... about the toughest games

It was the Georgian potter Josiah Wedgewood who famously observed "Ceramic drinking vessels? That's a mug's game". Life is undoubtedly full of games: some great, some beautiful, many tough. But which is the toughest?

Firstly, the scale of the game is no indicator of its toughness. The Great Game, a set of border skirmishes between the British and Russian Empires in the mid-Victorian period, was undoubtedly large-scale, but as its name suggests it was terrific fun and everyone had a great time. On the other hand Chris Isaak's Wicked Game would appear to be restricted to one man, but even Chris Isaak didn't seem to enjoy it very much: in fact, he seemed pretty whiny about it. It was clearly wicked only in the non-skateboarding sense.

In some games it is nearly impossible to learn all the rules, such as The Crying Game or Warhammer Fantasy Battle. You may think you know all there is to know about the crying game, but as the film of the same title shows, there's always potential for one of your fellow-players to pull a surprise on you.

Sometimes, games don’t work out as easily as might be expected. Take two popular games from South Central Los Angeles, the Rap Game and the Drug Game. Among those with experience, the Rap Game is actually considered harder than the Drug Game, largely because if some foo' diss you in tha Drug Game you can shoot him and kill him, but if some foo' diss you in tha Rap Game you gotta be all humble an shit. Also you don’t get to choose the types of music you listen to.

All of these games, however, pale into insignificance compared to Boggle. Boggle is one of the hardest games there is, especially if you play against Owen. Even the Beastie Boys acknowledge this, boldly claiming to be the kings of Boggle in one of their songs, undoubtedly a more impressive boast than winning at either rap or drugs.