More Amerigames and some strange weirdos

Let's see here. A little catch-up.

On Thursday after my job interview, I played a few very American Amerigames with my buddies Brad, Jeremy, and Chris.

Game number one: Trump: The Game (Milton Bradley) starring Donald Trump as Donald Trump in a quest to Trump the other player's Trump before Trumptime runs out. Seriously, everything in this game is branded with The Donald's traditional "T." The game pieces. The money (Trump Bucks, signed by Donald Trummmmmp--maybe the extra M's stand for "money"), the die, the board. Everything. T. T. T.

The gameplay itself is fairly fun, actually--especially for some niche game from the 1980's. There's a little Monopoly--in the rolling of the die and the buying of properties--but the bidding mechanism and the entire second phase smack of fun and originality. You can stonewall your friends and shortchange others. While we were fairly friendly, we posited a number of strategies that would probably have screwed the other players out of their money. There's a lot of underhanded business practices that you can do without breaking the "ethics" of the game. It should be noted that this game was rereleased in the heyday of The Apprentice, and that it could have seen some changes that render this entire review mooT. T. T.

The second game was called Scrutineyes (get it?) (Mattel). It's a game of observation, kind of like those stupid comic strips in the newspaper with Shylock Fox or whateverthefuck. You look through a picture and try to find items that fit into a particular category--say, they begin with one letter. Then you challenge the other team. The elimination of answers is kind of like Scattergories--if both teams have the answer, nobody gets points. Round two is the same as the first, except you also have to avoid answers given in the first round. A lot of fun, and silly simplicity.

I very much prefer games like this over games that require an awful lot of thought and strategy. If I have to plot out my every move, it's not a game. It's work.

Want a good CD to listen to while you're board-gaming (MORE LIKE BORED-GAMING, AMIRIGHT?)? I'd recommend Strange Weirdos by Loudon Wainwright III. It's essentially the soundtrack to Knocked Up, except it's a full album from the classic folkster (and father of Rufus). The entire album is relaxed and well-crafted. Definitely catch the first three tracks: "Grey in L.A.," "You Can't Fail Me Now," and "Daughter."

And then definitely catch the rest.