This is a fun game from TripAdvisor / TravelPod.  It starts out pretty easy but gets much harder.  I made it to Level 10!

Go here to play the game: http://www.tripadvisor.com/TIQGame

It looks like there’s different settings so you can play a US-only version if that might help your score.

-Nick

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I had a chance to see my first NHL game this week.  On Tuesday, the San Jose Sharks played the New Jersey Devils at the HP Pavilion.  Fresh off the Olympic hockey finale, we were ready for more icy action.  We even got an up-close-and-personal view of Sharkie the mascot as he gave a bag of goodies to a kid in the row in front of us.  I’ve decided that hockey is a lot like soccer — there’s not a lot of scoring, but a goal could come at any moment, which makes it interesting.

Except in this game there was plenty of scoring.  The Devils took a 4-0 lead in the 3rd (final) period to completely deflate the Sharks crowd.  It would be basically like being down 28-0 halfway through the 4th quarter of a football game.  There’s always a chance for a miracle comeback, but it’s probably not going to happen.  People started to leave.

But then the Sharks scored.

And then they scored again.

And again.

Three goals in three minutes!  The place was going nuts.  The giant shark head hanging from the rafters that blows smoke after goals barely had time to be reset.

The Sharks then pulled their goalie out to have an extra man on the ice, in a last ditch effort to score again and tie the game.  Ultimately they fell short, but it was definitely exciting.  I’d go back.

-Nick

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It’s the classic Uno card game, with a couple alternative rules that make it much more fun and interesting.

1. Matching cards can be played out of turn.  If someone plays a red 5, and you also have a red 5, you can add it to the pile right away.  Everyone in between the original red-5-player and you are skipped.  Draw 2′s can become Draw-4′s or worse, and Draw-4 Wild’s can become massive Draw-12′s if enough people get in on the action.
2. When anyone plays a zero card, everyone passes their entire hand to the right.

That person to your left who just drew 12?  Better hope they didn’t pick up a zero!

You can keep score or not.  We usually don’t, but it’s pretty entertaining.

-Nick

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I recently had the opportunity to play the CashFlow board game with a group of Bay Area real estate investors.  CashFlow is a game designed by Robert Kiyosaki (Rich Dad, Poor Dad) to teach basic financial and bookkeeping skills.  It’s something of a cross between Monopoly and Life, with the object of the game being to escape the “Rat Race” by growing your passive income enough to cover your monthly expenses.

In the Rat Race, players go around in a circle, collecting paychecks, buying “doodads,” and making investments.  There are a number of ways to increase your passive income including buying dividend-paying stocks, rental real estate, and small “auto-pilot” businesses.   In my game, I had a number of rental properties but the investment that really put me over the top was a car wash business.  That acquisition increased my passive income beyond my monthly fixed expenses, allowing me to quit my teaching job and escape the Rat Race.

After that, I was onto the “Fast Track” — another loop of spaces on the board filled with potential big business deals and living-large experiences.  At the beginning of the game I’d put my “dream” piece of cheese on the “Heli-Skiing in the Alps” square.  I managed to get divorced and sued along the way, but eventually made it to my heli-skiing dream.

I had some serious beginner’s luck, but I think CashFlow is a pretty fun yet educational game.  It gets you thinking about how to better put your dollars to work for you.  Since I’m a huge nerd like that I had a hard time sleeping that night after playing; my brain was firing on all cylinders.  It may not be the most realistic depiction of life, but it definitely gets you thinking about how to apply some of the same strategies personally.

The CashFlow boardgame itself is super-expensive, like $260.  But I suppose that cost is justified if it gets people to make better financial decisions, and I imagine they’ll be more likely to take it seriously with that kind of upfront cost.  The best bet may be to find a local group playing and join them.  My game was $5 and I reconnected with an old friend as well as met some other interesting and motivated people.

-Nick

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