Excellent points about randomness! Over Christmas, I played Left, Right, Center with my girlfriend’s family. It requires zero skill, but we still had fun watching everybody’s fortunes change in real time. Made me appreciate simple games of chance.
As you might have guessed, my 1-4 and Left to Right modification was partially inspired by Left Center Right. Interestingly enough, your comment here got me looking at the history of the game. I wanted to see when it was invented and by whom, which led me to this trademark case.
Looks like the game was invented in the 80s and that the mechanics may have been patented for a period of time by an entirely different party.
"Understandably, neither party in this case claims that it has rights in the Dice Game itself. The Dice Game, in one form or another, has existed for many years under a variety of names. Moreover, two individuals unrelated to this case filed a patent for a game (“Left, Center, Pot”) almost identical to the Dice Game, which was approved by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) on July 7, 1987. The patent expired on October 4, 2005 and was never challenged during its pendency."
My wife loves all board games -- childhood deprivation, I think. Since I am always the one required to read and interpret the rules, I appreciate the simpler ones a lot.
One of my plans in the upcoming year is to write think pieces based on the book Things We Think About Games. One of their aphorisms deals with reading long rule books and when it is appropriate to do so. Let's just say I've had entire game nights taken up with just the verbal reading of the rules and with no game play. That was not fun and it only can happen with long and detailed rules sets.
Candy Land is essential gaming
That is an excellent reframing. Thank you for making me think about this. It gives me a new perspective for the next time I play it with my daughter.
Excellent points about randomness! Over Christmas, I played Left, Right, Center with my girlfriend’s family. It requires zero skill, but we still had fun watching everybody’s fortunes change in real time. Made me appreciate simple games of chance.
As you might have guessed, my 1-4 and Left to Right modification was partially inspired by Left Center Right. Interestingly enough, your comment here got me looking at the history of the game. I wanted to see when it was invented and by whom, which led me to this trademark case.
https://caselaw.findlaw.com/court/us-4th-circuit/1258735.html
Looks like the game was invented in the 80s and that the mechanics may have been patented for a period of time by an entirely different party.
"Understandably, neither party in this case claims that it has rights in the Dice Game itself. The Dice Game, in one form or another, has existed for many years under a variety of names. Moreover, two individuals unrelated to this case filed a patent for a game (“Left, Center, Pot”) almost identical to the Dice Game, which was approved by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) on July 7, 1987. The patent expired on October 4, 2005 and was never challenged during its pendency."
My wife loves all board games -- childhood deprivation, I think. Since I am always the one required to read and interpret the rules, I appreciate the simpler ones a lot.
One of my plans in the upcoming year is to write think pieces based on the book Things We Think About Games. One of their aphorisms deals with reading long rule books and when it is appropriate to do so. Let's just say I've had entire game nights taken up with just the verbal reading of the rules and with no game play. That was not fun and it only can happen with long and detailed rules sets.