Howcast

How to Win at Candyland

Howcast — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 14:05:23 +0000

Instructions

Step 1: Go first Be the first to pick a card from the deck and move your piece. Players who go first have a slight edge to win at Candyland over later players.
Step 2: Remove picture cards Remove all the picture cards to prevent your opponent from advancing past you — though this will make for a longer game.
TIP: Thoroughly shuffle the deck each time you start a new game to prevent repetitive playing or similar outcomes for each player.
Step 3: Invite more friends Invite more friends to play to sift through the deck faster and decrease your chances of drawing a bad card.
Step 4: Use shortcuts Take advantage of the shortcuts through Rainbow Trail and Gumdrop Pass whenever possible.
Step 5: Get lucky Get lady luck on your side — Candyland often boils down to nothing more than a game of chance, so any bit of luck you can get will lead you to victory.
FACT: A Harvard study found that people who indulged in candy or chocolate lived on average almost a year longer than those who abstained from sugar.

You Will Need

Candyland board game
Luck

How to Play Bingo

Howcast — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 08:46:12 +0000

Instructions

Step 1: Mark the center square Place a marker in the center Bingo square. This is considered a free space.
TIP: The traditional Bingo card is a 5-by-5 grid card of numbers with the letters B-I-N-G-O written across the top. The letters identify each of the columns.
Step 2: Listen as numbers and letters are called out Listen as letter and number combinations are called out by the announcer. Mark any square on your card that matches the number called.
TIP: If B-10 is called out, for example, look in the B column for the number 10, and place a marker there if you find it.
Step 3: Continue until someone wins Continue playing until one player has covered a vertical, horizontal, or diagonal pattern of five grid spaces on their card.
Step 4: Call “Bingo!” As soon as you have marked five consecutive squares on your card, call out “Bingo!” The first player to get Bingo wins the game.
FACT: Bingo was made popular by a traveling salesman who adapted it from a game he saw at a carnival in 1929. The game was called “Beano” and was played by covering the numbers on a card with beans.

You Will Need

Bingo card
Markers
Announcer

How to Win at “Risk”

Howcast — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 10:49:54 +0000

Instructions

Step 1: Establish a base Establish a base, and build up your armies in that spot. Expand from that central location.
TIP: The strongest territories with the fewest points of attack are Argentina, Madagascar, and Japan.
Step 2: Conquer a continent Conquer a continent, as this will increase the number of armies you get for each turn. Avoid trying to conquer Asia early in the game, as it is difficult to hold.
Step 3: Break up continents Break up a continent if your enemy has control of one. Only attempt to conquer an enemy’s continent if you can attack with twice the number of armies as your opponent has in the continent.
Step 4: Locate your front Decide where the front of your force is and keep the most soldiers there. Your battlefront may not be across from your enemy’s strongest territories.
Step 5: Use the maximum number of dice Use as many dice as you are allowed to roll whether you are attacking or defending.
Step 6: Determine your strength Determine your strength in the game. A strong player should divide and conquer, whereas weaker players should unite until the strongest is brought down a level.
Step 7: Wipe out the weak Wipe out the weak as soon as you can.
Step 8: Hold on to cards Hold on to cards as long as you can before turning them in. When you have gained five cards, you have to turn them in.
TIP: Keep the number of cards you have hidden so your enemies don’t have another incentive to attack you.
Step 9: Take a territory every turn Take a territory at every turn.
FACT: In 1957, an award-winning French film director named Albert Lamorisse created the model for the “Risk” board game.

You Will Need

“Risk” board game
At least 2 players

How to Have a Family Game Night

Howcast — Mon, 17 May 2010 14:15:57 +0000

Instructions

Step 1: Plan a night Clear your schedule and plan one evening every week.
Step 2: Pick a game Pick a new game each week to play as a family.
TIP: Take turns picking a game for that night
Step 3: Have dinner or a snack Begin the family tradition by making dinner, a snack, or dessert together.
Step 4: Play the game Turn off the television and cell phones and enjoy the game of the week.
Step 5: Winner gets to choose dinner next week Let the winner choose next week’s dinner or snack.
Step 6: Invite guests Invite a guest to participate. Grandma, the neighbor, or one of your child’s friends will enjoy participating in your family tradition.
FACT: In 1934, Charles B. Darrow of Germantown, Pennsylvania, showed Monopoly to Parker Brothers and was rejected.

