4 Reasons Board Games Won’t Die
In a world where video games exist, some might wonder why anyone still bothers to play board games.
The devotees of board games are far from the last of a dying breed, clinging desperately to an outmoded form of entertainment. Rather, they are a growing group of people who are continually amazed and delighted by the explosion of the tabletop gaming industry over the last decade.
Board games instigate real socializing
When our social lives were overturned in March of 2020, we started to understand the limitations of virtual social interactions.
While face-to-face interaction was normal and highly available, we convinced ourselves that digital interactions were more convenient and offered the same benefits. In certain contexts that may be true, but for building friendships through leisure-time, video games and Zoom calls don’t cut it.
I’ve attended my share of LAN parties, but after a certain age they become less appealing. Everybody sits in a room together, glued to their screens, talking on headsets so they don’t get an echo. The best part of a LAN party is between the games, snacking and chatting.
Board games offer a nonstop experience of the best part of the LAN party. You’re cracking jokes, connecting, and seeing everyone’s subtle facial expressions and body language.
When a house party doesn’t excite you or your potential guests, adding board games to the mix can be the reason to get together.
Video games stand on their shoulders
Game developers today owe their jobs to games like Dungeons and Dragons, which used pen, paper, some dice, and figurines to make an endlessly playable experience.
Some designers even talk about building their prototype in tabletop format first, because board games demand such efficiency and transparency compared to video games. In video games the rules are hidden, and as the designer, you may not realize they suck until it’s too late.
Board games have to accomplish a lot with a little. Components are limited, and the rules have to be enacted by players which requires them to be relatively simple and few in number.
And no matter how sophisticated video games get, there’s always room for another hybrid like the wildly popular Hearthstone.
Board games are tactile
Why do we visit cathedrals and national parks, and all sorts of places of beauty and grandeur and interest, and stand and gaze at them from the exact spot where we saw a picture of them online?
What we see on a screen can never replace the real experience. Our bodies are made to experience life fully.
Board games leverage our imagination, but at least we have something to hold onto. The components of every board game are different. Every video game uses the same tactile components…our mouse and keyboard or controller.
There are benefits to removing the requirement to manufacture physical elements and package them in a box. But humans will always return to the tactile, to the thing that engages their hands. The experience of picking up and putting down in tabletop gaming, of reaching across the table to the resource pile, or thumbing through the manual, all adds to the grounding, interactivity of the experience.
Board games are a lot of work
If I haven’t cracked open a board game in a while, or feel busy with work, or am uncertain about a new group of people I’m playing with, the thought of setting up a board game can feel overwhelming.
We multitask a lot when playing board games. We switch between all the gaming aspects of following rules, strategizing, doing arithmetic, and the social aspects of being funny, kind, engaging, and teaching or asking questions. We experience a full “workout”.
We stop playing video games because we’re bored or we have to move on with life.
We stop playing board games because we’re satiated.
The rise and innovations of board games continue to fascinate me. Don’t sleep on board games! They have an exciting present and future.
What’s something that would compel you to play a board game over a video game?
