Over the years, Elizabeth and I have found we like to play board games. Opening a box and playing a round of Catan or Scrabble with friends and family is the epitome of good times. The vast majority of everything we own is currently in storage, awaiting a time when Elizabeth and I can finally unpack. One of the most anticipated aspects of owning a home is the idea that we can again have an area we dedicate to storing and playing board games. Because, as Elizabeth famously says often and with deep meaning: things are meant to be used.

We don’t collect gorgeous art-filled board games to look at; we collect them so we can play with them! Playing involves pizza stains, creased and torn cards, missing pieces, and lovingly worn rule books. If a game becomes unplayable because we were using it to have fun, then that game has fulfilled its ultimate purpose. The most honor we can bestow on things we own is to use them or help others use them. Much like the toys in Toy Story, the idea that an object becomes obsolete, rusts, molds, or gets forgotten is a way that we can fail in our stewardship.

So, with bated breath, we wait for a time when we can again practice good stewardship by playing the heck out of our board games. Some of the key ingredients we’re keeping an eye on for our dining room/board game arena are the following:

• Diffuse lighting. Ever tried to play Monopoly? Oh, I mean, have you ever tried to play Monopoly with someone who conveniently makes up house rules and hides a stash of their money to win? (Grin: I have been banned from playing Monopoly with all of my best friends. I see this as a high form of praise.) Let me try again: have you ever tried to play monopoly when the board is reflecting a bright light, and you can’t see anything on that part of the board? How about trying to put a puzzle together with a glare? Exactly. The lighting matters when you’re playing board games and putting puzzles together.

• Flat surfaces. We try not to let a lack of optimal environment get in the way of a good Queen Domino, but the fact remains: you need something approximating a flat surface that people can sit around to enjoy a good game. To that end, Sugar Field will be sporting an ample space where we can put a table that will be flat and can be used for all sorts of activities.

• Storage. Our board game collection has just begun. There’s something about finding a new game that encourages team play and strategy and can be played with two people and up to six people. Much like when we discovered Bärenpark, we needed a little more space on the board game shelf. Now that shelf, over the years, has turned into quite the storage need. Sugar Field will be sporting lots of board game storage, but the specifics are still in flux.

• Leaderboards. We write the names, the result, and the date for every game we can inside the lid of that particular game. This guideline is something we ask as payment for anyone who borrows a board game: record the memories in the box lid. Our goal is to fill up the inside of each board game lid with happy memories and much love. To that end, we feel this is a self-supporting system. All it requires is people, time, and space.

Some of the best games don’t require any box, just a few supplies. Perhaps we can get Elizabeth to describe the fishbowl game in more detail here to be used whenever you have a group of friends and family and run out of things to do.

Fishbowl gameplay: Grab some scraps of paper and a small bowl. Have everyone participating (as few as three and as many as 15) write 2-5 nouns on individual paper squares. The nouns should be memorable and unique (Harry Potter Book Five is better than “book”). Fold up the squares, mix them in the bowl, and give everyone 30 seconds to describe the nouns they pull out. If the group answers correctly, the one pulling paper out of the bowl keeps their square. There are three rounds described below. After each round, collect the squares and put them back in the bowl to be used for the next round.

1. Round one. Taboo rules apply: Get everyone to guess the word you hold in your hand without using that word or variations of that game.

2. Round two. Charades rules apply: Use your body to get people to declare what word you hold in your hand. No words are allowed to be said.

3. Round three. Single-word association. You can only say one word in this round. If you say “uh,” that’s the word you get to use. The idea is that everyone knows the limited word list by this time in the game, making wildly vague associations infinitely easier.

Did I mention that we like games? It’s not about the game or the rules, it’s time you get to spend laughing with your friends. Often inside jokes (like my Monopoly career) grow and give new depth to friendships. It’s the people that we want to connect with, and the games make those connections easier.

Stuff is just stuff. It’s no fun to have the perfect museum-level house if you never let anyone in to enjoy it. Things are meant to be used. This phrase goes for everything we’re building at Sugar Field. We are building a home that is meant to be used. Every scratch, every worn-down shelf, and every mark left on the materials inside and out are the signs that life has been lived and friends and loved ones have been loved.