I like toys.  We all do, whether we admit it or not.  Cars, houses, and clothes are grown up toys.  Ninety-five percent of the SUV owners in the universe are merely expressing their inner child’s frustration that they can’t buy a sportscar that transforms into a robot.  And if most of us were honest with ourselves, we’d just go ahead and admit that we’d pay through the nose if we could pull a hidden lever and have our house change into a secret command bunker.

Games can be a great way of indulging our inner child while engaging our outer adult.  Studies have shown that playing video games not only increases visual acuity, but can have positive psychological effects.  Tetris helps reduce post-traumatic stress.  Halo teaches us to always keep an eye on our forcefield meter.  And if I ever have to fight a giant robot, experience tells me to look for the glowing points because that’s the only way to drain the robot’s health.

But I’m less into video games these days than board and card games.  Board and card games are a good opportunity to get together with friends and play with toys.  I wasted hours playing with my Transformers, acting out stories.  This was early training for the job I do now, so I’d like to take a moment to thank Optimus Prime and Megatron for the contributions to my livilihood.  Your battles weren’t just for the fate of the universe, guys.  They were paychecks in waiting.

My favorite board games have a genuine cinematic feel.  King of my current gaming obsession is Monsterpocalypse by Privateer Press.  The theme is all about huge monsters battling it out in cityscapes.  The toy factor is superb with dozens of unique monster figures ranging from giant lizards to planet devouring cosmic monsters to fiendish eldritch horrors.  A new set even added huge apes and ravenous bugs to the mix.  The game is surprisingly complex and strategic, and it’s a blast.  It gives me an excuse to make screeching sounds, whooshing jet engines, explosions, and, of course, the classic laser “pew, pew!”  I do this with glee, even as I craft a complex battle for the future of the Earth.

(You haven’t lived until you’ve bodyslammed a mega robot into an oil refinery while rocket helicopters buzz around your head.)

Heroscape is another great game.  Less complex than Monsterpocalypse, but just as toyetic in design, Heroscape is the ultimate versus game.  I love the versus genre.  This is the game that answers the question we’ve all wondered.  Can a ninja beat a cowboy?  How would a squad of WWII soldiers would stand against a horde of orcs?  And wouldn’t a three-way battle between zombies, Roman centurions, and secret agents be awesome?  (Answer: Yes.  Yes, it would be.)

Red November by Fantasy Flight Games lets players experience all the chaos and desperation that comes from running around a malfunctioning submarine without having to worry about dying a horrible death.

Grind by Privateer Press is all about steam-powered robots competing in an arena deathsport that makes football look like a game for sissies.

And A Touch of Evil by Flying Frog Games lets you uncover a conspiracy in a quiet 18th century village while fighting vampires, banshees, and bog fiends.

There’s something joyful about these games to me.  Something (dare I say it) wonderful.  Childish things aren’t something to be put away.  They’re something to be enjoyed.  And as an adult, I find myself enjoying them even more because being childish as a child is easy.  But maintaining that wonder and joy as an adult . . .

That’s something you just gotta work at.