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I played a long-distance version of Settlers of Catan, the wildly popular and complex board game, with 3 of my friends. Here's how you can do it from your own home.

<p class="source"><span>Juliana Kaplan/Business Insider</span></p><p class="caption">The Catan crew assembles.</p><ul class="summary-list"><li>To practice safe social distancing, my friends and I are staying far apart from each other.</li><li>That means we won't be able to play Settlers of Catan, the popular board game, together anytime soon.</li><li>So we, like many millennials, turned to the Internet for answers, and played an online version called <a href="https://catanuniverse.com/en/">Catan Universe</a>.</li><li>We used a Zoom chat to see each other while playing, and while our first game was a little rocky, it eventually turned into a delightful Catan game.</li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/?hprecirc-bullet">Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories</a>.</li></ul><p>In the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, options for entertainment can seem a little limited. As an extrovert who loves playing games with friends, I've been on FaceTime every night with friends, but it's not the same as the semi-regular board game cafe excursions we enjoy (we miss you <a href="http://hexnyc.com/">Hex &amp; Company</a>!).</p><p>In particular, we wanted to play our beloved <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/best-adult-card-games">Settlers of Catan</a> - a board game where you strategically build roads and settlements to acquire resources, rob other players, and acquire victory points. The first settler to reach 10 victory points wins. I am very bad at Catan, but I love my friends and being competitive, so I was excited to coordinate an online game.</p><p>Enter: Settlers of Catan-tine. I had heard about some friends getting creative and texting photos of boards back and forth, but we decided to use app/video game <a href="https://catanuniverse.com/en/">Catan Universe</a>. You can play Catan Universe on your browser, download it as an app on Google or Android, or play it via Steam, an <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/category/steam">online game platform</a>.</p><p>It's free to play, but you can buy "Catan Gold" within it to unlock features like different theme sets and expansions; 100 pieces of Catan Gold are $.99.</p><p>We started with four players: me from my childhood home in Boston; my friend Adam, who is currently quarantined after being evacuated from Spain; my roommate Rose, who remains in New York; and my friend Asya, who is also self-isolating in New York. </p><p>All of us except for Rose played on browser; she played via Steam. One drawback of the game is that there's no video or audio option for players to communicate through (although there is a chatbox) so we set up a separate Zoom call and pinned it. Here's how it worked.</p><p>Get the latest <a href="/coronavirus-covid19">coronavirus analysis and research</a> from Business Insider Intelligence on how COVID-19 is impacting businesses.</p>

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Matt Calkins is the founder and chief executive of enterprise software company Appian.</li><li>Calkins also owns "maybe 800" board games, and designs his own.</li></ul><p>Anyone who suffered through Monopoly growing up may associate family board game sessions with intergenerational tension, boredom, and despair.</p><p>But thanks to the rise of more imaginative games such as "Settlers of Catan" through the 2000s, board gaming (or tabletop gaming, as the nerds call it) has undergone a revolution. And it might be the perfect activity to revisit this holiday season.</p><p>We asked one board game aficionado in the tech world for his recommendations.</p><p>Matt Calkins' day job is running the enterprise software company Appian, which helps businesses make their own apps to, for example, speed up internal or customer processes.</p><p>Calkins cofounded Appian in 1999, took it public in 2017, and is now overseeing the implementation of artificial intelligence into the business.</p><p>In his off-hours, the chief executive sometimes delves into his collection of around 800 board games and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/alexkonrad/2019/04/29/meet-matt-calkins-billionaire-board-game-god-and-techs-hidden-disruptor/?sh=3290b0736e77">regularly challenges his own employees</a> to a match. He has also designed three games: Japan-themed war game Sekigahara; airline-themed Tin Goose; and racing game Charioteer.</p><div type="image" title="Matt Calkins' board games." height="2510" width="3347" msid="105473025" hostid="261" sizebytes="408128"></div><p>Apart from his own, these are the two family-friendly games Calkins recommends, plus some bonus recommendations.</p><h2>Splendor �— the visually-pleasing collecting game</h2><div type="image" title="Splendor board game" height="675" width="675" msid="105472073" hostid="261"></div><p>Splendor, released in 2022, is a good option across the generations and can be played by two to four people.</p><p>Each player acts as a gem merchant with the end goal of acquiring as many "prestige" points as possible. It's a resource-management game, so players must acquire raw gems, then use their turn to spend these tactically for points.</p><p>The game comprises a board, cards, and round tokens representing gems, making it pleasingly tactile, said Calkins.</p><p>"What you do on each turn is very simple," said Calkins. "You accumulate power as the game goes on. The feeling of getting stronger is one of the pleasures in gaming. You feel like you can do more as it progresses.</p><p>"It's good as a broad brush game that a lot of people can participate in."</p><h2>Acquire �— the game Monopoly wants to be</h2><div type="image" title="The board game Acquire" height="736" width="1500" msid="105472074" hostid="261"></div><p>"It does depend on mood and circumstance," said Calkins. "But an all-around good game is Acquire."</p><p>Acquire was released in 1963, around 30 years after Monopoly. Like the latter, the focus is on making money as ruthlessly as possible. But <em>unlike</em> the latter, it won't drag on for hours. It can be played by two to six people.</p><p>"It's a very simple game, the rules are printed on <a target="_blank" href="https://www.hasbro.com/common/instruct/Acquire(MonarchAH).PDF">a single sheet of paper</a>," said Calkins. "There's substantial uncertainty and skill. You have to memorize what's going on on the board."</p><p>According to Acquire's rules, players form hotel chains, acquire blocks of stock, and then try to get richer through merging chains. Another version involves generic corporations rather than hotels, but the principle is the same.</p><p>"There are plenty of decisions to make, it's a high-density game, there's a lot of a thought in it," said Calkins. "Of the skill applied, it's not entirely determinative — the better chess player wins more often than the better Acquire player wins."</p><p>"It does enough justice to be worth playing. When it does injustice, the good news is an hour later it's over."</p><h2>And some bonus recommendations</h2><p><strong>Power Grid: </strong>A resource-management game with the goal of getting as many cities onto the electric grid as possible.</p><p><strong>Automobile: </strong>Want to be as rich as Elon Musk? This is a game for three to five players that involves being a car production tycoon.</p><p><strong>Ingenious:</strong> A quick game for one to four players that resembles dominoes.</p>