You Will Need

An empty schedule
A game
Dinner
Snacks
Special guests

How to Play Scrabble

Howcast — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 14:31:05 +0000

Instructions

Step 1: Draw seven letter tiles Have each player remove one tile out of the tile bag. The player that gets the letter closest to the letter “A” goes first. Each player then draws seven tiles from the tile bag.
TIP: The first player begins the game by placing a word on the star square at the center of the board, either horizontally or vertically. This star acts as a double-word score.
Step 2: Score each word Tally each word score by adding point values for each letter in the word. Point values range from 0 points for a blank tile to 10 points for the letters “Q” and “Z.” Use a paper and a pen to keep track of the word scores for each player.
TIP: Some squares on the board allow you to multiply the tile’s value by two or three.
Step 3: Continue play Continue playing in a counterclockwise direction around the board. During each turn, a player can decide to place a word on the board, exchange tiles, or pass.
TIP: If a player decides to exchange tiles, replace them with an equivalent number from the tile bag. If they choose this option, they cannot do anything else on that turn.
Step 4: Choose new tiles After placing a word on the board, draw an equal number of new tiles from the tile bag so that each player always has seven tiles.
Step 5: Continue until game ends Continue playing. All letters played must touch at least one letter that is already on the board to form at least one complete word. When one player has used all of their tiles or no one can make any more words, the game ends.
TIP: If a player uses all seven of their tiles in one turn, they add a 50-point bonus to their word score.
Step 6: Challenge words Consult a dictionary only if you’re challenging another player’s word. If the word isn’t in the dictionary, the player loses their turn. If the word is allowed, the challenger loses their turn.
Step 7: Calculate the scores Calculate each player’s final score by adding up the points from all of their word scores. Then, subtract the sum of their unplayed letters. If one player has used up all of their letters, add the sum of everyone else’s unplayed letters to their score. The player with the highest score wins.
FACT: Invented in the 1930s, Scrabble did not achieve widespread popularity until the early 1950s when, according to legend, the president of Macy’s played the game on vacation, and then ordered it for his store.

You Will Need

2 to 4 players
Bag of Scrabble tiles
Scrabble board
Pen and paper

How to Play Monopoly

Howcast — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 14:01:07 +0000

Instructions

Step 1: Set up the board Place the Monopoly board on a table, with the game cards face-down in their allotted spaces.
Step 2: Choose a banker Select one player to be the banker. The banker will handle any play money not owned by the players and will initially distribute $1,500 in play money to each player.
Step 3: Choose the first player Roll the dice and compare your score with those of the other players. The player with the highest roll goes first.
TIP: Play proceeds in a clockwise direction.
Step 4: Roll the dice Place your marker in the corner of the board marked “Go.” When it is your turn, roll the dice and move your marker the corresponding number of board spaces.
Step 5: Evaluate your roll Respond to your dice roll. Depending on where you land, you may be able to purchase property or build houses or hotels that will generate income for you.
TIP: If you land on someone else’s property you will have to pay rent to them. Other possibilities include having to pay taxes or going to “Jail.” You may also have the option of taking a Chance or Community Chest card.
Step 6: Continue playing Continue playing, responding to the game’s cues, until you run out of money or until the game is called because of time. The individual with the most money at the end of the game wins.
FACT: Although usually associated with the Great Depression, Monopoly was actually based on another game that was patented in 1904.

You Will Need

2 or more players
Table
Game board
Chance cards
Community Chest cards
Banker
Play money
2 dice
Markers
Property title deeds
32 houses
12 hotels

How to Play Carroms

Howcast — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 14:46:10 +0000

Instructions

Step 1: Arrange the carroms Arrange the carroms in a hexagon at the center of the board with the red queen in the center.
Step 2: Flip a coin Flip a coin to determine which player goes first. The winner plays the white carroms.
Step 3: Take a seat Seat yourself at one side of the board. You will only be allowed to initiate carrom strikes from that side of the board.
Step 4: Try to sink your carroms Move the striker with your fingers from your baseline as you try to sink your carroms. Your turn continues as long as you continue to sink carroms.
Step 5: Try to sink the red queen When you have sunk one of your carroms, try to sink the red queen.
TIP: If you sink the red queen, you must sink one of your carroms on the next shot. Otherwise the queen is returned to the center of the board.
Step 6: Continue the game Continue the game until one player has sunk all of their carroms and the red queen has been sunk. That player is the winner of the game.
FACT: The first international carroms match was held in the 1960s, when a team from India competed against one from Sri Lanka.

