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Episode 121 - ADHD And Board Games - The "Magic Circle" Of Calm & Connection
63 Plays14 days ago
Ready to level up your understanding of ADHD? This week, your favourite ex-mayors of ADHDville, Martin and Paul, are rolling the dice on a brilliant topic: ADHD and Board Games!
We’re cracking open the box on why games are a secret weapon for the neurospicy brain. Ever feel the magical focus of being "in the zone" during a game? Struggled with the infamous "two-move wall" in chess? Or used a card game to finally shut off the day's noise?
From ancient Egyptian luck rituals to modern strategy epics, we’re exploring the stats, the science, and the sheer fun of how board games help with regulation, connection, and giving our busy brains a perfectly defined world to play in. All served with our usual casual chaos, personal stories, and a very questionable quiz.
Subscribe to ADHDville for your weekly dose of insight and laughs. Drop a comment below – what’s your ADHD board game story?
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Theme music was written by Freddie Philips and played by Martin West. All other music by Martin West.
Please remember: This is an entertainment podcast about ADHD and does not substitute for individualized advice from qualified health professionals.
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Transcript
00:00:00
Speaker
back in the room back in rome again hundred the this 120th episode martin something around there i'm not gonna check no um but yeah uh yeah here so let's go to a place where the distractions are landmarks and the details are the main roads welcome to adhdville
00:00:27
Speaker
H-T-V-L-H-T-V-H-T-H-T-A-D-H-V-A-D-H-A-D-H-T-D-A-E-H-T
00:00:40
Speaker
combinations of those letters and and bollocks
Introduction & Setting the Scene
00:00:48
Speaker
i know i'm paul thompson waving there for our youtubers and i was diagnosed with the combined yes combined adh and the d approximately two years ago Hello, I'm Martin Weston, I was Doug Nose with the Combined ADHD Poo Poo Platter in 2013. And we start off, as always, ADHDville, in the King's Agitated Head Pub, where we, the ex-mates of ADHDville, sit in the back, have a drink, and take care of business.
00:01:21
Speaker
Suck on a pint. Yeah, exactly.
ADHD & Board Games Discussion
00:01:24
Speaker
And this week, we're going to be talking about ADHD and board games. Yush. I know, very nice. Brings back those childhood memories.
00:01:36
Speaker
Yes, it does. it does. Or I actually played it's a board game. think it was the first time i played a board game in about 30 years. I ah played a board game in Germany. I played a German board game two weeks ago.
00:01:54
Speaker
Come on. All right. Was it? So it was in German using... German words? It was actually, it was an English board game. Well, you had to invade. Written in English.
00:02:08
Speaker
Yeah. Written in English, but a lot of the themes were German based. All right. So was it like, who could get to but but Berlin first? You or the theli korea American and team or the Russian team?
00:02:25
Speaker
That's the one. Yeah. In the end, we got just about did it with the Maltese team. Okay. Wow. All right. Unconventional.
00:02:36
Speaker
um Yeah. All right. Well, let's let's ah jump jump into our trusty tractor. and But first, where where are we heading, Paul? Where should we go? We're heading, Martin. Right on cue. Well done. We're going to the coffee shop.
00:02:56
Speaker
The coffee shop. Coffee shop. Coaffey. Or as you'd say in in New York, Coaffey.
Social Benefits of Board Games
00:03:05
Speaker
exactly
00:03:11
Speaker
Exactly. Coaffey. There's a new coffee place that's opened at five minutes from me and that has a really nice little back room and there's all sort of board games.
00:03:24
Speaker
Oh, nice. I'm going to sit and play. Fantastic. On theme as well. I know. Well, it's big now. Board games are a big thing now in the UK because kids are not going to the pub. They're not going to nightclubs anymore.
00:03:41
Speaker
They stay indoors and play games. I did see a there was a documentary about board games, which I saw about but two weeks ago.
00:03:52
Speaker
Now, this is probably why kind of came ah came up in my mind for for for a topic. Yeah, abvi it is big business. There's could conventions. It's had a revival, I think the word you're looking for.
00:04:06
Speaker
Revival. yeah yeah so um Yeah, so there's the games of my past, obviously, which we'll probably get into. And then there's a whole new oh sub the song. Games of my past.
00:04:21
Speaker
Games of my present.
00:04:30
Speaker
But on. Okay. going to i'm gonna kick off with some stats. Right. Some numbers. Stat man. man. So did you know that that in a survey of over 1,000 avid board gamers, nearly a third reported having ADHD, which is of obviously a lot higher. Oh!
00:04:53
Speaker
than the electrical average. Checking the battery, okay. That is high, a third. That is high. That is, yeah. Maybe because they're more likely to stay in.
00:05:07
Speaker
Stay indoors? Yeah.
00:05:11
Speaker
I'm not joking either. Oh, yeah. I mean, there is that kind of social component as as as as well, where you have to kind of like play with other people. I have some more statistics.
00:05:24
Speaker
a A Pepperdine University study found 77% of board game players reported it helped them... ah Connect with others, crucial for individuals with ADHD who may struggle with social cues.
Challenges of ADHD in Chess
00:05:40
Speaker
So all those ADHD and autistic ADHD.
00:05:49
Speaker
And we'll get into it. but it but it Yeah. Well, can I add something to that? Yeah. um i um i play quite often with with my missus we play cards and know cards isn't a board game but it's a similar kind of thing and it it massively helps me in terms of um regulation if i've had a shitty day bad day slash shitty slash pants day
00:06:25
Speaker
And playing cards um really helps to regulate me and it blood brings me back down to earth. Yeah, no no, no, absolutely. I do the same the same thing.
00:06:39
Speaker
Yeah, the the playing games, board games, card card games. um it could yeah It takes me out of my current world of stress and trap.
00:06:50
Speaker
And then yeah you're you're in a much smaller world where it has very defined rules, right? yeah know like Yes. yeah this this is the little rules of the game and you can get get your head around that.
