‘Twas the Night Before SpielMas

'Twas the night before SpielMas when I rose from my bed,

To open a browser and surf the wide Web;

I tested my audio and video with care,

In hopes that my friends soon would be there.

The children were nestled all snug in their beds;

While visions of meeples danced in their heads;

My wife in her jammies, and I in the same,

Had settled to play a quick tabletop game,

When out on the Zoom there arose such a clatter,

I sprang from my chair to see what was the matter.

Away to the laptop I ran through the house,

Tore open the lid and centered the mouse.

The glare of the Ring Light cast wide on our space,

Gave luster of life to my fluster of face,

When what to my wondering eyes did appear,

But a signature “ding” and six friends that were here;

The excitement, it grew, as places were drawn,

I knew in a moment we would play some Catan.

More rapid than rockets the trades they all came,

I gleefully shouted, and countered by name:

"I’ll give you two wood! One sheep? Such a bore!

How ‘bout some brick, two wheat or some ore?”

They grabbed Longest Road! Largest Army to boast!

And ended the game with a town on the coast.

The island they left like wild hurricanes fly,

To gather and play the next game they did spy;

To Board Game Arena the players they flew,

To a site full of games, and ELO, too!

The next game we played needed speed, yes, of course;

We started our engines to play some Downforce.

As I sped towards the finish and turned my head ‘round,

Down the straightaway came the red car with a bound;

The driver was covered all in fur from a crash

With some animals crossing the track. Oh, so brash;

Then came the green car, who won by a nose,

And for the next game, 7 Wonders we chose.

Some went with Commerce; oh, the coins they did gain!

Others unleashed all their Military pain;

I was blinded by Science, but did not succeed,

In the end, it was blue cards that won, yes, indeed.

We marveled at all the points we had won;

To be sure, we weren’t finished, for we’d not seen the Sun

Rise up on this first day of SpielMas, no sir,

But just as we’d said it, our eyes they did blur; 

For we stayed up all night to play all these games.

And I made them agree to play games with new names;

There’d be plenty on Steam, on Yucata, ‘tis true,

Tabletopia, Tabletop Playground, too;

I spoke not a word, but instead I stared straight,

And thanked all the friends who stayed up with me late;

I spread my tired hands out in front of the cam,

And gave virtual hugs to all, this AM;

My friends would all leave, to return the next day,

And away they all flew, as my screen turned to gray.

But I heard them exclaim, as they vanished from sight:

“Happy SpielMas to all, and to all a good night!”

Edited December 18, 2022.

Published December 25, 2020.