You Will Need

2 to 4 players
Plywood board
Coin
9 white carroms
9 black carroms
Striker
1 red queen carrom

How to Play Go

Howcast — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 12:15:46 +0000

Instructions

Step 1: Set the board up Set the lined, empty board on a flat surface.
TIP: Go can be played on a square board marked by any number of crossing lines. Conventional boards use nine by nine, 13 by 13, or 19 by 19 lined grids.
Step 2: Place a stone Place a black stone on any intersection of lines on the board. Your opponent will then place a white stone at a different vacant intersection.
TIP: It is customary for the more experienced player to use white stones and for the player using black stones to move first.
Step 3: Place adjacent stones Take turns placing black and white stones at vacant intersections. Try to place your stones adjacent to each other on the same vertical or horizontal line.
TIP: The object of the game is to surround vacant areas, called points, on the board with your stones. You can also capture your opponent’s stones by completely surrounding them. Stones remain in place unless captured.
Step 4: Terminate play Continue placing stones until neither you nor your opponent can capture any more territory, or until you both agree that further play offers no additional advantages.
Step 5: Tally the score Tally the score. One point is given for each vacant position within one’s own territory, and one point for every stone captured. The player with the larger amount of territory plus captured stones wins.
FACT: Go is the only board game in which humans can still reliably defeat computers.

You Will Need

A game board
Black and white stones
Two players

How to Play Trivial Pursuit

Howcast — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 14:46:32 +0000

Instructions

Step 1: Get started Place the pie-shaped game pieces in the hexagonal “hub” on the center of the board. Roll a die to decide the order of play by who gets the highest roll.
Step 2: Understand the object Collect pie wedges in six categories by aiming to land on each of the pie squares in turn and answering the corresponding questions correctly.
TIP: If you can’t land on a pie square, try to land on a “roll again” space for another chance at moving your piece to the pie square.
Step 3: Think of the answer Answer the question the opposing player reads from the top card of the deck. The question topic will correspond to the color of the square your piece is on. If you answer correctly, roll again; if not, the next player takes their turn.
TIP: If you don’t know the answer, look for clues in the question. For instance, “Where is Hershey chocolate produced?” In Hershey, Pennsylvania.
Step 4: Complete your pie Collect a pie wedge of the corresponding color if you correctly answer a question while your game piece is resting on a pie square. Collect only one of each pie wedge color.
Step 5: Win the game Continue playing until someone has obtained one of each colored pie wedge. That player then moves toward the center hub with each roll of the dice. In the hub, the player must correctly answer a question in a category chosen by other players to win the game.
FACT: Trivial Pursuit, which debuted in 1982, sold for $80 million in 2008.

You Will Need

Two or more players
A Trivial Pursuit game

How to Play Dungeons and Dragons

Howcast — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 16:03:48 +0000

Instructions

Step 1: Join a Dungeons and Dragons group Join a Dungeons and Dragons group. The group will typically consist of three to seven individuals. One person is the Dungeon Master. The other members of the group are players.
Step 2: Choose your character Choose your character. You might, for example, choose to be a fighter, rogue, wizard, or cleric. The Player’s Handbook describes the rules and options for playing characters.
Step 3: Keep notes Keep track of statistics related to your character and the game with a pencil and paper.
TIP: There are many character sheets available for download online. You can also photocopy the preprinted character sheet in the back of the Player’s Handbook to make your statistics easier to manage.
Step 4: Accept an adventure assignment Accept an adventure assignment from the Dungeon Master, like protecting a town from goblins, saving a damsel, slaying a dragon, or looting a wizard’s tower. The Dungeon Master finds statistics for the monsters that Player Characters encounter in the Monster Manual. Adventures are described in the Dungeon Master’s Guide.
TIP: As a Player Character you can do anything that fits within the scenario outlined by the Dungeon Master.
Step 5: Roll a die Roll a twenty-sided die to determine the outcome when you face an action that has a possibility of failure. The Dungeon Master will set the target number that your roll is measured against. If you roll a smaller number, your action fails. Other dice determine other results, such as how much damage your weapon or spells cause and the damage to you if you get hit.
Step 6: Continue playing Continue playing until your campaign is over, and then begin a new one. Collect experience to raise your character to higher levels with every adventure, and hope your character doesn’t die in the process.
FACT: Dungeons and Dragons got its start with the publication of a rule book in 1974 by two American game designers.