00:07:02
Speaker
um yeah And if it's if if's a game that you play often, then it's like you slip into this much more regulated place. If you're competitive like I am, I'm thinking, you know of you know, I've been catastrophizing all day about you know how life how my life is so shit. And then all of a sudden, the only thing I really care about is I've got a set of kings.
00:07:24
Speaker
Ha, ha, ha. There you go. Or Queens. Or Jacks. I could go on. I won't. Yeah. Mm-hmm.
00:07:36
Speaker
um Yeah, no, absolutely. i amm I am with you with with the the with that as as far as kind of like just changing your mood state. Yeah, totally.
00:07:50
Speaker
I'm going to do a little little bit of ah a slight little bit of interesting interesting history, which i buy I was coming across when I was, they say on other podcasts, when I was researching this episode.
00:08:04
Speaker
Yeah. blah um um So, board games, um they've been played for thousands of years with with with prehistoric games dating back to about 5000 BC. No way.
00:08:22
Speaker
and the And the oldest game dice. course, yes. Dice games. is it iss dice of course yes i paint The Romans had a dice, or die, I think is the plural.
00:08:38
Speaker
Right. No, that's the singular. I think die is think singular and dice is plural. Oh, is it I think so. i mean, don't hold me to that, but I think that's correct. um But, yeah, so, like, the Griggs used knuckle bone...
00:09:01
Speaker
dice from wow animals. They would have like little knuckle bones and they'd like drill holes for numbers and they would use use those. And the... and um and the yeah they were very popular amongst the pharaohs in ancient Egypt, primarily a a game called Senet from, you know, easily from 3100 BC. And what was interesting about this,
00:09:34
Speaker
about the the the egyptian game of senate is that it is There is a high emphasis on on luck in the game. So you know how like chess will be mostly skill-based, and that's how you win, his boy is by you having superior skills, whereas Senate seems to have been more about luck...
00:09:59
Speaker
Right. no like You know, like snakes and gladders, that's a classic... It's pure luck, isn't it? It's pure luck. But, see, the twist is is that is that they believed whether the the gods were on your side or not. Oh, right.
00:10:21
Speaker
hi Who has the strongest god? Who is
ADHD & Social Interactions Through Games
00:10:24
Speaker
in with the gods? Yeah. Make your luck work for you. Everything they did had had meaning, didn't it, for them?
00:10:33
Speaker
Right. There was always meaning pretty much everything, you know. If you had diarrhea, there was a meaning other than having a hot curry the night before.
00:10:44
Speaker
Right, exactly. It meant something. It meant something. Right, so I found that quite interesting. That is interesting, Martin. Yes, thank you. That's a good one. I like that.
00:10:57
Speaker
All right. So, yeah. um I think, you know, so when it comes so when it comes to board games with your ADHD, LDHD, um as we were saying, really into interesting as like a way to um to kind of help with the executive dysfunction and also like playing with other people. and hello Hello, yeah. And so you've got this, I mean, like,
00:11:29
Speaker
I mean, even in the kind win-lose thing, don't but don't you find that, well, I find that if I lose, there is a bit of emotional regulation that has to kind of go on. Yeah.
00:11:42
Speaker
um Sometimes. And like how you lose. Like like like if you yeah lose because... Yeah. And then you have to kind of go in my brain, like car I kind of go, it's fine. It's fine. It's fine. is that right It's all right. Until it's not.
00:12:00
Speaker
It's having fun. one I think when I was younger, I was, you know, the old RSD would would be more of the forefront. Yeah. because it'd be like, do I win or lose? Like that was the point of it was winning or losing. Whereas now for me, the the the more important thing is I'm sitting down and I'm having a game with people.
00:12:24
Speaker
yeah And that's that's the win, if you like. That's that's the the enjoyment. yeah not Not necessarily, if I win, great, but it's not. I guess the other thing, if you're not going to socialize,
00:12:39
Speaker
It's a great way of um avoiding small talk. Because no one, you're in the middle of chess and you know you're about to pass go without um collecting whatever. monopoly?
00:12:55
Speaker
monopoly Monopoly, exactly. Please pass, go without, pass, oh, I don't know. Anyway, get what that's got. You're avoiding, you know, the person, your opponent, talking about, you know, what weight they've had.
00:13:10
Speaker
Small talk. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So it's it's kind of like a good way of avoiding all of that. But you're talking about rejection sensitivity, right?
00:13:22
Speaker
I was okay with almost all the games, competitive but not too competitive, you know, enthusiastic and blah, blah, blah. There's one game that I massively struggled with that you mentioned before, chess.
00:13:39
Speaker
Ooh. massive struggles with that. And I used to be, ah I used to find it really frustrating. I'd give myself a really hard time. Why the fuck can't I think, why can't I think beyond two moves? so today, the first time in my life, I looked it i looked it up, I researched it, and name it said,
00:14:07
Speaker
this following well two sentences it is incredibly common for players with of chess players of chess with adhd to hit a two move wall tick in chess the ability to look ahead is called calculation okay and it relies on specific cognitive functions that adhd directly impacts It's not a lack of intelligence or vision. It's a matter of how your brain manages data in real time. Wow.
00:14:45
Speaker
That's interesting. There you go. So all of a sudden, giving myself a bit more, you know, nicer to myself about this this stuff. yeah Yeah, because I can't do more than two moves ahead.
00:15:00
Speaker
No. use what you You as well. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I can't. like get i can' I mean, I know. right. So if I was playing against a grandmaster, right?
00:15:13
Speaker
Yes. versus a grandmaster, I could play the perfect first
Emotional Regulation & Games
00:15:20
Speaker
three or four moves. And then after that, I'm dead.
00:15:25
Speaker
Right. Like, that's all I know. I know some openings, some opening moves. And then after that, it's just a fucking... Right.
00:15:36
Speaker
Yeah. I've just realized i was the same with tango lessons. I did tango lessons, and I could only remember the first three or four moves, and then I was all over the place.
00:15:49
Speaker
Dancing. Yeah, dancing tango. And really, really liked it, but I couldn't go beyond. I couldn't like do two two or three wild crowd-pleasing tango moves.
