Opening the Global Games Closet

When you're looking for a game for the whole family, that anybody between the ages of 2 and 99 could play, you sometimes have to look very far, in deed, to whole, as a matter of fact, other cultures. Like the French one that invented the game of Quilles.

It's a bowling-kind of game, only the bowling ball is on a rope, so it doesn't get really rolled or thrown even. In stead, it just gets aimed and released. So for those in the family who aren't so good at throwing a sixteen-pound ball down a narrow 60-foot long, gutter-bound alley, Quilles is probably the game of games, bowling-wise. Especially in the ten-pin backyard version.

But I digress.

Digression #1:
"The Germantown Academy Multicultural Games Unit." This is where I found out about the game of Quilles. It's also where I found an inspiring collection of family-worthy games from around the world. It was done by sixth graders, apparently for highly justifiable educational purposes, which I find deeply reassuring.

Second digression:
I found a whole nother game called Quilles. The site has a lovingly rendered Flash Demo of this version of Quilles. Only this one takes the "hit the pins with a ball" concept to a level of untethered complexity and challenge that, though perhaps not appealing to every member of the family, seems like a remarkably playworthy find.

A possible third:
As to the picture of the table top version of Quilles that accompanies this article, I found it on The Games Forum yet another digressionworthy invitation to games of the continent and isles and perhaps even the non-European ilk.