Want a family activity this holiday? A CEO who designs board games as a hobby has 2 suggestions.

<p></p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div><ul><li><strong>Reid Hoffman is the billionaire cofounder of LinkedIn and one of tech's most respected investors and advisers.</strong></li><li><strong>He has also become a leading expert on career and entrepreneurship strategy, through his writings and podcast "<a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/masters-of-scale-with-reid-hoffman/id1227971746">Masters of Scale</a>."</strong></li><li><strong>He said that his approach to strategy is rooted in role-playing and board games of his youth, and he still regularly plays some.</strong></li></ul><p><br><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/category/reid-hoffman">Reid Hoffman</a> is one of the world's most well-respected and sought-after startup strategists. When you ask him about the foundation of his approach? Board games.</br></p><p>A babysitter introduced 10-year-old Hoffman to <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/reid-hoffman-career-life-2017-11/#hoffmans-babysitter-introduced-him-to-dungeons-and-dragons-when-he-was-10-kicking-off-a-new-love-of-strategy-and-role-playing-games-at-12-a-game-maker-hired-him-for-a-one-time-consulting-role-on-a-new-game-after-he-pointed-out-their-last-games-flaws-2">Dungeons and Dragons</a>, and it kicked off a love affair with strategy-dense games that he's carried with him to today,&#xa0;at age 50.</p><p>"There's nothing obsessive like a kid," Hoffman said in a <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/linkedin-cofounder-reid-hoffman-success-how-i-did-it-2017-11">recent interview</a> for Business Insider's podcast "<a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/success-how-i-did-it/id1205997729">Success! How I Did It</a>."</p><p>"I spent literally days and days and days and days just doing that, and that led me to a sense of strategy which was then, of course, very helpful when I later got to my entrepreneurial and business life."</p><p>Hoffman became engrossed with the process of analyzing the complex rules of games like D&amp;D&#xa0;to&#xa0;find the best opportunities for success.</p><p>He approached each game he played so thoroughly as a kid that when he found what he deemed weaknesses in&#xa0;one particular&#xa0;game's structure, he broke them down in a letter to its maker. The company was so impressed that it hired 12-year-old Hoffman as a credited one-time consultant on its next game.</p><p>Games were so important to Hoffman as a teenager that <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/reid-hoffman-influence-of-the-putney-school-2017-11">he included D&amp;D imagery on his high school diploma</a> upon graduation from&#xa0;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/the-putney-school-reid-hoffman-high-school-2017-11">the Putney School</a>, where students decorate their diplomas to express their passions.</p><p>While Hoffman, like many Silicon Valley power players, received his undergraduate degree from Stanford, he took the highly unusual path of <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/reid-hoffman-linkedin-credits-success-to-philosophy-education-2017-11">pursuing his master's degree in philosophy at Oxford</a>, where he studied thinkers like Aristotle and Nietzsche. Again, he explained, it was the practice of analyzing complex systems of thought that he credited for his preparation for business career.</p><p>The nuts-and-bolts stuff, like learning how to manage teams and spend capital - that came from trial and error during his experiences with SocialNet, PayPal, and LinkedIn, not the classroom.</p><p>As an adult, Hoffman is an avid player of Settlers of Catan, in which players compete to build thriving settlements. He told the Financial Times in October that <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/dd4213c4-b38e-11e7-a398-73d59db9e399">it has several of the same elements of building a startup</a>: "How much do you build for yourself, how much do you position against other people? It's the game that is closest of all the board games to entrepreneurship."</p><p>Hoffman has even developed his own games: <a href="https://www.geekwire.com/2017/settlers-catan-board-game-entrepreneurship-says-linkedin-co-founder-reid-hoffman/">Startups of Silicon Valley</a> (for his friends), essentially Settlers of Catan with Hoffman's metaphor made explicit, and <a href="https://trumpedupcards.com">TrumpedUp Cards</a> (for sale), a satirical game incorporating Hoffman's&#xa0;dislike&#xa0;of President Donald Trump.</p><p>He'll regularly play a game like Settlers of Catan when he has friends over. That way he can continue honing his big-picture strategizing skills while unwinding.<br><br>"I play board games as a way of hanging out," he told the FT. "It's an easy way to be doing something while your conversation is roaming, anything from business, politics, philosophy, what's going on in society."</br></br></p><div></div>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/linkedin-founder-reid-hoffman-on-entrepreneurship-2017-11">LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman did not always identify as an entrepreneur - here's why</a></h3>        <div>                    </div>    </div></hr>

