Farkle

I’m not going to write an entire post about why you should go vote today. There are thousands of other people who’ve already done that far better than I could, and I don’t know about you, but I’m a wee bit tired of hearing it. Don’t get me wrong, I think it’s incredibly important to vote. But I’ve already voted, and now I’m just plain over it. So on a day of great importance, a day where our entire country is going to change, I am going to write about something completely useless.

Farkle.

When my Grampa and Gramma came to visit, we’d sitaround the table and play Farkle for hours. It was one of my Grampa’s favorite games, and also one he hated to lose. (As a joke one year, he gave my aunt a framed Farkle scorecard where he’d beat her 10,000 to 0.) It’s a simple dice game that anyone can play. The goal is to reach 10,000 before anyone else. That’s it. If you can add, and you can read the numbers on the dice, you can play. The rules and scoring are here, if you want to play.

My sister and I were sitting in the hospital waiting room on Saturday while waiting to visit our other Grandpa. We didn’t know he’d be asleep when we got there, so we didn’t bring any sort of passing the time items (books, cards, etc.). We were comparing apps on our phones, when my sister discovered that Farkle is available for the iPhone and iTouch. We both immediately downloaded it, and I cannot put the damn thing down now. I play while on the phone with customers, at the bar watching football, and even fell asleep while playing last night. It’s like a drug, I swear. You can play with one or two players on my phone version, and with as many players as you like if you’e playing with dice and paper. It’s simple, fast and addictive.

Welcome to the wonderful world of Farkle.