You Will Need

A Dungeons and Dragons group
A Player’s Handbook
Pencil and paper
A Monster Manual
A Dungeon Masteru2019s Guide
A tetrahedral dice set for each player
Character sheets (optional)
A computer with internet access (optional)

How to Play Mancala

Howcast — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 08:05:29 +0000

Instructions

Step 1: Set up Place the mancala board lengthwise between two players and put four stones in each of the 12 small cups on the game board.
TIP: The six smaller cups are playing cups. The larger cup at either end is the mancala.
Step 2: Pick up stones Pick up the stones in any of your six playing cups.
Step 3: Position pieces Drop your stones one by one into sequential playing cups, moving counterclockwise around the board. Include your mancala, but not your opponent’s mancala.
Step 4: Alternate moving stones Take turns moving stones around the board. If your last stone falls into your mancala, you get another turn.
Step 5: Capture stones If your last stone falls in an empty cup on your side, take all the pieces from the player’s cup directly opposite.
TIP: Hoard all the stones you can on your side of the board.
Step 6: Pass out all of your stones Whoever runs out of stones on their side of the board loses the game. The player with remaining stones puts them in their mancala.
Step 7: Count the stones The player with the most stones in their mancala wins the game.
FACT: Did you know? The word mancala means ”to move” in Arabic.

You Will Need

A mancala game board
Two players
48 game pieces u2013 or
“stones

How to Play Mah-jongg

Howcast — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 08:17:57 +0000

Instructions

Step 1: Count the pieces Count your pieces to ensure you have them all. A typical mah-jongg set has 144 tiles in total, divided among suit tiles, honor tiles, and bonus tiles.
Step 2: Know the suits Understand the suit tiles. There are three suits in total: dots, also called circles, bamboos, or bams, and characters, or cracks. Each suit contains four sets of numbered tiles, one through nine, for 36 of each suit, or 108 total suit tiles.
Step 3: Understand the honor Understand the honor tiles. There are two types of honor tiles: dragon and wind. There are four sets of three dragon tiles, and four sets of four wind tiles, for a total of 28 honor tiles.
Step 4: Examine the bonus Understand the bonus tiles. There are two sets of bonus tiles, depicting four flowers and four seasons. Each set is numbered one through four, for a total of eight bonus tiles.
TIP: Each tile has significance in Chinese; for non-Chinese speakers, being able to differentiate between tiles is enough to play the game.
Step 5: Shuffle and deal the tiles To determine who goes first, players roll a die. The person with the highest roll deals, and the person to the dealer’s right goes first. The dealer places the tiles facedown in the middle of the table and shuffling them around, then dealing 13, leaving the rest in the middle as the draw pile. Just like in most card games, players hide their hand.
Step 6: Types of melds Understand the three types of “melds,” or sets you can create: A pong is a set of three identical tiles, a kong is a set of four identical tiles, and a chow is three suited tiles in sequence.
Step 7: Begin play The starting player draws a single tile from the draw pile and discards a tile face-up from their hand into the draw pile, to maintain a constant 13 tiles.
Step 8: Pick up a discarded tile When a player discards a tile, any other player can announce they are picking it up to form a pong, kong, or to win the game with a mah-jongg, with mah-jongg trumping pong and kong. Players can only pick up a tile for the chow meld if the person sitting to their left was the one who discarded it.
TIP: If a player creates a meld by drawing a discard, the meld must be shown to the group, but not if it’s created by drawing from the draw pile.
Step 9: Play continues After the player that picked up the tile discards another tile, the player to their right goes next.
Step 10: Win a hand A player wins when they make a mah-jongg hand – three melds plus a pair. A tile is never discarded on a winning hand.
Step 11: Score the game There are many varying scoring systems. One simple method is to only score the winning hand: A chow equals one point; a pair of suits two points; a pair of honors three points; a pong of suits four points; a kong of suits five points; a pong of honors six points; and a kong of honors equals 10 points.
Step 12: Continuing the game After a hand is won, if the dealer has won, they deal again. Otherwise, the deal rotates to the right. The game continues until everyone has had a chance to deal, or until a predetermined number of points has been reached.
FACT: Mah-jongg originated in 19th-century China, and before World War I each Chinese province had its own rule variations and name for the game.