Billionaire LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman can trace his business success back to a childhood hobby he still loves decades later

<p>Most 3D printers on the market, with their sharp, shiny innards exposed, look like they could put your eye out if you make one wrong move.</p><p>Compared to those clunky, industrial-looking competitors, the <a href="https://glowforge.com/">Glowforge</a> - a device that uses lasers to slice through materials and create objects of your design - is the Easy Bake Oven of 3D printers.</p><p></p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image"></div><p></p></div></div><p>Here's how it works: Users can design coasters, toys, leather-bound journals, and more using software like Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, or Sketchup. They can even draw an image by hand. When they're satisfied with their concept art, the user then uploads the image to the Glowforge printing app and places the appropriate material into the machine.</p><p>A bird's eye camera inside the Glowforge autofocuses on the material. The device can recognize what it is - be it wood, plexiglass, fabric, or food - and orient the laser head accordingly. The camera also allows the user to preview and edit a design before the laser begins sculpting.</p><p>When everything's ready, just push the print button. A coaster is made in fewer than seven minutes, while more complicated projects may take a few hours.</p><p>When I discovered the Glowforge in May at the Bay Area Maker Faire in San Mateo, California, it was surrounded by the fruit of its loom: custom game pieces for Settlers of Catan and a Victorian-style dollhouse made of salmon-colored plywood. There was also a picture frame that Shapiro made as a last-minute Mother's Day gift for his wife.</p><p></p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div><p>But each piece on display required additional assembly. Because Glowforge uses subtractive 3D printing technology instead of additive, it can only produce relatively two-dimensional designs. Those objects may be stacked or stitched together, of course, but hobbyists looking to make more complicated hardware or figurines will be better off with a traditional 3D printer.</p><p>Still, the Glowforge has racked up major support from amateur makers. It became the most successful 30-day <a href="http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20151023005509/en/Glowforge-3D-Laser-Printer-Sets-Record-Biggest">crowdfunding campaign</a> in history when it raised $28 million last fall.</p><p>Glowforge has <a href="http://www.geekwire.com/2016/glowforge-delays-shipments-28m-crowdfunding-campaign-ceo-says/">twice delayed</a> shipments, but hopes to start shipping in December. Users will then be able to buy raw materials for the Glowforge from the company's online store as well. It will likely mark up prices for those, however, trading cost for convenience. In most circumstances, designers can gather the materials they need at Home Depot.</p><p></p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div><p>While 3D printers may be going mainstream, they remain a luxury item - the Glowforge is currently <a href="https://glowforge.com/order">available for pre-order</a> for $2,395, and will run about $3,300 upon launch. That's not chump change for a family looking to foster their kids' creativity, or for a young professional who runs an Etsy store on the side.</p><p>Shapiro hopes the Glowforge will nonetheless attract all sorts of makers.</p><p><div></div></p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/3d-printed-motorcycle-made-aluminum-2016-5">This super slick 3D-printed motorcycle is like nothing you've ever seen</a></h3>        <div>            <div>        <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="NxZWlwMzE6NwDdGJH86LgpyehNQfI-9D" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>        </div>        </div>            </div>

