To understand the best thing that happened today, you have to understand that about four years ago my oldest Son, Interrupted taught me how to play an xBox game called Civilization Revolution. It’s a game of world domination, best described here.

We have had hours…hours? I mean days, weeks, months, playing that game. Sam has patiently walked me through the skill levels (we’ve almost mastered Emperor level! Next up: Deity) and I love playing that game so much that a) one of the reasons I didn’t mind working last weekend was that I learned to play the game on my iPad, and b) I intend to hole up at my next best opportunity and play it until I’m sick of it.

On New Year’s Eve, we actually bought another, used xBox so we could play teamsies against each other all night. Best NYE, EVER.

For Christmas, Sam asked for, and received, Civilization – The Board Game. It seemed like a good idea at the time, since the only drawback to the xBox game is that it’s difficult to play against another player without going online. The board game seemed like a great solution: all the fun, plus the ability to shout “IN YOUR FACE” to your opponent’s face when you nuked them.

Except that it’s a wicked hard game to play. Which makes sense, because it’s mimicking the computer game, which keeps track of your culture, and which tech you can research next, and which buildings you can build in your cities based on the techs you’ve unlocked, and how many hit points you have when you attack your opponents’ settlers.

So tonight the two Sons, Interrupted and I sat down and played a walkthrough so we could start educating ourselves on the game. It was so much fun. The boys were kind when I didn’t understand, and they fetched me seltzers and anything else I wanted.

And that was the best thing.

© E. Stocking Evans 2013