00:16:05
Speaker
And then it was all over the place. One time there was a girl, she complained that I kept stepping on her toes. Oof. yeah So I said, well, if you move like a truck, I'm going to step on your toes.
00:16:20
Speaker
wish You were blaming her. I was blaming her. You can only do two moves. Yeah. And then you're all... No, but she was quite slow and not very nimble.
00:16:34
Speaker
And so it was a bit of a difficulty. It depends on the partners, but anyway, that's that's ah another episode about ADHD and tango. But with the moves, with the chest moves, the the big problem I had was with the knight.
00:16:50
Speaker
who goes up one and then diagonal one. Right. ah Right? That screws me because I'm really good at drafts.
00:17:02
Speaker
I can do drafts, which in America is called checkers, right? Yes. yeah i've been I've done my research, you see. In America it's called checkers. I'm good at checkers.
00:17:12
Speaker
I'm actually pretty pretty damn good at checkers because it's only got like one move. Right. Yeah. Yeah. So it's the knight.
00:17:23
Speaker
Being very specific, it's the knight in chess that has a double dynamic to its, in its tool shed, right? and it's In its, you know, up its sleeve. Mm-hmm.
00:17:36
Speaker
It goes dust the it goes the up and then diagonal. all over the place but that's that's good isn't it it's like doing this podcast really helps me it's like okay all those years i've given given my like why can't i think beyond what is called here the two move wall yeah it's solved solved you could feel better about it i could feel but better about it so you can as well say supper some hard
00:18:08
Speaker
And you're listening to this and you've ever thought, why am I so shit at chess? yeah You can feel fine about it now. Let's have a massive group hug. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
00:18:19
Speaker
Good job. yeah you're You're out there saving the nation.
00:18:27
Speaker
I've got... There's a little bit more on this if you want it. Go on then. Spoilers. So it's like working... is kubernetes cool it They've given this like a a title of working memory overload.
00:18:43
Speaker
um Working memory is like the RAM in your of your brain, right? Yeah. Memory RAM of your brain. It's where you hold and manipulate information temporarily.
00:18:55
Speaker
The problem is to see three or four moves ahead, you must hold the current board in your mind. Move a piece... hold that image move an opponent's piece and hold that image too then the adhd factor kicks in adhd often comes with a smaller working memory buffer in in um so the buffer element of your brain by the time you reach move three, the mental image of moves one, move of move one, has often flickered or vanished completely from your little mind.
00:19:35
Speaker
And your brain goes to reset. oh wow. Jesus. That's interesting, isn't it? So they're describing the dynamic of what goes in in our little brains.
00:19:48
Speaker
My brain's hurting just thinking about Thinking about it. Yeah. All right. Nice, nice, nice. I love this. Because, right, because there's like, you know, like on and on a new board game, that's like that kind of almost comes up because there's like, right, well, there are a whole new set of rules to learn.
00:20:14
Speaker
Yeah. And then um it takes me a few games to kind of like, get understand the the rules of it.
00:20:25
Speaker
Yes. and I feel quite kind of anxious when when a new, if if someone goes, let's play this game. It's really fun. It's called Blooming Split. Okay, I know what Blooming Split is. And then I just feel anxious because now I've got to learn.
00:20:41
Speaker
Like, this isn't fun. It's supposed to be fun. And now I'm learning. Learning rules. Yes, exactly. Well, I had the same situation in Germany two weeks ago with my boy. Right. And and we were playing. It's a really, really popular board game moment with the kids.
00:21:00
Speaker
It's music-based. Okay. And you have you you but you basically – oh, God, got to explain how it works. Basically, you get these cards. It's very, very simple, that i so much so that I can't explain it very well.
00:21:17
Speaker
and you have to round guess the year of that piece of music okay yeah um and the artist and the record and the song name okay then the other people on the other side you did it in pairs or but or not in pairs as you like you have to say whether they think that the um they got the date right Okay, so you think, okay, ah Dinah, Rottenham, Supremes, um blah, blah, blah. I think it was 1973. And you decide whether it was before or after that, and you can challenge them on it. And you basically win cards from each other.
00:22:00
Speaker
Right? i like Except we did it with German bangers. German? You mean the sausages? Bangers. Bangers as in top German tunes. Oh, I thought you meant a sausages.
00:22:16
Speaker
No. German sausages. German sausages. This sausage was first invented in 1873.
Creating ADHD-Specific Games
00:22:25
Speaker
They probably could do that in Germany quite easily. Yes, that's why I that's why i went there.
00:22:31
Speaker
ah Okay, they'd be very good at it as well. Yes, that just seemed like a perfect German game. It turns out son's... My son's partner is really good at it.
00:22:44
Speaker
Really good. Yeah. he and I have a memory, like, unbelievable memory. Amazing. So, yeah, but it was fun. It was fun. we passed away. was like three and a half hours we played. Wow. And it flew by. It was great fun.
00:23:01
Speaker
Yeah. Great laugh. Great laugh, that was. It was a great laugh. right yeah what was i say yeah um yeah learning learning you oh wait yeah um you know when it comes to like autism and adhd you know so autism really likes rules you know like yes the the the rules of the game so so for me i know i quite like once i've got the rules in my head Yeah. like
00:23:33
Speaker
Because then there's this nice thing with rules and this it's different each time you you play. So my my autism side is like happy because there's some rules to follow. And then my ADHD side is happy because it's different every time. Right.
00:23:51
Speaker
Here's the thing. What are you like, Mr. West, when someone gives you verbal instructions about, in this case, how this game works?
00:24:05
Speaker
As I said, I'm... you like on the verbal instruction?
00:24:09
Speaker
i i I don't mind the verbal instructions as long as I can keep going, is this the right thing? What happens here? here So, like, I have to, you know, like...
00:24:20
Speaker
Yeah. I don't mind it being a talking thing if I can just talk it out. like all my moves, what all the rules are. yeah you know um I don't particularly like reading the instructions unless right it's come to a point of order and there's tension on the board and someone has to look at the rules and then I'll read the rules out. and ah but you know that but my But my brain starts to melt.