This simple 3D printer is the one you might actually want for your home

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>REUTERS/Lucas Jackson</span></p></div><p></p></div></div></p><ul><li><strong>JPMorgan promoted a banker to regional head of the financial sponsors M&amp;A group, in a move that ended his talks for a role at Goldman Sachs.</strong></li><li><strong>JPMorgan is competing fiercely with Goldman to win business advising the portfolio companies of private equity firms with their M&amp;A strategies.</strong></li><li><strong>Banks are expecting a wave of deals from private equity firms which hold $1 trillion in cash globally that they have to put to work - or must return to investors. </strong></li></ul><p>Mahir Zaimoglu was almost a Goldman Sachs employee. Almost, until his JPMorgan bosses offered something sweeter.</p><p>JPMorgan elevated Zaimoglu, an investment banker, to a newly created role heading financial sponsors M&amp;A for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, according to a memo earlier this year.</p><p>Known for being a talented banker to private equity clients, Zaimoglu scored the promise of a raise and backed out of his talks with Goldman, according to people with knowledge of the negotiations. </p><p>While the give-and-take for talent happens often on Wall Street, this particular episode highlights the highly competitive nature of how big banks are gearing up to serve a private equity industry that's sitting on $1 trillion in cash that must be deployed or returned to investors in the coming years.</p><p>The largest banks, already at or near the top of the league tables and looking for new sources of investment banking fees, are searching for ways to wring even more money from their clients.</p><p>Wall Street typically covers private equity with bankers in what's called the financial sponsors group, who focus on the largest private equity firms, such as Blackstone Group or Apollo Global Management, and deal with everything from merger advice to bond underwriting.</p><p>But now, some of the largest banks are pouring resources into teams devoted exclusively to M&amp;A deals for those clients, and increasingly family offices or sovereign wealth funds. These bankers tend to work closely with smaller investors, or directly with the CEOs and finance chiefs of the companies they own, according to David Friedland, head of Goldman's business.</p><p>Their work includes representing companies looking to sell, spin off divisions, buy competitors, or acquire bolt-on businesses. The transactions are often no larger than a few billion dollars, a tier below the mega-deals that capture headlines. <br /><br /><span style="background-color: #ffff99;"></span>While regional investment banks like Harris Williams &amp; Co and Bank of Montreal have traditionally done this kind of work, the largest banks have avoided it because the fees haven't been plentiful enough to justify more bankers. But as private equity firms have amassed more money, that's boosted deal volumes as they put their billions to work. </p><p>The bet that Goldman, JPMorgan, Credit Suisse and others are making is that these M&amp;A bankers will be less distracted by bigger deals and more able to give personalized service.</p><p>"We're trying to target gaps between coverage," Friedland said in an interview at the firm's Manhattan headquarters. "<span style="font-weight: 400;">Our focus is to grow the pie, in terms of both revenue and market share, not just reallocate the slices.</span>"</p><p>Last year, Goldman helped sell Phoenix Services, a company that reclaims metal from the smelting process, to companies owned by Apollo. The bank also advised on the sale of Asmodee, the maker of the Settlers of Catan board games, t<span>o PAI Partners. </span></p><p>Not everyone is convinced. One private equity investor, who asked to remain anonymous, said he doesn't like to pay for M&amp;A expertise. In his estimation, his employees who began their careers at the investment banks know it just as well. Instead, he counts on banks to provide financing, bring a greater diversity of deal flow, and deliver expertise from bankers with a deep knowledge of specific industries, he said. </p><p>Reluctance from private equity isn't going to keep Wall Street from trying. Goldman's effort began with the May 2015 naming of Stephanie Cohen to run what's now known as the financial and strategic investor M&amp;A practice. After Cohen was elevated to chief strategy officer in November, Friedland replaced her. The group now has 26 bankers who target deal sizes between $500 million and $3 billion.</p><p>Deals of that size, where volume can make up for smaller transactions, can mean real money. About 25% of Wall Street's total deal fees have come from private equity clients this year, up from 18% in 2011, according to Dealogic data. Goldman ranks number one in 2018, followed by JPMorgan, according to the data. </p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">"T</span><span style="font-weight: 400;">here's still a perception that Goldman doesn't do deals under $1.5 billion," said Friedland, whose group reports up through the M&amp;A practice run by <span>David "Dusty" Philip, </span><span>Michael Carr and Gilberto Pozzi</span>. "That's no longer true."</span></p><p>It will now face more competition for smaller game. JPMorgan, which has abou<span style="font-weight: 400;">t 50 managing directors across the globe devoted to M&amp;A, took the first steps to a similar business model with Zaimoglu's May promotion. He's been asked to prioritize mandates, make decisions on how to staff projects, and drive performance of the group, </span><span style="font-weight: 400;"></span><span style="font-weight: 400;">according to the memo. Hernan Cristerna, co-head of global M&amp;A for JPMorgan, cited "a real rapid increase in M&amp;A activity led by sponsors" as an impetus for the move. </span></p><p>"<span>They have a</span><span> wall of funds available, and it needs to be deployed," Cristerna said. "We had been expecting this, so we dedicated someone to focus on M&amp;A full-time." </span></p><p>That said, JPMorgan views the business differently than Goldman. It's more concerned with covering existing clients better rather than working with new clients, and it's got a more fundamental mission, Cristerna said.</p><p>"I would like to have the best M&amp;A business on the Street," he said.<span style="font-weight: 400;"></span></p><p class="tagline">Get the latest Goldman Sachs stock price<a href="http://markets.businessinsider.com/stock/GS-Quote"> here.</a></p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/samsung-galaxy-note-9-review-worth-it-2018-8">The Samsung Galaxy Note 9 is a $1,000 phone that's actually worth it</a></h3>        <div>                    </div>    </div>

JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs go head-to-head for talent as Wall Street competes for private equity dollars

<p><span><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/insiderpicks"><em>Insider Picks</em></a></span><em> writes about products and services to help you navigate when shopping online. Insider, Inc. receives a commission from our affiliate partners when you buy through our links, but our reporting and recommendations are always independent and objective.</em></p><p></p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><a href="https://amzn.to/2O5Sv9m" target="_blank" rel="noopener"></a><p class="source"><span>Exploding Kittens</span></p></div><p></p></div></div><p></p><ul class="summary-list"><li>The card game <a href="https://amzn.to/2FeXdie" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Exploding Kittens</a> ($19.99) is always part of our game-night lineup because it's creative, easy to learn, and fun for the whole family. </li><li>It was created in 2015 by a cartoonist, game designer, and creative director trio who wanted to help people connect over physical games again. </li><li><span>Raising more than $8.7 million from more than 219,000 backers on Kickstarter, it's an online crowdfunding legend that has gone on to sell 8 million games worldwide. </span></li></ul><p>The components of a great night in aren't tricky to assemble. Gather your favorite friends and family members, load the table with snacks and drinks, queue up your party playlist, and present a few fun card games. Voila, you can now stay entertained for hours. </p><p>If it's a good game, you'll scream and laugh until your stomach hurts, and you won't want to stop playing (unlike certain games, <em>*cough* ... Monopoly</em> ... that you lose interest and patience in halfway through). </p><p><a href="https://amzn.to/2FeXdie" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Exploding Kittens</a>, created in 2015 by cartoonist Matthew Inman and game designer Elan Lee, is one of those rare games you look forward to taking off the shelf every time you host game night. </p><p></p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><a href="https://amzn.to/2FeXdie" target="_blank" rel="noopener"></a><p class="source"><span>Amazon</span></p></div><p></p></div></div><p></p><h2>From cat cartoons to more than $8 million in the bank </h2><p>Lee, the former Chief Design Officer at Xbox, was initially inspired to create an interactive game that encouraged real-time connection after seeing his young nieces and nephews glued to video game screens. He shared his original "Bomb Squad" game idea with Inman, creator of the popular comic site The Oatmeal, who suggested some tweaks.</p><p>Along with creative director Shane Small, the creators introduced their game, described as a "<span>highly strategic kitty-powered version of Russian Roulette," to the world on Kickstarter in 2015.</span><span></span></p><p><span>The family-friendly game, designed for up to five players, is simple to understand and play: Players draw from a stack of 56 cards until someone draws an Exploding Kitten card, which renders them dead and out of the game. If they have a Defuse card - which are things like laser pointers, belly rubs, and catnip sandwiches - they can live another day. All the other cards in the deck similarly move, weaken, and avoid the dreaded Exploding Kitten card. </span></p><p><span>Initially seeking $10,000, the campaign <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/top-tech-kickstarter-campaigns-of-all-time-2018-8" target="_blank" rel="noopener">raised an astonishing $1 million</a> in only seven hours. As it continued to exceed expectations and reach stretch goals, the creators introduced new cards and expansion packs. </span></p><p></p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><a href="https://amzn.to/2FeXdie" target="_blank" rel="noopener"></a><p class="source"><span>Kickstarter</span></p></div><p></p></div></div><p></p><p><span>All in all, Exploding Kittens raised more than $8.7 million from more than 219,000 backers. Today, it holds the record for the #1 most-backed project as well as the #7 most-funded project in Kickstarter history. </span></p><p><span>Outside of Kickstarter, the game has sold 8 million units worldwide to date and is consistently among the top-selling toys and games across major retailers like <a href="https://amzn.to/2FeXdie" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Amazon</a> and <a href="http://goto.target.com/c/196318/81938/2092?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.target.com%2Fp%2Fexploding-kittens-game%2F-%2FA-26396662" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Target</a>. </span></p><p><span>The company has also created nearly-as-popular games like <a href="https://amzn.to/2CoSSaA" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Bears vs. Babies</a> and <a href="https://amzn.to/2CqXWv3" target="_blank" rel="noopener">You've Got Crabs</a>. It's currently hoping to continue its history of Kickstarter success with "the world's first dodgeball card game," <a href="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/elanlee/throw-throw-burrito" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Throw Throw Burrito</a>. </span></p><h2><span>How to make a card game people will love </span></h2><p><span>Though it may seem like we're living in an increasingly digital world dominated by video games, many people are also running in the opposite direction