I am sitting here thinking what I would like to tell people
about – my thoughts lead me to write about how HoopCAT Games and Fill The Barn
has affected our family. Charlie and I have been married 25 years with two
awesome sons – Andrew (14) and Thomas (10). We live our lives like many of you
with high points, low points and those areas in-between.
The making of Fill The Barn started out with Charlie and his
ideas coming together with a home-made prototype he played with our younger son
Thomas. Thomas’ enthusiasm for the game led Charlie to “play test” Fill The Barn with the rest of
the family. I was hooked! Soon Fill The
Barn became a family favorite.
If you were a fly on the wall during game time at our house,
you would learn a lot about our personalities. First there’s Thomas, our
younger son. He looks for ways to make
money and doesn’t hesitate to make a move that would not be helpful to another
player – even his Mom! He never shows remorse when he “droughts” anyone’s crops
and even questioned me when I asked him not to drought someone the first time
they played. Then you have Andrew. Although he likes to do well, he will take
it easy on me, but not Dad or Thomas. Next is Charlie – he plays the same way
with everyone. There have been times
when he’s held back from playing a card to keep the family peace. This brings
me to Mom – the peacemaker. While I do
not hesitate playing any card with Dad, I tend to take it easy on the
boys. I have started playing more like
Dad, which surprises the boys, but it’s also good for them.
I love HoopCAT games.
I love that Charlie shared his idea with us as a family and welcomed our
input. I love that we are partners in this adventure with our sons ready to
take the reins when we are done. This is
more Thomas – Andrew will make a great silent partner. What I love most of all
is that we are in it together. We go to
game days/nights together to play Fill The Barn (as well as other games). We’ve met some interesting people along the
way. We look forward to the next store who will put Fill The Barn on their
shelves. We want to share Fill The Barn with other families who are looking for
a game they can become emotionally invested in playing. That’s when the fun
begins…