00:24:48
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. but have to do yeah i i But once if someone is patient with me, and which is pretty much what you were saying, you can ask questions or something. Once it's in, it's in.
00:25:03
Speaker
Right. Right? So the card game that we play, like we play at least three times a week, right? And it's our winding down thing. and It works every time like a child. Mm-hmm.
00:25:17
Speaker
that That game would have to be explained to me a number of times. But once it's there, it's there forever, ever and ever. Right.
00:25:27
Speaker
Yeah, yeah. I mean, I played the same card game. with my wife over and over and over and over again. Yeah, we do. It's the same one.
00:25:38
Speaker
I think it's like, I'm not quite sure what it's called, beat but but you get like nine cards and you have a pack in the middle. Then you have to find like groups of three.
00:25:50
Speaker
So yeah it could be like three kings or it could be a yeah a running suit. And then once you have one, you can you can put it down. Yeah. And then you kind of keep it. Isn't it?
00:26:03
Speaker
and yeah yeah and And then you have to kind of try and get rid of all your cards and have this, and cards have points. Once you've got all your, all your, once you've picked up cards and you've made groups of three and you've added to other people's groups of three.
00:26:19
Speaker
um We do the same, it's, you have to have a minimum of 40 points before you can put down. All right. In Italian it's called Scala Quaranta. So it was like the 40 scale.
00:26:33
Speaker
And you collect points and then you can put your cards and others and you have to um get rid of you given 13 cards. Oh, wow.
00:26:44
Speaker
Yeah. And you can't put anything down until you've got 40 points in your hand. all Right. Oh, yeah. as the the heart That would mean three aces in this game. 10, 20, 30, 45 points. be 45 points. But anyway, yeah. no anyway But, yeah, the point is we're the same. We play the same game. Now, I know for a lot of people that I know that would be hideously boring.
00:27:15
Speaker
But for for us, it's not at all. It's this it's so comforting. Right, because you know what? When you've you you you get to this place where you know the rules, you know how the other person plays, right?
Key Learnings & Reflections
00:27:32
Speaker
Yes. So you're switching up your gameplay. So one game you might be sort of recruit might be some more sort of aggressive style, and then the next game you you might be more like yeah holding back. So you're kind of playing games within games because it you're trying to kind of out-psych the other person as well. So there's becomes much more nuanced. Yeah. than yeah
00:28:01
Speaker
And also it becomes nuanced when you find out other people have slightly different rules. Oh, right. And so that think becomes quite interesting.
00:28:14
Speaker
Right. Yeah. there's an mo there's a There's a thing called Magic Circle when it comes to games.
00:28:27
Speaker
and What do we mean by magic circle in terms of ADHD, emotional regulation in terms of, yeah, so this term, magic circle, in the context of ADHD and emotional regulation refers to a state of mind or social contract where individuals are immersed in a shared experience like the game where the normal rules and and realities of the world are replaced by those of the game. The concept is crucial for understanding how games can influence behavior and and emotional regulation. In this context of ADHD, being being in them the magic circle might involve a heightened heightened focus on tasks, a sense of urgency, and a and a desire to excel, which can be
00:29:16
Speaker
can be beneficial for managing ADHD symptoms. However, it can also lead to increased stress and anxiety if not if not managed properly. yeah Emotional regulation in the magic circle involves understanding the internal and external dynamics of the game. So that's like, you know...
00:29:35
Speaker
Yeah. what is it is Is it a specific game for ADHDers? but No, it's it's the... Ah, okay. It just happens to be good for it. It's the term that is used for when people like you and me come out um um um and when we enter this kind of like this little world, right? This... Yeah....the magic circle where there's defined rules...
00:30:01
Speaker
and Okay, god it you got to you know and it. And you are you become very aware in this little world, as a as as we say, of how you're feeling.
00:30:14
Speaker
Because you'll be feeling hopeful, you'll be feeling optimistic, then you'll be feeling like, oh no, my game's going wrong. So there's there's a lot of internal dialogue that kind of...
00:30:26
Speaker
that yeah is in this world. So you're the world playing cards with your partner, right? and Nothing else exists outside of that, right? yeah And so you're much more focused on how you're feeling, what's going on whether you're winning, whether you're losing.
Engagement with Listeners & Humorous Quiz
00:30:45
Speaker
yeah it It's a little mini world.
00:30:50
Speaker
Yeah. yeah i i like right I find it helps me, as and so I said before, it like helps me stop catastrophizing about or just however bad my is going or has been. Right. But also...
00:31:05
Speaker
you know, reminds gives reminds me of like a sense of scale. so you come out of playing board games and everything seems to have like a, you know, a healthy level of like measurement and, you know, can value it a bit better. They thought, oh, shit, that thing that i was getting really pissed off about an hour ago just seems like manly more manageable now.
00:31:29
Speaker
Yeah, yeah. You give it some scale and measure of like, oh, okay. All right. let's Let's kind of run down a list of some of the top.
00:31:41
Speaker
Okay. umm um'm First of all, um i'm going to um um I'm going to run down the top 10 of like classic board games, which which which might trigger off some memories. But first, I'm going to go with the top 10 board games of 2026, the current top ones. Oh, okay.
00:32:00
Speaker
And are there any in here...
00:32:04
Speaker
No, no, no, no. These are the current board games, right? And do you know any of them? Oh, it's unlikely, but okay. Right. so we've got we've got to, and ah if you're reading this, listen to this rather, and and you play and any of these, give us a shout as to whether they're any good or why we should play them. Okay, here's some some games. ah There is there's one cool called Gloomhaven.
00:32:39
Speaker
which is a technical combat game. Catan, Azul, Wingspan, which is a bird-themed... um who Interesting. um Terraforming Mars, which I have seen, at least. That's that's where you like fight for full resources them and build your little Mars... There's one called Pandemic pandemic ah Legacy.
00:33:09
Speaker
I mean, that sounds like um I've already done that with with ah with ah with the COVID. I mean, I survived that game. A game called Root, Seven Wonders, Carcassonne, and Ticket to to Ride.
