Why Board Games?

    Everyone in this hobby knows this situation: you’re asked what you like to do in your free time by a friend or co worker and you casually reply that you enjoy board games. Nine times out of ten this answer is met with a response of confusion as they think you’re someone who loves their monopoly a little too much, but in all honesty maybe they’re right to be a little taken away by our answer as what we do is definitely strange when you look at it. I mean what is it that draws us to these bits of cardboard and plastic?

    From the outside looking in, our hobby is a silly one don’t you think? A group of adults gathering around what is essentially designed to be a plaything, memorizing complicated rule sets, and then working to break those guidelines in order to create a form of engine leading to victory. On paper, it sounds absolutely ridiculous but there has to be some sort of allure to these games or else none of us would have spent as much as we have on some of these boxes of cardboard and bits. So what is the number one reason that gamers have for gathering round a table full of plastic ships and tokens?

    Well, from anyone who’s taken even a small dip into the hobby could tell you board games are easily the best outlet for a social gathering without the ever awkward concept of forced small talk. Want to get to know someone better? Break out a copy of Settlers of Catan. Once the game itself gets rolling and the players get into it then the conversation just magically happens. In fact in my own gaming group that I meet up with I’ve started to notice a trend towards the beginning of the night, as people shuffle in there’s always sort of a dead silence with very light conversation going on. However, once those first games start up man does that place come to life. I can’t say that this is a trend everywhere but I’ve noticed a similar effect happen whenever I invite friends over for gaming. Just can go to show the power of games to break the ice and create a booming social environment that I think any seasoned gamer could agree with.

    That does leave one question however, what about the deep strategy or resource management games? Where every player is usually silent and deep in thought and the social interactions are very minimal. Well, lets take a step back in time to a different era, known as the mid 90s. The Nintendo 64 was in every household and after school groups of friends would get together around one TV and play four player games like Goldeneye and Mario Kart 64. Sure, it wasn’t the most elegant way of doing things compared to today’s standards but some of my best memories with multiplayer video games were had with four friends watching a single small TV simply by the fact of being around others. Human beings are social creatures by nature even if we’re not having deep political conversations, just being around others around a table pushing cubes around silently can feed this social need that we unknowingly crave.

    I have left out the number one reason that everyone I know chooses to play board games, they are just plain fun. I mean, how often do you get to adventure through ravenous dungeons slaying large beasts, cultivate an entire city and help it prosper, or even run your own galactic empire while declaring war on your opponents? All that from the comfort of your own table, all you need is some open minded friends.

    Now this is a subject that we’ve only just touched on and its one I want to continue to explore as time goes on because as stated earlier this hobby is a strange one when you write it all out on paper. I’ve still yet to cover our need to “break” games, the cult of the new phenomenon, and our ability to sometimes get into character. These are definitely concepts I plan to conquer as time goes on and I continue to explore why we do certain things in our hobby.