I've been so focused on strategy and winning my game nights lately. It made me remember why I got into this hobby in the first place, just hanging out with friends. Has anyone else had a simple moment like that shift your focus back to the fun part?

3 comments

3 Comments

viola_ward2d ago

My game group last year got so bad about min-maxing every turn in 'Wingspan' that we'd sit in silence for ten minutes just thinking. It was awful lol. We made a rule that if your turn takes longer than a minute, you have to tell a joke or a fun fact. It totally changed the vibe back to just hanging out. That dad's totally right, the game is just the excuse to be together.

milessmith2d ago

My group had the same problem with 'Scythe'... we just banned talking about scores.

uma_martinez2d ago

That dad nailed it. We get so caught up in the best moves and highest scores that we forget the game is just the thing that gets us all in the same room. My group used to have a real competitive streak, and game night started feeling like a chore. Now we pick games where the fun is in the silly moments, not just the victory points. It’s made a huge difference in how much we laugh and actually connect.