00:33:28
Speaker
and which I do have Ticket to Ride. That is a board game that I have played. Okay. least have Never heard of any of those. Ticket to Ride's quite fun.
00:33:41
Speaker
a it's it's ah It's a world map with loads of train lines all over it, and you have to kind of like build stations and build trains. Okay.
00:33:52
Speaker
I've got to find out. I've got to send a message to my son. Mate. what I want find out what this is, because it's really this big in Europe at the moment.
00:34:03
Speaker
alright All right. All right. Board game. all right. dede do Here we go.
00:34:14
Speaker
We'll just hold up. this While you're doing that, I'm going to run down the top 10 classic board games of which you will know all of these, most of these.
00:34:26
Speaker
Right. Number one. We've already spoken about it. ah Chess. Chess. Right. That's number one, is it?
00:34:37
Speaker
Number one. Because it what's that game that's probably on your list? this Chinese game, Mahjong. What's it called? Mahjong. Mahjong. It's massive, isn't it, in China?
00:34:50
Speaker
It is. I don't have it on my on my list. So what's up with that? Okay. kind good day ah know I know, I am tempted to learn Mahjong. It does seem like quite neat i mean an interesting game.
00:35:07
Speaker
Checkers, which we to talk talked about. There is also Chinese checkers as as well, which which I have, which is similar, but ah not.
00:35:19
Speaker
Backgammon. back gammon Oh, I forgot about Backup. I remember that, yeah. Never really played it. Never really got into it.
00:35:30
Speaker
No, played it. I think I played it maybe a handful of times. Yeah, it didn't hook me. Here's here's one. Monopoly. Monopoly. Yeah, I've played that a lot.
00:35:44
Speaker
flo Pass gold, like $200, pounds. I remember in the 70s... My parents, when all the kids went to bed, all the adults were playing Risk.
00:35:56
Speaker
Do remember that in the 70s? Yep. That is in my list. It's in there? i live Yeah. Okay. ah um and and Monopoly, that was... Man, you really had to be in the mood.
00:36:11
Speaker
You had to be in the Monopoly mood to play Monopoly because it took fucking ages. Yeah. and it's That's had a revival, hasn't it, though? Is it? Monopoly. I think so.
00:36:23
Speaker
I'm writing that. But yeah, that was, God, that was, ah you know, like for for my ADHD brain, Monopoly was great for a while and then it really started to get boring.
00:36:36
Speaker
Yeah, yeah. Dragged. Too much. Yeah, too much. Yes. a Scrabble. I love Scrabble.
00:36:48
Speaker
Which I play, yeah, which I do have a Scrabble set and I do enjoy playing. I'm quite good at Scrabble. quick I used to give myself a really hard time that you know in terms of my English and stuff. Turns out my vocabulary is quite good, pretty good, actually.
00:37:08
Speaker
I can you know can hold my own vocab wise. Right. So what about what about an Italian Scrabble?
00:37:19
Speaker
If you were playing Scrabble in Italian, how would you fare? do you do you have played. I've played Italian Scrabble. I can't remember when. I think it was about five or six years ago. it was a struggle.
00:37:35
Speaker
um All right, next game, Cluedo. Or Clue, as it's known. enough I always found that, um like, so boring it made my eyes bleed. I've played it about twice, I think.
00:37:47
Speaker
Twice. Yeah, really boring. Yeah, it's okay. It was the... It was the ah butler with with the scissors in the library. can we just like go and play football now, please?
00:38:03
Speaker
Yeah. ah Risk, which we've already to talked about. and That's a game for smart people. Never played it. um I think it's it's a very long game, isn't it? It like goes on for hours and hours and hours.
00:38:19
Speaker
Yeah, yeah. Then there's the the Game of Life, which I have played. That's ah that's a really weird game.
00:38:31
Speaker
It's like you... From what I can remember, it's like you... go around and you go to school and you try and get a house and you try and get married and you try and have kids and it's it's like this kind of like life game it kind of teaches you how you do life in it in a very in a very neuro normal typical way i've just It's just come to mind though, Martin. I mean, if someone hasn't done it yet, it would be incredible. But an ADHD game, ADHD specific or ADHD specific board game, I would buy that. All right, you would buy that.
00:39:17
Speaker
Yeah. It would be, blimey, what would that look look like? That would be really cool. You can't, ah maybe it's a bit Cluedo when there's like, I think my car keys in the fridge.
00:39:36
Speaker
Yeah, um but that's, oh God, that's got my brain working now. I'm going to have a dream about that tonight, fever dream. Nice. Oh, good. And then you'll feelll youll wake up and have your have a have your million dollar. Yeah. I did have an idea once for a board game.
00:39:55
Speaker
I had an idea for board game once where everyone was, they were pimps. Everyone was a pimp. Right?
00:40:03
Speaker
right And you had and you had to manage all kinds of things right like stds you know and visits to the clinic and all kinds of stuff yeah so it was like um you know that that video game that's um what's it called it's like based on hijacking cars and drive-bys and stuff grand theft auto grand theft auto this is like the pimp version on a board game
00:40:38
Speaker
wow i love it i'm into i'm interested sign me up i will i will buy a box this was about 30 years ago i had this side that idea all right um then the last two candyland which i've not heard of but um and then and then and then uh battleship oh god yeah west travel pursuit that was massive in the Right, i was going to say, there's some other games here that obviously that come to mind. That was huge.
00:41:12
Speaker
Devil Pursuit, which was like, oh, Jesus, I think every every adult bought it, if it felt like. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I remember once I got really pissed off with my father because um the question was about, oh, what's the what's the name of the zoo?
00:41:33
Speaker
um and it's like, I don't know, gave a street name or something. I said, that's London Zoo. And my dad said, I'm sorry, but that's not what I've got on the card. It's Regent's Park Zoo.
00:41:47
Speaker
said, it's the same zoo. I thought, that's harsh. That's harsh. I can still, what a bastard. What?
