Three weeks ago a guest came to stay at our house. Now a teenager, she was once a child that my wife helped babysit. It stands to reason that she likes to visit, and now that “big sis” Heather has a house and a guest room the stays are usually kinda lengthy. Murphy’s Law being what it is, she finally went home and was replaced the next day by three different guests that had flown down from up north...who were then joined by three more for the weekend and two more for an evening. In all, we entertained six adults, two teenagers, and a toddler (in addition to our own children) for various overlapping lengths of time during the course of three long weeks.
It would be untrue to say that we didn’t enjoy the time immensely. We were very fortunate to have valuable face time with people that we don’t see for one or two years at a time. But the strain that such a high volume of guests leaves on the host is pretty bad. I’m still feeling it, and we’ve been without visitors for three days now.
Now, having said all that: by far the only negative note was the type of guests that we entertained. Only one was a gamer, and a casual gamer at that. Oh, sure, I could have stolen away and snuck in a quiet game or two late at night...if it weren’t for the game room couch being a hideaway bed, and thereby occupied. Needless to say, my PSP provided some relief; but by and large I had to go without, and by the third week I was jonesing hard.
As it turns out, having a spouse that understands the appeal of video games, in general - and the therapy that games often provide - is really beneficial in times like this. The housewife that once put her foot down about whether or not Wii Sports was an appropriate ice breaker was quick to dole out a backrub and offer to fire up a co-op bout of Snoopy: Flying Ace. After hosting a home full of people for days on end, the perfect way for us to unwind was to host a few levels of a casual co-op game. A fitting end to a long, gameless stretch.
Despite all of the intricacies that being a couple brings, sometimes the appeal of being a Co-Op Couple is as simple as playing together.
Check out our Snoopy: Flying Ace review tomorrow!