Is playing cards the only game?

Two weeks ago I went to a friend's 22nd birthday party. His cousins and nephews were at that party and we played games, the ultimate winner of each game got a prize. So we played Apple To Apples (a board/card game for a play group), Uno, Twister, and some video games, had pizza, corn bread etc. His cousins were middle schoolers, for s'poreans, it means secondary 1-2, and it was good to hang with this age group because I've never had a first hand experience of the american teenage lifestyle. It's the same as what we did in singapore, love the same things, same games, same cartoons, same shows, same expressions, same jokes, same laughter. The only thing different is that they tell the jokes and express themselves in american accent and slangs while singaporean 13 yrs olds would use singlish, the accent and all the slangs like wah kao! Or they would use mandarin, with all the hokkien words, if they are mandarin oriented. That's the only difference.

I felt real good playing with them. I like board games, or in other words, a game that is not played with a computer/tv but with a group of friends, sit around, play/think/talk/drink (any drink). I like that feeling. Wait wait...I'm not talking about gambling. Besides Danny (20s) (who likes monopoly and scrabble) and my chess loving friends in singapore, majority of my 18-42 yrs old friends in usa and especially the 20-27 yrs olds i hang out with on regular basis, do not play board games. So the only game of such, that requires the group to sit around a table, talking, enjoying each other's company as we play a game, is....the one, the only...poker. Okay, I'll call it cards. So it's poker, Thirteen (DaiDee) and such and such. Cards. Wait, is it maturity? Is it age? No way. More than half of these so called matured 20s, play all sorts of "childisher" games online, all sorts of pc games, and all sorts of video games, or any game that has cute little creatures jumping over a cliff. Oh, and they love all sorts of anime. Mature, I'd say. I wanna play monopoly, I wanna play scrabble, I wanna play Risk? I wanna play Apples to Apples (by the way, this game is better for adults or late teens), I wanna play chess, I wanna play Dungeons & Dragons, but I can't find anyone who could enjoy them like me. They prefer video/pc games. They prefer technology, I prefer humans.

I love the feeling of sitting around with friends, drinking something, playing a game, especially one that requires discussion and thinking, and talk, laugh. In America, this is also known as gaming. But in a funny way, it is more popular among older adults, 30s and above. They have gaming sessions on weekends, with their family and friends. So it's not about age, I just don't know why my friends are not into them. They are too practical I guess, or they don't like company. To them, shooting someone on the head in a video game is more fun than chatting and drinking with friends.

So we played Apples To Apples. This game needs general knowledge, experience in life, and sense of humor. For once, it's not poker.