00:41:59
Speaker
I was so incredulous. about that i still am clearly what a cunt no hurt clearly not got over it come on though i was looking said no for him laugh no it's all right you can have that think i was just like left right yes great i like that for I liked it. other other Other board games that I remember very well, Mousetrap.
00:42:33
Speaker
did did Did you ever play Mousetrap? Vaguely. Vaguely. Yeah, yeah. Very vaguely. yeah It was the game where you had... um it It took you about an hour to set this goddamn thing up. It was like in the middle of the board game, there was this like... um Oh, I don't know how you just this describe it. it's It's this kind of construction.
00:42:59
Speaker
hu where it was a mouse trap. It was like this thing where this ball rolled down into this cup and then the cup swivelled and then this other thing happened.
00:43:11
Speaker
Yeah, yeah, And ah eventually this little cage dropped down on the mouse. i mean, the whole game was boring as crap, but the whole game seemed to me like you would set this thing up and then you would play it about five minutes and then you'd set off the this to mouse trap in the middle and then that... that Then it's like, OK, I'm done.
00:43:30
Speaker
Yeah. I used to like um Operation. Oh, yeah. Because I've got quite a steady hand, Martin. Nice. Just so you Yeah, that's helpful. Quite a steady hand.
00:43:43
Speaker
Yeah. I thoroughly appreciate that. Yeah, yeah. um I can remember when I worked in China, there was this um ah there was this ah this hooker's bar. So there was a bar where all the all the all the local prostitutes were at.
00:44:02
Speaker
yeah and it was the bar that was like just next to work or or it was it was very close to work so we would go in there and have a drink because because um they don't really do bars in in China it isn't like here when where there are pubs it's it's ah so so that's where we would go and you could play Connect Four with the prostitutes That sounds great.
00:44:34
Speaker
And you would never win. Right. You never win. They beat your ass. They were there so often playing Connect Four. that that Yeah.
00:44:49
Speaker
yeah Interesting. Cool. I that kind of nice story, Martin. tim And they also played a pretty good game of pool as well. I forgot what you were going to say.
00:45:06
Speaker
Paul, mate. I was just going to say... They're also really good.
00:45:18
Speaker
Hide the sausage. No, I didn't say that. cut that and can Cut that out. Blimey. That sounds a lot of fun, though.
00:45:30
Speaker
I always found that Hawkers have really good company. And I mean that in an honest, I mean, without trying to be clever about it. Just really interesting people, women. Yeah, they're awesome. They've lived life and they've got lot to say.
00:45:51
Speaker
I always found them a lot of fun to talk to. Yeah, no my my my wife follows one on TikTok. and Really?
00:46:03
Speaker
Yeah, because she says the the same things, just like a very and interesting point of view. simply i mean, they're the front line of society.
00:46:16
Speaker
yeah You know, it's like accident and emergency department, you know, they've seen it all. They've seen it all. They've seen it all. Yeah, very interesting to talk to, but don't play board games with them.
00:46:31
Speaker
Right. Because you'll lose. Okay, there you go. Who would have thought top tips from, ah you know, Top tips from our our podcast, you know, as ever.
00:46:43
Speaker
Exactly. Number one, chess. It's not your fault. Number one. Number but two, don't play board games with with hookers, especially not for money. um Right.
00:46:55
Speaker
All right. Shall we get on to the ratings? Yeah, let's do it. do it. Here we go.
00:47:04
Speaker
Is it dopamine hit or is it a burnout thing? All games, is it a... Banjo! Banjo! God, love banjo.
00:47:15
Speaker
All games, is it a dopamine hit or is it a burnout thing? What do you think Okay, dopamine. Okay. oh Oh.
00:47:29
Speaker
It's going to... Oh.
00:47:33
Speaker
in In a way, um it's going to be the vote, the vote the score, vote, sorry, that's Italian, the vote, the score, it's heavily weighed down by the weighty chess game.
00:47:48
Speaker
it could be quite high, but the weightiness of my shame that I had from chess, I'm speaking historically, it going it takes it down to a five.
00:48:00
Speaker
All right. So five. Yeah, how about you, Mr. West? Yeah, I'd say that I really in enjoy it. If you get like a bunch of people around and you're having a laugh and you're playing a game or or whether it's just like, you know,
00:48:15
Speaker
me and the missus in a game of cards or Scrabble. You know, it's just a really nice... I like playing games because the social interaction, the jokes and the fun and the, you know, and the piss-taking and all of that, it's just like... It's really good. So I'm going to say, like, it's an eight for me. It's a pretty good eight for me.
00:48:43
Speaker
Burnout score. like calling Burnout score. So like chess. Games like chess, learning new rules, um playing a game where you get whipped, your ass handed to you. Yeah.
00:48:57
Speaker
not that much of a burnout, really. It's not that much of burnout. So I'm just thinking because it... Go back to we saying about the small talk. if you You've got like a distant cousin, you know, you played board games at Christmas and you didn't have much in common with your cousins, but you kind like put, you know, you're like in you're supposed to interact with your cousins.
00:49:21
Speaker
And a board game was like a pretty good way of getting yourself out of small talk, right? Right. so it's quite good in a way burnout spurn that was low would say three okay i'm gonna say yeah it's like a two four for me so um okay yeah low so yeah like it i lovely there we are we've sorted that out what do you guys think um sorted that one out well and good didn't
00:49:53
Speaker
Yeah, didn't he do well? Let's jump me in in in the tractor and let's so head over to Alexandra's Halted Inn. Crack
00:50:07
Speaker
on. Roll the dice. We get all the way over here.
00:50:16
Speaker
yeah she's and i Alexandra's left left left left us some some messages on on YouTube, um which we're always very grateful for. She says, ah so happy to see you two two two together again. Come on.
00:50:36
Speaker
yeah because we missed a week and I did a very short podcast on just my own, which I tell you, doing a podcast on your own is like, it's no fun.
00:50:49
Speaker
It's like the worst thing in the world. I don't know how people podcasts on their own. Yeah. Yeah, know what you mean. Not for me. um she And she says, ah Paul, your your snack from last week's episode about snacks seems awful.
