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Do you like playing \u00ab<\/strong>\u043d\u0430\u0441\u0442\u043e<\/span>\u043b\u044c\u043d\u044b\u0435 <\/strong>\u0438<\/span><\/strong>\u0433\u0440\u044b\u00bb<\/strong> [board games]? Let me tell you, board game \u00ab<\/strong>\u043b\u044e\u0431\u0438<\/span>\u0442\u0435\u043b\u0438\u00bb<\/strong> [fans] in the US are absolutely \u00ab<\/strong>\u0438\u0437\u0431\u0430\u043b\u043e<\/span>\u0432\u0430\u043d\u043d\u044b\u00bb<\/strong> [spoiled]. There\u2019s such a variety of board games here \u00ab<\/strong>\u0434\u043b\u044f <\/strong>\u0432\u0441\u0435\u0445 <\/strong>\u0432\u043e\u0437\u0440\u0430\u0441\u0442\u043e<\/span>\u0432\u00bb<\/strong> [for all ages] and \u00ab<\/strong>\u043d\u0430 <\/strong>\u043b\u044e\u0431\u043e<\/span>\u0439 <\/strong>\u0432\u043a\u0443\u0441\u00bb<\/strong> [for every taste].<\/p>\n Growing up, I remember playing just a few board games – \u00ab<\/strong>\u0448\u0430<\/span>\u0445\u043c\u0430\u0442\u044b\u00bb<\/strong> [chess], \u00ab<\/strong>\u0448\u0430<\/span>\u0448\u043a\u0438\u00bb<\/strong> [checkers] and all its derivatives such as \u00ab<\/strong>\u043f\u043e\u0434\u0434\u0430\u0432\u043a\u0438<\/span>\u00bb<\/strong> [giveaway checkers], \u00ab<\/strong>\u0443\u0433\u043e\u043b\u043a\u0438<\/span>\u00bb<\/strong> [corner swap] and \u00ab<\/strong>\u0432 <\/strong>\u0427\u0430\u043f\u0430<\/span>\u0435\u0432\u0430\u00bb<\/strong> [the Chapayev, a flick-the-checkers game named after the legendary Civil War hero]. Then there was \u00ab<\/strong>\u0440\u0435\u0432\u0435\u0440\u0441\u0438<\/span>\u00bb<\/strong> [Reversy] and \u00ab<\/strong>\u0434\u043e\u043c\u0438\u043d\u043e<\/span>\u00bb<\/strong> [dominos], but they really seemed boring to us, kids.<\/p>\n A much more fun strategy game was \u00ab<\/strong>\u043c\u043e\u0440\u0441\u043a\u043e<\/span>\u0439 <\/strong>\u0431\u043e\u0439\u00bb<\/strong> [The Battle Ships], although most of the time we made do with hand-drawn \u201cboards\u201d in the backs of our \u00ab<\/strong>\u0442\u0435\u0442\u0440\u0430<\/span>\u0434\u043a\u0438 <\/strong>\u0432 <\/strong>\u043a\u043b\u0435<\/span>\u0442\u043e\u0447\u043a\u0443\u00bb<\/strong> [grid notebooks].<\/p>\n As things started to change in the 90ies, we got a taste of such games as \u00ab<\/strong>\u041c\u043e\u043d\u043e\u043f\u043e<\/span>\u043b\u0438\u044f\u00bb<\/strong> [Monopoly], \u00ab<\/strong>\u0422\u0440\u0438\u0432\u0438\u0430<\/span>\u043b <\/strong>\u041f\u0435\u0440\u0441\u044c\u044e<\/span>\u0442\u00bb<\/strong> [Trivial Pursuit] and \u00ab<\/strong>\u042d\u0440\u0443\u0434\u0438<\/span>\u0442\u00bb<\/strong> [Scrabble]. All those games were fully translated into Russian. But that seemed to be the extent of it.<\/p>\n