towards physical, tabletop games. Better than online interactions, these analog games are enabling more natural and immediate connections. Playing games like <a href="https://amzn.to/2ucyFA3" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Settlers of Catan</a>, which has sold more than 20 million copies worldwide, has even <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-04-26/wall-street-s-latest-trend-in-networking-board-game-nights" target="_blank" rel="noopener">become a popular form of networking on Wall Street</a>. </span></p><p><span>It's not easy, however, to create a game that inspires people to get together - and keeps them together. </span></p><p><span>"The creative process for making a tabletop game is mostly finding a core mechanic that makes the people you're playing with entertaining," Lee told Business Insider. Surprisingly, fun shouldn't be the main thing you look for in the next new card game you shop for. </span></p><p><span></span></p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><a href="https://amzn.to/2FeXdie" target="_blank" rel="noopener"></a><p class="source"><span>Exploding Kittens</span></p></div><p></p></div></div><p></p><p><span>"</span>Games are not supposed to be fun," Lee says. "Games are supposed to enable the people playing to entertain each other."</p><p>"The process for creating a game is a nearly endless exploration of mechanics that are evaluated against the criteria, 'Did that just enable an interaction between us that we want to experience again?' The moment the answer is 'Yes,' you know you've got something." </p><p>Something Lee, who comes from a video game background, also discovered about the process of designing table games is that there's no room for mistakes.</p><p>While you you can fix an error in a video game by releasing a patch, "Designing for tabletop offers no such luxuries. Spelling mistakes, unclear rules, and art glitches are printed hundreds of thousands if not millions of times, acting as a permanent shrine to our follies. It's brutal." </p><p>In the very crowded space of card games, all hoping to become part of your game night lineup, <a href="https://amzn.to/2FeXdie" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Exploding Kittens</a> stands out among the rest for its creative execution of a simple, easy-to-grasp premise. There are no over-complicated rules or flimsy cards, only many, many delightful illustrations of cats and entertainment for the whole family. </p><p>You can pick up the original card game for $20 at the below retailers, as well as expansion packs and party versions to enhance the <a href="https://amzn.to/2FeXdie" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Exploding Kittens</a> game experience. </p><h3>Shop the Exploding Kittens Original Card Game (2-5 players) for $19.99 here: <a href="https://amzn.to/2FeXdie" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Amazon</a>, <a href="http://goto.target.com/c/196318/81938/2092?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.target.com%2Fp%2Fexploding-kittens-game%2F-%2FA-26396662" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Target</a>, <a href="https://click.linksynergy.com/deeplink?id=EHFxW6yx8Uo&amp;mid=41098&amp;murl=https%3A%2F%2Fjet.com%2Fproduct%2FExploding-Kittens-Original-Edition%2F8a5bf1ba84da4d3ea5cf87c3b92efb84" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Jet</a>, <a href="http://linksynergy.walmart.com/deeplink?id=EHFxW6yx8Uo&amp;mid=2149&amp;murl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.walmart.com%2Fip%2FExploding-Kittens-Original-Edition%2F48752470" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Walmart</a></h3><h3>Shop the Exploding Kittens Party Pack Game (up to 10 players) for $29.99 here: <a href="https://amzn.to/2FiMlAd" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Amazon</a>, <a href="http://goto.target.com/c/196318/81938/2092?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.target.com%2Fp%2Fexploding-kittens-party-pack-game%2F-%2FA-52423414" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Target</a>, <a href="http://linksynergy.walmart.com/deeplink?id=EHFxW6yx8Uo&amp;mid=2149&amp;murl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.walmart.com%2Fip%2FExploding-Kittens-Party-Pack%2F632287167" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Walmart</a></h3><h3>Shop the Exploding Kittens Everything We've Got Bundle for $161.34 here: <a href="https://amzn.to/2Y16ySg" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Amazon</a></h3><h3><a href="https://amzn.to/2Oadc4b" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Shop all Exploding Kittens products at Amazon here</a></h3> <p class="tagline"><a href="http://e.businessinsider.com/join/ci/insider-picks">Subscribe to our newsletter.</a><br /><br />Find all the best offers at our <a href="https://coupons.businessinsider.com/">Coupons page</a>.<br /><br />Disclosure: This post is brought to you by the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/insiderpicks">Insider Picks</a> team. We highlight products and services you might find interesting. If you buy them, we get a small share of the revenue from the sale from our commerce partners. We frequently receive products free of charge from manufacturers to test. This does not drive our decision as to whether or not a product is featured or recommended. We operate independently from our advertising sales team. We welcome your feedback. Email us at insiderpicks@businessinsider.com.</p>

