[tosers4]

They are just games, nothing geeky about them. It's actually pretty popular here to play checkers/droughts in pubs (specially old, cheap pubs for the working class), occasionally you see someone playing chess, but the older crowed didn't actually learn chess, and the younger crowd is more focused on digital, it seems. Usually here you see Sueca [1] mostly, followed by Dominoes, and then checkers, again, you don't see much chess not because it's for "intellectuals" but because it's simply not popular enough so very few people know how to play, and playing is a very social local thing.

And ofc, there is always people standing around watching someone play. It's a usual sight to enter a pub and a 4 guys in a table playing Sueca in silence, surrounded by some folks watching. It's even more interesting because Sueca "etiquette" makes it a silent game during play, but after, during count, deal, etc, everybody is commenting, add alcohol and people watching, and it's a marvelous thing.

[1]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sueca_(card_game)

[petercooper]

It's probably cultural in my case. I was brought up in a working class environment where playing these sort of games and puzzles was not commonplace and my interest in them was seen as a bit geeky :-) Now you mention it, I've seen plenty of videos from other countries where people are playing chess and the likes on the street, so my perspective of the game is probably peculiar to my upbringing.

[andrepd]

Sueca is actually a pretty interesting and complex game. Bridge-lite if you will.

[tosers4]

It's seems way different, but i guess in spirit they are.

Also, the stereotypes associated with both: -> Drunkard man in a pub drinking their cheap wine/beer - Sueca -> Drunkard woman at friend's house drinking their cheap wine - Bridge