Dear James,
Thank you for the excellent work you do for those that listen and hear your guidance. I’ve been an avid reader for many years and moved my family from urban Michigan to a full-time retreat property in the woods of North Idaho largely on recommendations here on SurvivalBlog. Reed’s article on pastimes really should include the card game of cribbage. Any game, like chess, which has survived pretty much intact for many hundreds of years must have something good doing for it!
Adding cribbage is as simple as investing in a quality board and taking a few minutes to learn the rules. In a pinch, you can make one from a flat piece of wood, a drill and some spent matches as pegs. Many also use paper to score with, although a physical board makes it much easier to keep track. The benefits of cribbage are many-fold. A few of them are:
• The balance of luck and strategy allows absolute beginners to win some games, even against experienced players, unlike chess.
• The scoring system also involves a significant amount of mental arithmetic, helping youngsters and older players alike.
• The game itself can be played with 2, 3, 4 or rarely more players.
• A game only takes fifteen minutes or so, allowing a quick game.
• The game is open to, and suitable for, deeper analysis making it fun for the more calculating players.
• The game can be won by either player pretty much until the end, making it a good mood-lightener.
• It takes up little space, and no critical parts that can be lost.
• Cribbage is especially popular in Canada, the Northwest and mid-West regions of the US, and its overall popularity makes it a good ice-breaker, especially in hard times.
I would like to offer 20% off my cribbage boards for your readers. (Use the discount code “TEOTWAWKI”). – David, The Cribbage Guy