Well it's been a whirlwind of activity here at the Jerry household the last few days. We spent the Thanksgiving holiday with my crazy Italian family and partook in some serious eating, drinking, and overall merrymaking. At least for the most part...

You see, I have this theory that I've developed over the years that I seem to keep forgetting about. My theory is this: there is an optimum number of days you should visit with your family. No more. No less. If you upset this precarious balance, you will face dire consequences that may or may not include screaming, crying, or grating and frayed nerves. 

I believe this number is different for everyone, and that it's vitally important that you find out what it is and stick to it if you value your sanity. My happy family number is three. Three days give me just the right amount of time to enjoy my family visit. Any more than three, and the conversation tends to roam into dangerous territory that requires people to express an opinion.

Usually that dissolves into yelling, screaming, and me walking out of the room before my sister can leap out of her chair and tackle me or my mother starts the "why haven't you had children yet?" conversation. 

However, if we stick to three days, we don't run out of the fun exciting catch-up conversations that make visiting with family a wonderful experience. Unfortunately, I always forget this. I always miss them so much, I forget there are times when they make me want to pull my hair out, and so I extend the three day rule.

Big mistake. As I sat around the house on Day 4 staring at the very real possibility that in a matter of moments someone was going to start crying, desperation made me blurt out in a hysterical voice... "Let's play a game!"

Ok, so this might not have been so crazy. Back when I was younger, games were always a good fall back for family entertainment. We had an Atari back then, and we would take turns blasting away at small, terror-inducing pixels from Space Invaders or slowly whittling away at rainbow colored bars in Breakout.

When the Nintendo came out, we would take turns gaining experience points in the Legend of Zelda and Dragon Warrior. Games have always found a way to bring us together. Lately though, the games on the consoles have taken a turn to shooting zombies, shooting aliens, and shooting each other. These games require a dexterity that only my 19 year old nephew and my husband (although not as well) can muster with any sort of success.

So it was with some hope that I turned to the computer, hoping to flush out a few games that have surfaced this month that might be fit for all ages ranging from my youngest niece who is 7 to my mother who is 70.

Here were our top five most successful ventures.
 

Fishdom 3

Normally, I steer clear of Match 3 games, but since we had the younger girls, I thought we'd give this one a try. And I am so glad we did. This was, by far, the winner in the group. The girls loved when I forced them to take turns playing the matches. And then they loved it even more when they could take turns deciding how to decorate things.

Yes, yes, you're quite right. That's sarcasm. But really, overall Fishdom 3 was a hit with the family. It was the perfect combination of Match 3 play paired with a decorating/feeding game. And the game itself was surprisingly smart and playful.

I caught our first little fish acting out Othello. She then turned to us and told us she needed another fish since she couldn't be expected to suffocate herself... really? Genius! Shakespeare snuck into a Match 3 game! The girls enjoyed it when Aunt Tracy told them all about Othello. No, they didn't. That's a lie. They just pushed each other out of the way and placed the purple mermaid in the middle of the tank. Kids these days.
 

Botanica: Into the Unknown

Playing a hidden object game with other people can be a challenge and usually requires a small group. Thankfully, my father has a gigantic monitor that we could gather around so that made it a little easier.

Another reason that hidden object games aren't always the best choice for the whole family is that they tend to be a little well... horrifying... and I didn't want to have to explain to my sister why the girls had suddenly developed night terrors and were screaming in the middle of the night. It wasn't me I swear! 

That's why I went straight for Botanica: Into the Unknown, a beautiful HOG game free from creepy ghosts that stand in the corner and pop up in your face. Botanica instead is a gorgeous game that is very reminiscent of Journey to the Center of the Earth.

Huge dragonflies and lizards that you get to ride, plants that you tickle, and nothing unexpected or scary that's going to make anyone wet themselves or run away screaming. The girls helped with the hidden object games and puzzles and were captured enough by the story that it was able to entertain them for at least a few hours.
 

Journey: The Heart of Gaia

I downloaded Journey The Hear of Gaia, thinking this game would entertain the girls. The brightly colored graphics and storyline seemed cute and interesting and something little girls would enjoy, however, when I started the game up, I realized I was staring straight into the heart of an old school adventure game...

This was a reincarnation of all the old King's Quest and Quest for Glory games I had played for hours on end, even down to the simplistic, but beautiful hand illustrated graphics.

Once I realized the gem I had found, I quickly shoved the girls out of the way, screamed to all the older people in the house about the treasure I found, and went to work, nostalgia coursing through my veins and making me feel 12 years old again. I'm sure the girls would have enjoyed playing it, but well, they were a bit too weirded out by the excitement of the old people to thoroughly enjoy the experience.
 

Murder She Wrote 2: Return to Cabot Cove

Ok, so this one was a given. Who didn't watch endless episodes of Murder She Wrote when they were a kid and dreamed of solving mysteries like the dauntless Jessica Fletcher? I even remember typing happily away at my typewriter pretending I was immersed in some mystery or another and the answer to the case was found somewhere in the inky smudges of my keystrokes.

Anyhow, for all the adults in the room, Murder She Wrote 2: Return to Cabot Cove was a hit. As soon as that jaunty tune began playing, the smiles came out, and we were hooked.

Yes, it's a murder mystery so maybe it's not appropriate for everyone, but there's not a trace of blood or gore to be found, and the same can't be said for today's cartoons so the girls were just fine. It's your classic murder mystery who-done-it that we all loved and remembered fondly from our childhood, and the game did a good job of connecting the Murder She Wrote generation with the kids who had no idea what this old lady on the screen was doing as an investigator.
 

Building the Great Wall of China

This one came out at the end of the visit, but was a welcome respite to the slow moving games we had previously played. Building the Great Wall of China was a fast paced (but not too fast) resource management game that allowed you to pretend you had a part in building the Great Wall of China.

This game was more for the girls, who still have reflexes and who could somehow assimilate all the different tasks that needed to be done, but a few of us oldies took a whack at some of the levels in an attempt to try to beat each other's time. But for the most part, we all became experts on history that day and decided the girls all needed a lecture on the building of the wall. They stared at us and promptly turned the volume up on Gangnam Style, which is currently their favorite song. Lucky us. 

Overall, one thing I learned this wonderful holiday season was that even though we're all scattered to the winds now, it seems that games still hold a mysterious power over my family that allows us to get past that Three Day Rule, and come together as a family to accomplish a goal.

Whether that was sleuthing out a murderer, building the Great Wall of China, exploring new worlds, or decorating the perfect fish tank, it brought us closer together, joining three generations of crazy, lovable characters that I love very much... even when they're driving me to drink.