365 True Things: 247/Games

I'm not a big game player, but when I do play games, I enjoy myself.

Ticket to Ride

Because it's usually just the two of us playing—we'll get games out for New Year's Eve, say, while we wait till midnight (if we don't decide to celebrate on New York time)—our selection tends to be limited. No four-player games like Monopoly or Clue for us.

Calico

A few that work well for two are Calico, where you match tiles to create long snaking paths; Ticket to Ride and Eurorails, railroad-building games; UpWords, WordSearch, and Boggle, word-making games; Pirateer, "the game of outrageous fortune," or Stratego, "the classic game of battlefield strategy," or King Maker, "game of the 15th-century British civil war" (though I expect these three really would be better with four or more players). And of course there are card games, like rummy, casino, and two-ten-jack—or Milles Bornes, with its specialized deck.

A while ago I took a class in the art department at the local college in all-things-color. It was a great class, with very fun assignments. One of our tasks was to design a game that used color as an important component. I created an elaborate, multi-tiered board game, complete with handmade playing pieces fashioned from Sculpey oven-bake clay. To progress across the board, you had to answer color and art questions. Today I ran across the stack of game cards (the board and playing pieces have long since been relegated to the dustbin). Here's a sampling of the questions (answers at the bottom):

1. In the liturgy of the Roman Catholic church, what color represents Advent?
a. white
b. purple
c. red
d. blue

2. The Hope diamond is a fine example of what color of diamond?
a. white
b. yellow
c. green
d. blue

3. Which of the following natural organic pigments was made from the urine of cows fed on mango leaves?
a. rose madder
b. terre verte
c. Indian yellow
d. saffron

4. Where does Tyrian purple come from?
a. murex shellfish
b. thistle
c. fruit of the rattan palm
d. lapis lazuli

5. What was the favorite color of the fictional detective Nero Wolf?

6. In astrology, which gem is linked with the planet Jupiter?
a. ruby
b. sapphire
c. diamond
d. emerald

7. Which color represents time for Hindus, and was the color of rebirth and resurrection for the Egyptians?
a. green
b. black
c. yellow
d. blue

8. Which of the following artists got his start by entering and winning a Crayola coloring contest?
a. Robert Rauschenberg
b. David Hockney
c. Grant Wood
d. Edward Hopper

9. On pysanky (Russian painted eggs), what color represents Easter?
a. white
b. red
c. blue
d. green

10. Which of these pigments is considered by some to be the most important synthetic-color discovery of the twentieth century?
a. phthalocyanine blue
b. quinacridone red
c. barium chromate
d. titanium white

11. If you were designing a restaurant and wanted to encourage leisurely dining, which color scheme might you use?
a. blues and yellows
b. greens and beiges
c. burgundies and maroons
d. coppers and greens

12. Which was the first important synthetic pigment, discovered in 1704?
a. cobalt yellow
b. Prussian blue
c. cerulean blue
d. flake white

13. The Steadman coat of arms is described in heraldic terms as "argent a chevron gules between three boars' heads couped sable." What colors are in this coat of arms?

14. Vermilion, made originally from the mineral cinnabar, is now synthesized from mercury and what other element?
a. arsenic
b. lead
c. cadmium
d. sulfur

15. Approximately how many 31/2-inch-square leaves of gold leaf are there in an ounce?
a. 750
b. 1,250
c. 2,000
d. 5,000

It was fun learning about colors, pigments, artists, and so forth to create this game. I do like learning stuff!