Random Thoughts...Aggravation

Turns out my husband plays games when I'm not at home. He may be sicker than I originally thought. Do you have a family game addiction? Ours is Aggravation. It's been around for ages, but I had never heard of it until Ace lovingly introduced me to it when I first met his parents. "No pressure my dove. Just don't run out crying when my mother whacks your marble off the board." Little did I know it was the start of a very bold Petersen tradition. How could I know moving in with my mother in law (aka Cussing Granny) that we would have running Aggravation games? Aggravation marathons...now we just need the T-shirts. At any rate, returning home from shopping the other day, this note was in the middle of the game board.

The game starts with each player placing four marbles in his/her base. After the order of play is determined through the rolling of the die, each player rolls a single die on each turn to determine the number of spaces to move. All marbles remain in the base until either a 1 or 6 is rolled, which entitles the player to move a marble from the base to his/her start, the first step before entering the track. While this is considered a turn, and the move takes place in lieu of moving a marble that number of spaces, a six, if rolled, entitles a player to another turn whenever a legal move can be made.
The winner is the first player whose pieces all reach home by exact count. In our family we can also trade places with any other players marble when we roll a 4. A quarter coin is given when you win a game, and a penny for each marble you kill. You know, it's just play money and we always return it to the "Aggravation box" when the game is over. Heaven help you if you ever intentionally pass up a kill. Ever.

It has done wonderful things for our marriage to take things to the "Aggro" board (as we call it).

Ace can't even look at me when we sing "Now We Gather 'Round the Board" at church...it makes him giggle and think of Aggro.

Playing alone, this is Ace's home base...

Note the number of "victory" marbles and "kill" pennies...

Now here's Mine.