Behind The Bloggers – Lauren Skinner

This time, I am talking to Lauren to find out her favourite games and game recommendations. I hope I’ll find a few recommendations for my Christmas list!

What is your favourite board game?

It’s hard to pick only one, but I’m really into playing The Thing: Infection at Outpost 31 at the moment. As a social deduction/hidden identity game, it’s one of my favourite kinds of games to play with close friends. You’re one of the crew members stationed in Antarctica. You must figure out who is one of the aliens (the Thing) before they either blow up the station or escape on the helicopter to infect the rest of the world.
Forging risky alliances and accusing friends of lying to your face is so much fun. Unsure of who to trust, it’s best to play with people you know. You might think you know their tells, but, you can get fooled by even your best friends. And if you’re the Thing, there’s an extra layer of stress that can make for a supercharged games night.

With the amount of ferocious fun that comes with a social deduction game, I feel like I can play The Thing: Infection at Outpost 31 again and again. And the funny thing is, I haven’t even watched the film!

What game would you recommend to get someone into gaming?

I’ve had many opportunities to introduce friends and family into board games, whether it’s at Christmas time or forcing them into organised fun around the dinner table. I’ve found that party games tend to appeal to all age groups and personalities. Games like Scrawl are perfect appetisers for the banquet that is board gaming.

The concept of Scrawl is simple. Draw your interpretation of a written prompt, pass it around, and get the next person to guess the original prompt. It is simple, silly, and saucy (if you picked up the adult version). It doesn’t even matter if you can draw or not—in fact, that makes it better!

Otherwise, I’d pick something like Secret Hitler to get the uninitiated into what a board game can be. As a sneaky, social deduction board game, it encourages healthy rivalries. It’s a game of talking and convincing. This is much less complicated than learning the mechanics of a more complicated game. The concept is easy for newbies to pick up. Everyone knows Hitler and the Nazis are the baddie. Secret Hitler can persuade those who have only played Monopoly or Cluedo to try something new.

What three board games would you play for the rest of your life?

The fantastic thing is, there are so many types of board games. So, my top 3 are all quite different to help scratch the different parts of my brain.

As one of my favourites, The Thing: Infection at Outpost 31 needs to be in there. Otherwise, I really appreciate Monopoly Deal. It’s fast, it’s fantastic and easy to play with a big group, and it’s no bigger than a pack of cards, so it’s easy to take on holiday.

7 Wonders Duel is also a staple in my collection. It’s strategic, it’s not too big to take out with you, and as there’s so many ways to win, it’s infinitely replayable. I’ve taken this to the pub so many times with my partner, whiling away countless hours with a few drinks.

I haven’t played a lot of social deduction games but they are a type of game I am interested in exploring further. I will look out for a couple of Lauren’s recommendations for social deduction games. Although I, when playing Cockroach Poker have a number of tells that I am lying. So I might not be very good at social deduction games, but they always seem fun.

Scrawl definitely sounds like a game I should look into for family gatherings . It sounds great for a time where everyone is after a bit of light, silly fun. It sounds perfect for those gatherings between Christmas and New Year so I will get it in my basket now!