SP is a current student at California Polytechnic University at San Luis Obispo where she studies Geography and Anthropology. She is originally from Seattle, WA and grew up in a small town nearby. She grew up in a typical American middle-class family. She attended a public high school in Washington where she grew up with a sister and her mother and father. She has a background of being half-Mexican and half Irish/Italian that has in some ways heavily influenced her beliefs as well as her religious beliefs rooted in Catholicism.

What is something, perhaps a game or activity, you participate in or know of that you believe is lesser known?

SP: Well me and my family learned this game from some family friends that we always play together and have a fun time with. It is called ‘song wars’ and it is a game where you pick categories of music and each person plays a song that they feel best fits their category and the person who chose the category judges whose song is best. The only rules are that you cannot replay someone else’s song and that no one truly wins. You play in multiple rounds but no one keeps track or score of whose song is the best because sometimes it is too hard to choose or sometimes we just decide to play for fun and not say whose is the best. They game is not a game that is about strategy or smarts, its more about listening and enjoying others music no matter what different tastes you have.

How did you come up with this game and why do you think you enjoy playing it together so much?

SP: I think my friends came up with it when they were at their cabin in the winter and were bored and had nothing to do so they came up with the game to pass time and make sure everyone got a chance to hear the kind of music they liked. The game helps when you have all kinds of generations of kids, parents, and grandparents with you who can choose the music of their taste that they think the others will also enjoy. The game makes you laugh and cry and just have an enjoyable time together. Every time you play it you get the chance to get to know each other better and just enjoy each other company. Music is a way to connect people together and what a better time than with family or friends? I think that is why we enjoy playing it so much. It is not about a competition or who is the best it is just about setting the mood and creating memories together.

Analysis:

This game is one I have never heard of but I find it is almost perplexing that it isn’t a popular game yet or patented somewhere. Music is a huge interest of all generations and is a valuable tool of unification or experience when you are with others. I find this game interesting because it is played mostly amongst family and across many generations. The game has no clear objective or strategy other than to have an enjoyable time and relax which is what makes it unique. It has not aspect of competition which is at the core of many games no matter how many players are involved. I think if there was a game similar to this that were to get exposure it would because very popular and modernized quickly.