You Will Need

A standard mah-jongg playing set
Four players
A table to play on
A pencil and paper for scoring

How to Play Othello or Reversi

Howcast — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 14:17:03 +0000

Instructions

Step 1: Set up the board Place two black and two white discs in the board’s four center squares, with corresponding colors diagonal to each other.
Step 2: Choose a color Choose a color for each player. Black goes first.
Step 3: Begin play Place a black disc in a square adjacent to a white disc so that a black disc is on either side of a white disc. When a white disc is surrounded, the black player flips the white disc to the black side.
Step 4: Next player Move on to the next player. The white player places a disc in a square adjacent to a black disc so that there are white discs on either side of black ones. Flip the black discs to the white side.
TIP: A player can flip any number of opposing discs so long as they have one of their discs on either side of consecutive opposing discs.
Step 5: Take turns Take turns playing the game until all of the discs are on the board. If you cannot place a disc on the board so that your color is on either side of another player, you lose your turn.
TIP: The corners are the most powerful spaces on the board. Try to get one of your own colored discs in each of the corners.
Step 6: Continue play Continue playing until every space on the board is occupied or no one can make another move. The player who has the most discs on the board wins.
FACT: Othello was created in 1971 by a Japanese salesman named Goro Hasegawa.

You Will Need

An Othello board
64 reversible discs

How to Play Chinese Checkers

Howcast — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 15:33:05 +0000

Instructions

Step 1: Select a player to go first Choose a color and starting triangle for each person. With two or four players, pick triangles that are opposite each other. With three players, play from every other triangle.For five and six players, pick any triangle you want. Fill each triangle being played with each player’s colored pegs.
Step 2: Jump pegs Decide which player will go first.
Step 3: Move the pegs Move one peg starting with the first player. Pegs move one space each turn and must be moved into an empty space. Pegs may move in any direction; the goal is to get the peg to the triangle directly opposite the starting triangle.
Step 4: Take turns until a player wins Jump a peg if the adjacent space is open. A peg can continue jumping as long as there are pegs to jump over. Players may jump any pegs.
TIP: You can jump a peg all the way across the board.
Step 5: Take turns, with each player moving their pegs. The first player to get all ten of their pegs into the opposite triangle wins.
FACT: The game of Chinese checkers is based on a German game called Halma.

You Will Need

Two to six players
A Chinese checkers board
10 colored pegs per player

How to Play Checkers

Howcast — Thu, 06 Dec 2007 20:43:12 +0000

Instructions

Step 1: Position board Sit across from the other player, with the board between you. Turn the board so that you each have a red corner square on your right.
TIP: If your board isn’t black and red, just imagine that the lighter color on your board is red, and the darker color is black to follow these instructions.
Step 2: Decide first player Decide who’s going first. You can flip a coin, base it on who won the last game, or just agree. Whatever you choose, the starting player gets the black checkers and the other player gets the red.
Step 3: Set up board Set up the board. Each player arranges all twelve of his checkers on the black squares (and only black squares!) of the first three rows of his side of the board.
Step 4: Make first move The first player (black) begins by moving any one of his checkers in the row closest to the middle of the board diagonally one space. Checkers can only move diagonally, which means the game is played entirely on the black squares.
Step 5: Next player moves The next player moves one of his checkers diagonally one space. At this stage of the game, you can only move your pieces forward.
Step 6: Take turns Keep taking turns this way, moving another checker or the same checker further forward.
Step 7: Jump & capture On your turn, if your opponent’s checker is in front of you—that is, on a black square diagonal to yours—and there’s an empty square on the other side, you can jump your checker over his, landing in the empty square. Take the other player’s checker that you just jumped over off the board and put it to the side.
TIP: Remember: if your checker is jumpable on your opponent’s turn, he can jump and capture it, so before that happens, try to move out of the way or fill in the empty square behind you so there’s no place for him to jump.
Step 8: Multiple capture You can jump over and capture more than one checker in a turn. Just remember that there must be one empty square between each one, so that you’re leapfrogging one checker at a time—not long-jumping over two.
Step 9: “Crown me!” Continue to take turns moving and jumping. If you manage to get a checker all the way to the other side of the board, tell your opponent, ‘Crown me!’ He’ll have to take one of the checkers of yours that he captured and place it on top of your checker. Now you’ve got a tall ‘king’ that can move both forward and backward.
Step 10: Take turns until win Continue to take turns moving, jumping, and being crowned, until one player captures all of the other’s checkers.
FACT: Checkers is such an old game that Egyptian kings played it while the pyramids were being built—around 4,000 years ago!

You Will Need

A checker board
12.0 black checkers
12.0 red checkers
Another player