Beasts of Balance in Indianapolis

Liz and I arrived on Friday to spend the Christmas weekend with my family in Indianapolis. Though I originally purchased Beasts of Balance for myself… I decided that it would be better as a gift to my niece and nephew.

Our house isn’t really at a place where we could have folks over for game night. So rather than have this game sit on a shelf, unplayed… I decided I would give it as a gift to Jasmine and Jahnu.

Also – I asked Stacey for permission to have the kids open the gift early, so they could play it. I wanted to see them enjoy the game, and didn’t want it to get lost in the shuffle of all their other Christmas gifts.

I’m happy to say they really liked the game. I explained to them that I had gotten it for myself originally, and thought they’d like it more. I think that might have gotten their attention.

Here is one of their first games:

And here’s a longer video, showing off some deft moves/placement:

A bit later in the evening, my mom and dad came over to hang out. When we introduced the game to my mom, we found out she was good at the game. Like… really good at it!

In fact, after the kids went away… she and I played a few rounds. And then when I said I was going to leave, she said to me “You go. I’m going to keep playing.”

Here’s my dad, with his coat on… taking some things out to the car. My mom was still playing. By herself.

We stayed in Jasmine’s room, like usual. This time, I spotted a handmade bag hanging on a hook near her door. On first glance, the font made me think it was pretty cute. But on reading the words, I started to think that perhaps my niece is growing up just a little too fast.

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Beasts of Balance