The Social Games People Play

I was bored this evening, so I stopped in to your café. I had the Daily Special, and added a little spice to your soups. The other customers hurried out all at once, but you were still busy in the kitchen. Looked like you were cooking Dino parts.

I wandered over to your farm, and helped harvest some of the fruit off your trees. It's so interesting the way you keep your penguins in with the swans, and your reindeer with the elephants. I don't remember that much wildlife on farms when I was growing up. Looks like you're expanding your barn, and putting in a nursery barn too. I collected eggs in the chicken coop. One of them was golden, looked pretty special. Let me know what hatches out of it.

Someone mentioned your pet ran away, so I got a collection of kibble and went looking for the little guy. Sure enough, he was at the pound, and it cost a lot of money to get him out. I took him back to your place, where he did a good job of cleaning up and ate all the kibble. We played some games, and then I had to go.

I was determined to move up in the ranks in my group of Wise Guys. Yeah, I'm involved with the Mafia. They gave me a bike and told me to take out the counterfeiters moving in on our territory. I don't think that was enough incentive, so I ditched them and went into city planning.

My city is getting a name for itself because of the bad roads and no police force. All the factories are cover-ups for my illicit dealings in jewels and investment schemes. The only legit thing in town is the hotel. I hired all my friends and decorated every room myself. The pink floral scheme on the first floor wowed the inspectors.

The aquarium adds the calming factor I needed in my office. The fish are so happy, but they want to be fed three times a day or more. And the tank starts to get dirty almost as soon as I finish cleaning it. It's amazing that the squid and jellyfish stay alive in there, but I have a friend who keeps polar bears and otters in his aquarium. I think they are a dwarf species.

Looking at the recent news, I see you've been treasure hunting. You found all the pieces to an expensive, jewel-encrusted chess set. And some kiwi fruit. You bought dynamite so you could remove boulders in your path, and a machete to clear brush from the dig sites. I just don't have the energy to keep up with that interest.

Well, I guess I won't catch up with you today. Maybe you went off to your Island, where you keep the llamas and peacocks, and cook corn bread in a big iron pot. I never knew you were so addicted to farming, even being at that ocean-surrounded paradise, you still plant sweet potatoes and passion fruit. Is it true the sea gulls bring you fish?

Rumor has it you have another island, a resort of some kind. You built replicas of the Coliseum and the Temple of Neptune. You managed to lure a baby whale into the bay, and now it likes you and hangs around. You sure have all the luck.

Speaking of luck, I think I'll go try my hand at poker. I never play on an even date, so since this is the 13^th, I should do pretty good. People come from all over the world to play poker with me. Last time I had opponents from India, Australia, Norway, Brazil, and the Cayman Islands. Their money is good, no matter where it comes from. As long as we don't talk politics, we do okay.

If you get bored, and finish up on your island, or wherever you are, stop by my castle. I'm always recruiting knights and soldiers, if you have a few minutes to spare. We can even stake out a few new farms, since that seems to be your thing. And who knows, maybe a new game will open up that we can play together.