Return to gaming

About three years ago, I stopped writing a weekly gaming column called “Pick Up the Sticks.”

The remnants of those columns still exist below. I’m a lifelong gamer, and that video game column gave me the opportunity to share my passion for games for about three years.

I felt like I’d said about as much as I could on games over that span, and the column largely turned into a weekly review column. So it went away, but my passion for games and gaming did not.

In fact, in the past three years I’ve continued to play video games, but I’ve also re-kindled my love for board games.

I grew up playing board games like most other kids. I played Clue, Monopoly and Mousetrap as a child, and then moved into playing party games like Scattergories as I grew older.

Over the past few years, however, I discovered the more in-depth Euro-style games starting with Settlers of Catan. Settles of Catan and other Euro games require more thought and much less luck than the games we grew up playing. This discovery opened the doors to scores of board games I never knew existed.

I know most are oblivious to games not produced by Parker Brothers or Milton Bradley. Hopefully, I can introduce you to the world outside of those games.

I have more to say about video games as well. In the years since the column went on hiatus, the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One have debuted. We haven’t even finished the first year of this new generation, so it’s a very exciting time for video gaming right now.

Three years after it ended, Pick Up the Sticks is back as Heet on Games. I hope you enjoy.

This story was originally published June 2, 2014 at 11:45 PM.