Kristin Looney wrote:
Re: [Rabbits] brainstorming about National Games Week
how about...
Play Card Games with Grandma & Grandpa!
This year, during National Games Week (Nov 20-26 2005), pull out your
copy of Aquarius, and the new Family edition of Fluxx - and encourage
Grandma and Grandpa to play card games with you! Aquarius is the
perfect game for the older folks - and Family Fluxx is a much simpler
version of Fluxx and even comes with it's very own Grandparent Bonus!
*Why* is Aquarius the 'perfect game for the older folks', though? It sounds mighty patronizing, that way, in all honesty, especially paired with the mention of Family Fluxx as simpler. My mother (63, grandma to my brother's adorable son, Liam), is into Scrabble and Fluxx (she's also really into the idea of Nanofictionary, but it's impossible to get enough people to play it when visiting her), but would balk at the idea of something being pushed at her because it's 'simpler'. She's looking forward to Family Fluxx (she's asked for it for Christmas, actually), and for my nephew to get old enough to play games with.
If you want to go this way/these games, I'd recommend saying 'Aquarius, with its bright, distinctive cards, is the ideal game to play with everyone in your family, no matter what age they are.' (which it is -- all it really needs is an attention span; unlike dominoes, it doesn't even need counting skills). Emphasize that it spans generations, simple for kidlets that still allows adults to have fun, and unlike many alternative/independant card games, it doesn't come with a swath of complex rules. Emphasize that it's new to most seniors; 'after 60 years of playing hearts, challenge yourself with something new'.
If you do demos in retirement homes, how about offering a 'house copy' or two of some of the games (with the sticker and all) that you offer to game stores, to the homes? (slipping from Rabbit to publicity specialist, that's the sort of angle I can probably get a story out of ;-) People going to retirement homes like that is always good, fuzzy copy). If any rabbits decide to do this, please let me know; I can likely get local coverage out of it, if you're amenable.
S.
--
Stephanie Clarkson (media-support@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx)
Publicity Specialist
LOONEY LABS (That Hippie Game Company)
http://looneylabs.com/ -- company
http://wunderland.com/ -- webzine
Phone: 301-441-1019, Fax: 301-441-4871
P.O. Box 761, College Park, MD 20741