Exploding Kittens is the most-backed project on Kickstarter to date - here's how a $20 card game became an internet phenomenon

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Facebook</span></p><p class="caption">Facebook's head of people, Lori Goler</p></div><p></p></div></div>As Facebook has swelled to<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/facebook-q1-2016-earnings-2016-4"> 13,600 employees around the globe</a>, it relies on its own social network to keep its "startup feel" alive.</p><p>Facebookers spend all day, every day on the site, using it as a productivity tool to chat and collaborate. But it's also a great way for coworkers to get to know each other on a more personal level. </p><p>The company's internal community has <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/facebook-groups-2016-3">more than 20,000 Groups</a> and although they're primarily work and project focused, many are social. There are affinity groups for parents, "Game of Thrones" fans, and people who love the board game Settlers of Catan, to name a few. </p><p>"We always talk about bringing your 'full self' to work," Facebook's head of people, Lori Goler, tells Business Insider. "You're not a different person when you leave here and go home in the evening than you are during the day."</p><p><span>Having Facebookers get to know their coworkers in a more well-rounded way helps build empathy. Goler recounts one anecdote from several years ago where an employee posted about a serious health crisis that she was going through in one of Facebook's internal employee groups. Immediately, her coworkers rushed to offer their support. </span></p><p><span>"The response was so overwhelmingly warm and amazing and people started tagging the post, "#FBFamily,'" she says. "Before you knew it, FBFamily was appearing everywhere. It had come completely organically from this post, but it took on a life of its own." </span></p><p><span>Goler says that she even started seeing people sporting little rubber bracelets emblazoned with the slogan. </span></p><p><span><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Facebook</span></p></div><p></p></div></div></span></p><p><span>"It became an internal movement almost that reflects the support and closeness and friendliness of the organization," she says. </span></p><p><span>Business Insider has occasionally heard similar sentiments from other employees who enjoy knowing more personal details about coworkers, like one woman who said that she felt more understanding of a manager's terseness in a meeting when she remembered seeing a post about how that person had recently dealt with an illness in family. </span></p><p><span><span>But that tendency towards openness isn't without its detractors. </span><a href="https://www.quora.com/Whats-the-worst-thing-about-working-at-Facebook">In a thread on the question-and-answer site Quora</a><span> about the worst things about working at Facebook, one anonymous poster says that they felt a sort of peer pressure to </span></span>talk about their personal life at work.</p><p>There is a division between identities, at least in the digital realm though. All Facebook employees have a corporate account where they can "follow" their coworkers instead of "friending" them. The company has even <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/why-rbs-is-using-facebook-at-work-2015-11?r=UK&amp;IR=T">launched an enterprise product called Facebook at Work</a> to give other businesses access to its tools. So far, Facebook has on-boarded over 450 companies and has over 60,000 more on the wait list while it's still in closed beta.<span style="font-weight: 400;"> </span></p><p>But within the social networking company, at least, many people still choose to blur the line between work and real life. The average employee has 133 "friends" who work at Facebook on their regular accounts, Goler says.</p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/425-thousand-dollar-tiny-apartment-san-francisco-real-estate-2016-2">Only in San Francisco - inside the 232-square-foot micro apartment that sold for nearly $425,000</a></h3>        <div>            <div>        <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="BhNGFvMDE65yeMsLnBspXS9w_hWAl0Be" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>        </div>        </div>            </div>

