soupajoe

They could be posting from the Forgotten Realms part of their imagination. It’s a Dungeons & Dragons setting where Bugbears are abundant.

https://www.dndbeyond.com/monsters/bugbear

I believe the game they are referring to is Dixit. It is a great way to share in each other’s creativity. The game’s scoring incentives keep the story telling from being gamed in a way that diminishes the fun.

Similar games, where you lobby others with creativity, are:

Snake Oil. When I’m not gaming, I love defining customer needs and determining benefits in the sales process. Snake Oil is a light game that lets me practice these skills with my friends and giggle about something I normally take seriously.

Funemployed. Each player takes turns as the recruiter for a job that was randomly drawn from the deck. Each other player assembles personality trait and skill cards and then interviews for the position weaving each trait into their pitch. You’ll need to remove some cards to make it PG.

Rory’s Story Cubes. A light dice rolling story prompt activity. Roll the dice and tell a story by referring to the symbols shown.

There are more games that cultivate story telling and let creativity shine. You can poke around BoardGameGeek[1], but games with the storytelling tag vary wildly and rules complexity can be high.

Each game causes different dynamics to emerge between players and that atmosphere is critical. You don’t want to play a game that will bum people out instead of fire up their creativity.

These games can be great team building exercises too!

Feel free to reach out with your play group’s preferences and player count. I’d love to help you have a blast the next time you game! Joe at FiremindGames dot com.

[1] https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamemechanic/2027/storytellin...

D6 are also common today because they help simplify the user experience. Charts, tables, and fancy dice get in the way of learning the rules and having fun for the average person. Most people need to perceive a low barrier to entry and don't want to invest in learning a large ruleset.

Games you mention are still made, but they're a niche product in a niche market.

Needle moving growth for the tabletop industry comes from introducing new people to the hobby, not from selling another Space Marine model to an existing gamer. It's difficult to build a sustainable tabletop business without one or two big hits (ex: Days of Wonder's "Ticket to Ride"). It's even harder for companies that sacrifice usability for realistic simulations.

Then OP would have to work on finding more time to spend with them, and a lot of other comments address possible ways to improve this.

Personally, when my partner complained about not spending enough time together, I increased the time I spent with her, and it didn't help alleviate the frustrations she was feeling. She thought that what mattered to her was Quality Time, but it was really hearing Words of Affirmation that was important (I see a similarity with users who say they want a particular feature, but really just want to solve a certain pain point). Only when we figured out how she feels maximally loved was I able to use the time I spent with her effectively.

I thought maybe OP could be in the same boat.

Listening to them deeply and finding out their core frustrations is key, just like how you would interact with a user to discover their pain points. In my experience, when my partner claims I work too much it isn't always because I literally work too much.

Of course, sometimes my work/life balance needs to be readjusted and brought back to an acceptable equilibrium. However, the frustration often comes from not conveying my love for her in a way she recognizes and receives it.

The book The Five Love Languages[1], by Gary Chapman, opened my eyes to this. I'd recommend it to everyone. The premise of the book is that we all have unique preferences for what we find satisfying when it comes to love. Your love language is the way that you feel most loved. People usually love their partner how they want to be loved, and that doesn't tend to align with how their partner wants to be loved. You need to convey your love in a way that matches your partner's love language [2].

In my situation, I've thought deeply and talked with my partner about this concept and determined our Love Languages. I now fill the time I spend with her to the brim with activities and behaviors that convey my love for her effectively. I've found that no matter how much time I end up spending with my her, the actual amount of time becomes a non-issue when she feels loved in a way that really resonates with her.

It might help to think about it in terms of the 80-20 rule[3], doing the 20% of effort necessary (conveying your love in a way that actually gets received) to get 80% of the return (a satisfied and loved partner). That may sound a bit cold when applied to relationships- to try to minimize the effort required to convey your love, but it's actually the nicest thing you can do for them.

[1] http://www.amazon.com/The-Love-Languages-Secret-Lasts/dp/080...

[2] High level overview of the five love languages:

- Words of Affirmation - If this is your love language, you feel most cared for when your partner is open and expressive in telling you how wonderful they think you are, how much they appreciate you, that their world is a better place because you are in it, etc.

- Acts of Service - If your partner offering to watch the kids so you can go to the gym (or relieving you of some other task) gets your heart going, then this is your love language.

- Affection - This love language is just as it sounds. A warm hug, a kiss, touch, and sexual intimacy make you feel most loved when this is your love language.

- Quality Time - This love language is about being together, fully present and engaged in the activity at hand, no matter how trivial.

- Gifts - Your partner taking the time to give you a gift can make you feel appreciated.

[3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pareto_principle