Epic Duels, Four Dollars, and the Nature of Young Boys

I stumbled across a beautiful copy of Epic Duels at the local Goodwill sitting on the shelf next to a kid about eight years old.

He wasn't holding it so I gave my usual "wow" when I see something like that with "4" written on it in Sharpie and opened the box to give it a review.  It was a big jumble inside with all the cards and minis in a heap, and there was obviously pieces from other games included.

Apparently his Mom and Grandma had told him to grab it and he wasn't terribly excited.  He thought Star Wars didn't look fun and that he'd rather play "The Pokemon Card Game" instead, so I decided I had work to do.  This kid was in CCG mode at that young an age and didn't want to even try Epic Duels?  The boy was in need of adjustment and Mom and Grandma weren't properly equipped to do it.

I let him know about the local Pokemon Tournament and that my boys went there on a regular basis, but that Epic Duels was a clutch find that he needed to at least play if not own.  As I went through the box to make sure all the required pieces were available I made it a point to mention that Count Dooku was a personal favorite and that you get to fly around the board if you play Boba Fett.  I also put Ma and Grandma through the basics of how to play so they wouldn't come into it cold.  I didn't count every card but four of the sets were rubber banded so it appears that it's at a minimum half-playable.

The Mom gave me the look, considering whether she should thank me or call the police.  So I explained that I had three boys and that they loved the game, and that I loved it too because "some men play golf, others play board games."  She seemed frustrated that her boy was into combat games, but I pushed the faces of my two fists together and explained to her -- "this is the nature of boys.  You have to come to terms with that.  Boys compete on everything."  This kid loves Pokemon and direct conflict with his buddies.  All the effort in the world wasn't going to change that.  She would be better off channeling that into more productive efforts than staring at a 3DS 18 hours a day, and that Pokemon TCG and Epic Duels weren't bad choices all things considered.  I also let her know that it Epic Duels could pull as much as $50 in this one's condition and at that point she was sold.

With any luck the boy was too.

S.