00:51:07
Speaker
I threw them all away. threw them away, which for me is means they were really bad. Yeah. She was crying, laughing with the crab and the squid. Remember the crab? Remember that bloody crab? Jesus Christ. Yeah. She says that she she doesn't like Pringles. She does love a Greek brand cookie with a lemon cream in the middle. Sounds good. Yeah. She says, i love nuts.
00:51:38
Speaker
I don't like Oreos. and and i like snickers it's the salty nuts yes so she likes the salty nuts and i i must i i i do like a snickers bar couldn't eat a mars bar i don't think haven't last time i a mars bar was probably about 40 years ago snickers though Definitely.
00:52:03
Speaker
Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm up there. All right. Well, now it is time four the ah we've no need help for for 40 years, but how well do you know me? Quiz.
00:52:17
Speaker
Right. Come on. It's quiz. It's a bloody quiz. Quiz. I thought I'd get spat.
00:52:29
Speaker
Right. So this is three questions, three ah three multiple choice answers. Yes. I have done two of these things and one of these things I made up.
00:52:44
Speaker
Okay. You have to work out which one of these things I made up. Okay. Okay. Concentrating. here we yeah Get your mind in the game.
00:52:57
Speaker
You know what? This should be like an ADHD but but board game where you go around ADHDville to all the different, like the coffee place and the spa and the thing. And you it's a card quiz game, like Trivial Pursuit or something.
00:53:13
Speaker
Yeah. yeah Nice. All right. There go. ADHDville. The board game. Copy as of February at 2.51pm 2026. Okay. Here Quiz. First question. Okay.
00:53:24
Speaker
okay here we go quiz first question Did I airport staff to move a Boeing 747?
00:53:38
Speaker
Did I... what bar log Was I ordered out of my office at gunpoint?
00:53:49
Speaker
Or three, did I play pool with the bass player from the ninety s band, Ash? ash So did I ask airport staff to move a Boeing 747? Was I ordered out of my office at gunpoint? Did I play bass with the bass player? Paul, with the bass player from 90s Bandash.
00:54:10
Speaker
What do you think? Oh, they're good. Okay, the Ash one is so random that has to be true. So just there's the gun and the... The...
00:54:23
Speaker
and the yeah
00:54:27
Speaker
a You're very specific about what airplane to move. Yeah. So i think it's the first one is wrong.
00:54:38
Speaker
You didn't ask that Boeing 747 to be moved. um I did. i was I was at an airport, I was shooting a TV commercial.
00:54:51
Speaker
No. And i was talking to the airport and I was going, oh yeah, it'd be really good if this plane was over at this gate here when we shot. And they went, yeah, that's fine.
00:55:05
Speaker
And then we came to the shoot and then moved the plane. They literally moved the plane so that it it made my shot better. down lifely Loving that. So what was the one you made up then?
00:55:20
Speaker
Spilled the beans, mate. I was also ordered out of my office at gunpoint in in China. We had the army busted into our office and ordered everyone out.
00:55:32
Speaker
Okay. That was scary. but I did not play pool with a bass player from the 90s band, Ash. That's so random. mean, hell... I mean, Jesus, that's so random.
00:55:46
Speaker
Why Ash? Why Ash? Because there's this this is other funny story, right? You know our our mate Steve Whitmore, right? Mm-hmm.
00:55:59
Speaker
um So for ah for everyone at home, there's ah you know you went to... two ah two yeah There'd be group of us that would go to Glastonbury Music Festival, right?
00:56:11
Speaker
Yeah. for you know Every year for ah for for a while. And um this is the biggest one of the biggest music festivals out out there.
00:56:23
Speaker
And we went all the time. And before we went... Steve, our friend, said to me, oh, mate, every time I go to Glastonbury Festival, I always see the band Ash.
00:56:34
Speaker
I always see them. So this year... I'm not going to see ash. I'm going to avoid Right. Yeah. And there we were, were at the festival.
00:56:47
Speaker
It's like a five-day thing for us. And we're like, you know, going to see bands and going to see bands. and it and And this was one of those festivals where it rained, right? It was raining. And we were going to see some other, um I think we were going to see Coldplay, actually.
00:57:04
Speaker
and um and And we would jump and the ground was soggy and there was like there were like tufts of grass, like little islands. And we were hopping from...
00:57:15
Speaker
from grassy knoll to grassy knoll so that we didn't get our feet wet, right? And we're jumping there. And Steve jumped on this little dry patch, and this other guy jumped on the same time. And he was only small, so they ended up holding each other on this little grassy lump.
00:57:37
Speaker
Right. And it was Bruce Springsteen. No. Steve looks up and it's the singer from Ash. No. No. And Steve says, I've been trying to avoid you.
00:57:57
Speaker
That's so funny. That's a funny story. Isn't amazing how l LSD plays tricks on your mind? No, I was there, mate. I was there. Okay. It happened in front of me.
00:58:10
Speaker
Okay. Wow. All right. Second question. Okay. Here we go. pressure. right Did I get drunk with an actress from the Matrix a movie?
00:58:26
Speaker
Right. Did I get drunk with the editor from the Daily Mail?
00:58:34
Speaker
Or did I get drunk with 90s British pop star Moby?
00:58:41
Speaker
Oh, man. Well, surely Moby doesn't get drunk, does And I got drunk, so I was drinking. but Moby wasn't drunk.
00:58:53
Speaker
I don't know. I don't think he actually drinks anything anything but for tea. Green tea, I suspect. Yeah, i suspect not. But anyway. So, okay.
00:59:05
Speaker
So, okay so i do want to get drunk with an actress from the Matrix movie? You know, with Kakao and O'Reeves. Yeah. All that kind of fucking bullshit. The editor of Daily Mail or a British pop star, maybe.
