I've got game.
More accurately, I have a closet full of games. I've got classics like Mille Bornes and Scrabble. I've got trivia games such as Fact or Crap? and Trivial Pursuit. (Note to Parker Brothers: The '90s Edition of Trivial Pursuit is riddled with factual errors. I would know; I was there.) And I'm the proud owner of "Do The Urkel" and "Kreskin's ESP," both of which are inscrutable and nearly impossible to play. These games see frequent use, while my Xbox sits virtually untouched.
But there is always room in my closet for more games, and Blue Highway Games [0], at the top of Queen Anne Hill, will help me to fill in the gaps in my game closet, both physically and thematically. Dedicated to the notion that video games and the like are making us antisocial -- the store's motto is "Unplug and reconnect" -- Blue Highway stocks hundreds of dice, card and board games, not one of which you can plug into the wall. If years of guitar heroism and assorted Wii-ing around have ripped your family and friends asunder, Blue Highway has all the pieces you need to put your social life back together, with some assembly required.
The "classics" shelf alone is loaded with enough goodies to keep you and yours distracted for weeks. It's packed with such warm and fuzzy old favorites as Clue, Monopoly, Taboo, Othello, Parcheesi, Risk and Twister. (Doubt these games' ability to educate and entertain? Get out the "Twister" board, call up several friends you'd like to know better and have each one bring a six-pack.) Recent favorites like Apples to Apples and Sudoku are equally well represented.
But these are games you can find most anywhere, and Blue Highway is all about the unusual and unexpected. While you'll find the typical role-playing-game accoutrements and military strategy games carried by many game shops, you'll also discover such rare gems as Ticket to Ride, in which you try to build and protect a rail empire; Katamino, a wood-piece game that's as addictive as Tetris; Argue, which is as good and loud as its name; Curses, a party game that sets up side-splittingly funny situations; and The Game of Redneck Life, which you win by "having the most remaining teeth." Don't blame me; I didn't write it.
It goes without saying that Blue Highway also stocks chess, backgammon and nearly every other game that your ancestors used to pass the time before wireless shock controllers existed. Two large wooden tables are available for test runs, and there's a small refrigerator stocked with cold drinks in case your test play becomes heated.
Blue Highway's games may not be to everyone's tastes, but I'll tell you what: If your power should ever go out, you're going to wish you had something to pass the time. One can only do the Urkel for so long.
Blue Highway Games, 2203 Queen Anne Ave. N.; 206.282.0540; www.bluehighwaygames.com [1]
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