On St. Patrick’s Day, everyone becomes at least a little Irish. Parades abound, leprechauns dance, green beer flows (ack), and a proper Guinness or Jameson pour is the drink of choice with a nice meal at the local pub.
At least that’s how St. Pat’s always used to be.
Having kids tends to change how you celebrate holidays, and St. Patrick’s Day is certainly no exception. Sure, you can still do parades, they just might be a different kind of St. Patrick’s Day parade. Meals at the bar or pub are put on hold until the kids are at least out of highchairs… and are often enjoyed earlier and less recklessly. Heck, Lucky Charms become your main St. Patrick’s Day meal. Thankfully, you can always enjoy a proper Guinness and some tabletop gaming with friends and family regardless of where you celebrate.
Not that you need a holiday to enjoy a drink and gaming, but throw in a pandemic and you really have a different kind of St. Patrick’s Day. COVID forcing everyone to be home in our household has definitely opened up our hobby gaming repertoire. We play quick games over lunch, usually cards, and have expanded to countless new ones. We were a big gaming family before but now we have fine-tuned our preferences.
So as a little St. Patrick’s Day celebration we’re delighted to share two games that we enjoy with an Irish theme. First is Tara, “Ireland’s Royal Board Game,” an award-winning puzzle game with four different games in one. The second is Battle Sheep, a simple and fun game that kids to adults will enjoy playing. I mean, who can’t think of Ireland without thinking of sheep?