00:59:20
Speaker
Not one of those isn't true. number one isn't true of the matrix because mopey lives he lives in new york so you know you're in the same part of tan as it were right yeah i'm going with you didn't get drunk with a lady from matrix i did get drunk with the actress with the with actress do you do you remember the second matrix movie. I've never seen it. Oh, okay. Then I'm not going to bother. But if if you're at home and you have seen it, there is a scene in this in the second where they meet the Merovingian, I think, this kind of French guy. And as ah as a demonstration of his skills, he sends this attractive blonde woman a slice of cake. And they're in this kind of like by restaurant kind of place.
01:00:14
Speaker
and um And the cake has got some code in it and she eats the cake and then she has't or as she has an orgasm but from eating the cake. So that woman is... is Okay.
01:00:31
Speaker
I did an advert with her. So, um yeah, we we we hung out afterwards. She was very, very nice. She was Australian. um I did have... I did get drunk with the editor of the Daily Mail. We we went we went to see...
01:00:46
Speaker
the Human League concert and we met up beforehand. she was ah He was a friend of someone else, so he was part of that. memory I was like, um we there was this point where, you know, Human League, big song, and ah Being Boiled, I it was, and I've got my arm around the editor of the Daily Mail. He's got his arms around me and we're singing Being Boiled at the top of our voices. um But no, I did not get drunk with 90s British pop star Moby.
01:01:17
Speaker
Okay. All right. So you're now to two down. I'm just playing for pride. Right. You're playing for pride now. All right.
01:01:29
Speaker
Here we go. A1. Did famous guitarist from the band Roxy Music show me his goldfish? Or two, did the drummer from 90s band Della Maitri make me Sunday lunch?
01:01:49
Speaker
Or three, did 90s pop star Moby make me beans on toast? Oh, come
01:02:02
Speaker
on! Oh, blow me! so Now, yeah um could you repeat them? Yeah, so did famous famous guitar guitarist from the from the band Roxy Music show me his goldfish?
01:02:18
Speaker
ah Did the drummer of the 90s band Delamitri make me Sunday lunch? Or did 90s pop star Moby make me beans on toast? Well, Moby would make you beans on toast because he's strictly vegetarian.
01:02:34
Speaker
Or vegan, I would say vegan. Right. So beans would could be okay. um ah so that and So the guitarist of rock and music happens to be called Paul Thompson.
01:02:52
Speaker
That much I know. it's not it' That's not the the famous one. Oh, it's in the drama. Oh, no, it's the guitarist of for The Cure is Paul Thompson.
01:03:04
Speaker
Oh, right. The drama of Roxy Music is called Paul Thompson. Hello, Eddie. Oh, is is he his he hanging out? He's hanging out. Oh, blimey. I'm going for number one again. I'm saying that, yeah, I'm not...
01:03:23
Speaker
um yeah sorry mate so the so yeah the um uh yeah the guitar guitarist from roxy music i was i was recording in his recording studio right in sorry um And I didn't expect to see him. He's a famous, famous guy.
01:03:48
Speaker
um ah And I'm just trying to remember his name. mades it's not come Anyway, he came in wearing this white robe, looking like Jesus. And he was holding this...
01:04:00
Speaker
goldfish in a plastic bag that he had just won at the local fair or something and he just came wandering in he floated in so yeah so the you made up the Moby thing might be drum now I did have lunch with the drummer from Stella Meets You, Brian McDermott, who played from 1989 to 1994.
01:04:30
Speaker
He invited me around for lunch and he made me a nice lasagna. um And no, i I did not have, ah although, okay, so I didn't, Moby kind of made me beans on toast, but not really.
01:04:46
Speaker
So he owned a beans on toast and tea place in New York a bunch of years ago. And I went, so I sat in his cafe,
01:04:58
Speaker
and had beans on toast and a cup of tea, but he didn't personally make it, but his company did. Okay. i So, you know, you were kind of right.
01:05:13
Speaker
but you Right, okay. Sneaky though, mate. You're you're developing my level of sneakiness. Stop that. can stop that right now, those bad habits of sneakiness.
01:05:25
Speaker
But miserably. What's the scores? On the doors.
01:05:33
Speaker
One, two. I am now, these the the these scores are, you're on on two wins and I'm on three wins.
01:05:44
Speaker
So I'm only for one one ahead. All next get anxiously I'm to have to get extra sneaky next week. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm going to see if I can pull out any more of those.
01:06:02
Speaker
Have I done these things? Anyway, right. um Cool. All right. Well, that just leaves. I did choose. We've got, well, next week, we've got. Next week but next Next week's episode.
01:06:16
Speaker
Next week is ADHD and fungi.
01:06:21
Speaker
fungi mushrooms yeah mushrooms all right there you go interesting because obviously there's um there's also mushroom coffee as well which is good for your concentration and focus but without that kind of in component so that's going to be an interesting topic there's also a lion's mane which is good for adhd which comes in the form of like of pills like lion's mane supplements there's the sensory issue because i know that um uh seth who's uh our minister of head stuff he he is not a fan of mushrooms yes you may skip things get the next plus the world of fungi is very
01:07:15
Speaker
okay So a lot of weird things going on between in Mushroom World. Weird stuff. Well, that sounds interesting. All right. I'm definitely up for all of that. So I hope to see everyone next week for that. So let's just leave me to say... true So ADHD is delivered every fresh every Tuesday to all providers of fine podcasts. Please subscribe to the pod and rate us most... Borderly.
01:07:49
Speaker
Borderly. And feel free to correspond at Will in the comments. But wait, there's more if you wish to see our beautiful, beautiful faces in Sally Fortin, which is done on the TikToks. And you can pick up a quill and email us at adhdville at gmail.com. But in the meantime, be fucking kind to yourself.
01:08:04
Speaker
And I beseech you fellow ADHDers fairly well with gladness of heart.
01:08:17
Speaker
know I ah can hear Eddie. Eddie's just like barking at the the door. He's like woken up. like He's like, oh, I want go out.
01:08:29
Speaker
Can you hear him? don't know if you can hear him. All right, look, we will get out in a second, all right? I'm just going to wind wind up this podcast. Lovely. All right, mate.
01:08:42
Speaker
all right lovely that's a good one yeah yeah
01:08:54
Speaker
ah
01:08:57
Speaker
nice