How one Facebook employee's health crisis led to a new internal slogan

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container float_right"><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jluster/19019635/">Jonas M Luster/Flickr</a></p></div><p></p></div>Being creative on your <keyword id="93698" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="resume">resume</keyword> can be a good thing. But beware of crossing the line between creative and crazy.</p>
<p>"<span id="docs-internal-guid--cfa2b27-c6fb-72df-cd63-b900108ae39b"><span>People are always thinking, 'Hey, I want to stand out in the job search,' and that's ok," says Katharine Brooks, executive director of personal and career development at Wake Forest University. "But you don't want to stand out by being weird. You want to stand out for excellence."</span></span></p>
<p><span><span>While the most common resume mishaps are typos and misspellings, some people venture to the weird and wacky. Career and recruitment experts weighed in on the most ridiculous things they've seen on <keyword id="6705587" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="resumes">resumes</keyword>.</span></span></p>
<p><strong>1. A plastic foot</strong></p>
<p>"A candidate sent me a plastic foot, with the opening line of her <keyword id="1108959" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="Cover-letter">cover letter</keyword> stating that she wanted to get her 'foot in the door,'" says Brooks. <span style="line-height: 1.5em;">"Throughout the letter she added other foot references such as 'her shoe was the right fit.' It wasn't."</span></p>
<p><strong>2. A vial of fake blood</strong></p>
<p><span>On another occasion, </span><span>Brooks</span><span> received a resume that had a small plastic vial of red-colored liquid attached to it and a note saying the candidate would "sweat blood" for the job.</span></p>
<p>Creative? Yes. But probably not the best way to win over your prospective employer (unless it's Dracula).</p>
<p><strong>3. Body measurements</strong></p>
<p>Gene Gordon, a sourcing expert for recruiting company <a href="http://www.dtoolbox.com/refresh/templates/about.php?id=2">Decision Toolbox</a>, says he once received the following information on a resume:</p>
<ul>
<li><span>Height: 5'4"</span></li>
<li><span>Waist: 28" </span></li>
<li><span>Hips: 33" </span></li>
<li><span>Bust: 34" </span></li>
<li><span>Shirt Size: M</span></li>
<li><span>Pant Size: 5/6 </span></li>
<li><span>Shoe Size: 8 1/2</span></li>
<li><span>Hair: Reddish black</span></li>
<li><span>Eyes: Earth Green</span></li>
</ul>
<p>The physical statistics were in no way relevant to the job application, Gordon added.</p>
<p><strong>4. A table of contents</strong></p>
<p>A good rule of thumb is to keep your resume to only one page. Two pages is pushing it, and anything beyond that is far too long.</p>
<p>Well, Mary Massad, division president of recruiting services at <a href="http://www.insperity.com/" target="_blank">Insperity</a>, says she once received a resume so lengthy that the candidate included a table of contents with it. "<span id="docs-internal-guid--cfa2b27-c6e2-124c-7611-19b39217ade1">A resume should never be so detailed and long that it requires a table of contents," Massad says.</span></p>
<p><strong>5. A chocolate croissant addiction</strong></p>
<p>Just as weird statistics don't belong on your resume, neither do irrelevant interests. Marc Goldman, executive director of the career center at Yeshiva University, says he's seen people list interests such as "eating chocolate croissants" or "Settlers of Catan," the popular board game.</p>
<p>Goldman says people who include random interests on their resumes often do so with the hope of sparking a conversation over a mutual passion with an interviewer. Sometimes that works, but often it doesn't. "<span id="docs-internal-guid--cfa2b27-c6a9-8003-1f97-784903a1a50a">It's certainly a risky thing because it can be looked at as very frivolous," he adds.</span></p>
<p><strong>6. Knowing how to use a paper shredder</strong></p>
<p>There are skills worth mentioning on a resume, and then there are those that will earn an eye roll from your recruiter.</p>
<p>Dana Manciagli, a global career expert and author of "<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Cut-Crap-Get-Search-Process/dp/1935953478" target="_blank">Cut the Crap, Get a Job</a>," has seen her share of arbitrary, outdated skills. Some highlights? Understanding how to use Microsoft Word, the fax machine, and a paper shredder, she says.</p>
<p><strong>7. Proficiency in the English language</strong></p>
<p>When you've got limited space to sell yourself, you don't want to waste it stating the obvious. Goldman says he once received a resume that listed "English" as one of the candidate's languages. <span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Seeing as the resume was written in English, the clarification was not necessary.</span></p>

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