We've been doing a lot of day-trip stuff this year, add we really can't afford an extended vacation. We just got back from a two-day trip to Dinosaur National Monument, which was an annual trip when I was a kid. Faced with some hours in the hotel, I got thinking about what to do instead of TV.
When I was 11, my buddy and I pooled our money and bought some Car Wars stuff. He bought the books, I bought some maps and counters. I photocopied the book. When we went on vacations, I'd usually spend downtime in the hotel designing cats and running scenarios by myself.
I still have all my maps and counters. The photocopies are long gone. My buddy's books? Burned up in a fire.
This weekend, memories ensued. I picked up a dozen Hot Wheels with the idea of fiddling something together with the PDFrules I have on my laptop.
That didn't happen.
But my wife and I decided to try a "gamecation" late this year. We have some timeshare access...in a place with terrible TV reception, no phones, no distractions...other than what we take there ourselves. So we're taking games.
Scrabble. Boggle. Sojourner Tales. D&D. May even try some X-Wing Miniatures. A couple others.
So, the wild hair. Tonight I grabbed my wife and headed 45 minutes south to a FLGS in a city down south from here. I knew they had a copy, at least they had one back in February. (Of course I'm this obsessive to remember that.) Sure enough, they had a copy.
Car Wars Classic.
And I bought it. Opened it up as soon as I got home. And I was transported back thirty-some-odd years. I was like a little kid, looking at the counters, the blank vehicle sheets. I started giggling at some point, reading the rules. Yeah, they're not elegant, they're complex, and they're not QUITE the rules u remember...but, yeah.
I think my giggling scared my wife a little.
I know what else we're going to play on our our gamecation. And once my kids know the ropes, I know where I can download a turning key for Hot Wheels.
And my youngest son is nearly the age I was when I first played....My kids are gonna blow stuff up. And I'm going to get to do it with them.
Warm up the side-mounted flamethrowers and the front-mounted linked twin Vulcans. We're goin' auto-duelin'.
2 comments:
A highlight of my youth were the days when Autoduel Quarterly showed up in my mailbox. Those digest format tomes were the inspiration for my journey into zines. Enjoy your gamecation!
Very cool. Being unplugged is something I do often. I love it.
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