Role Play Games

“It was in Bánk that I learned to play. And, ho-ho, this is important! Not just king-of-the-mountain, capture-the-flag, and chess – in Bánk, I learned to take every game seriously. And something I never experienced anywhere else: I learned to switch from make believe to serious at a moment’s notice. Anyone can pretend to be the terrible Red-Eyed Rod Gehenna and dash into the peaceful mess hall without warning, breathing fumes and spitting blood, to bring death to the pale-faces if they don’t hand over the Big Treasure by supper-time. Anyone, anywhere can do that. But to leave the room with a blood-curdling whoop, only to turn on your heels just outside the door, stroll back in, and start spooning up your soup, so that not even the littlest squirt in the place thinks to ask you, ‘Hey, Fekó, was that you playing the bandit just now?’ – you only saw that in Bánk.” (Ferenc Fekó Oplatka)