Whether I am lying on a couch at home, sitting outside the trading post at summer camp or reading in a hotel room in Chicago, one question has always accompanied my evenings for the last year: Connections?
My father and I have a nightly tradition of playing The New York Times’ game Connections, which features 16 seemingly random words that can be sorted into four distinct categories. Its single-player platform makes it an intrinsically independent game. However, it has become an indispensable source of quality time for my dad and I.
I was first introduced to the NYT game catalog while procrastinating in my physics class last spring. Venturing through the variety of games in solitude, I bounced from playing Strands to the Mini Crossword and eventually landed on Connections.
Later in the same week, as my family waited for our food in a bustling Korean restaurant, I pulled out my phone and enjoyed an isolated game of Connections. However, this seclusion was shattered by my father’s inquiries, curious about what I was playing. After I explained the game’s concept, he began helping me sort through the tiles and grouping by category.
Like many of life’s best things, I am unable to recall exactly how this occasion grew from an isolated incident to an established routine. However, the color scheme of yellow, green, blue and purple soon became familiar as it painted my phone with each finished game of Connections.
Sometimes, the game can throw out antiquated words and obscure categories. However, as I hang onto the lifeline of my final guess, my dad is ready with a hint and I reach the long-awaited completed screen. On other nights, I text him a picture of my “Perfect!” screen after I achieve success on the game and hear a familiar “What! You got it already?”
As I reminisce, I cannot help but appreciate a digital computer game that spans both distance and differences to create bonds. Just as each word in Connections is intertwined with another, despite how contrasting they seem, my father and I will always share a special connection.
Follow @CHSCampusNews on X.
