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Technology Games

Board Games Are Getting Really, Really Popular (wired.com) 43

Posted by msmash from the closer-look dept.
An anonymous reader shares a report: Jonathan Kay, co-author of the new book Your Move: What Board Games Teach Us About Life, has largely given up on movies and TV, and has instead made tabletop gaming his primary mode of recreation. "It has a social function in my life, and an intellectual function," Kay says in Episode 392 of the Geek's Guide to the Galaxy podcast. "I've now written a book about it, so I guess it has a professional, editorial function. It's a huge part of my life." Kay wrote the book together with Joan Moriarty, who works full-time at the Snakes & Lattes board game cafe in Toronto. The concept of a board game cafe may be unfamiliar to many, but Kay believes that Snakes & Lattes is an important institution.

"I'm not sure if it's still the biggest board game cafe in North America, but I think it might be the oldest single-purpose urban board game cafe," he says. "And the Snakes & Lattes business model became a model for people creating board game cafes in other cities." The rise of such cafes is a testament to the growing popularity of board games. Sales quadrupled between 2013 and 2016, and the annual Gen Con convention now attracts over 70,000 attendees, Kay among them. He enjoys the laid back atmosphere among the mostly quiet, bookish gamers. "Introverts are actually usually very careful about their social interactions, because they know that if there's conflict that emerges, they won't know how to manage it," he says. "So as a result there's a heightened sense of politeness and consideration at these places."
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Board Games Are Getting Really, Really Popular More

Board Games Are Getting Really, Really Popular

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  • micro transactions killed video games (Score:3)

    by known_coward_69 ( 4151743 ) on Monday December 23, 2019 @03:02PM (#59551010)

    along with making the controls so complicated that you need weeks to figure out all the combos

    • I'll fully agree with you micro transactions are really killing games. Honestly I'd say controls and complexity though 99% of them are going miles in the opposite direction. I remember so many games I spent hours on trying to figure out where to go. Following directions like "travel east from this place.. when you see a big rock turn right. Getting lost for hours, completing 10 side quests by mistake trying to figure out where to go. Now, almost every game is "FOLLOW THE BIG BLINKING ARROW ABOVE YOUR HE

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Dunbal ( 464142 ) *
        There are plenty of decent games out there that don't have micro-transactions.

        • There are plenty of decent games out there that don't have micro-transactions.

          Yes, but it's not like the industry is looking to have a nice coexistence between F2P games and no-BS games. Jedi Fallen Order was an anomaly of 2019; every other EA title released this year had them, and maybe two from 2018. Activision's combo breaker for the past two years is Sekiro Die Twice, and the Spyro remastered trilogy, which only half-counts because it's not a new game at all, they just didn't retcon IAPs into it. Oh...Diabolo Immortal? lol....

          Heading over to the iOS App Store, over half of the to

      • The controls are more complex. Compare a modern controller to an Atari joystick or NES controller. There're more buttons and as a result more that you can do. However, the games themselves tend to be far more friendly to casual players. Not every game from the 80's was difficult, but there are plenty of examples of games that had punishing difficulties. There're even games (Dark Souls, Cuphead, etc.) that advertise themselves by harkening back to that time and make the challenge and unforgiving gameplay a p
        • "tight narrative, and some people don't even really like stories in their games and just want solid gameplay elements." I don't mind stories in games, but it pisses me off when you are FORCED to sit through a 10+ minute intro which cannot be skipped by any means. Years ago, I wanted to try Prince of Persia on a friend's PSP, being a fan of the old PC versions. The intro was so long, with no way to skip it, I just handed the PSP back to my friend in disgust. Very long fade ins and outs are a very irritating

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by _xeno_ ( 155264 )

        Now, almost every game is "FOLLOW THE BIG BLINKING ARROW ABOVE YOUR HEAD.... WHEN YOU SEE AN ENEMY PRESS X TILL IT STOPS MOVING!".

        This is because modern games are so complex that they're basically impossible to complete unless you play them straight through, start to finish. If I put a game down for a few days, I might as well start over at the beginning, because I am never going to remember the absurd mechanics required to do things.

        Sure, it'll tell you "you must defeat the giant glowy guy" but it won't mention that only one gun will work on it and that you have to tackle it in a very specific scripted order, that was taught to you o

        • ""Now, almost every game is "FOLLOW THE BIG BLINKING ARROW ABOVE YOUR HEAD.... WHEN YOU SEE AN ENEMY PRESS X TILL IT STOPS MOVING!". This is because modern games are so complex that they're basically impossible to complete unless you play them straight through, start to finish" If the game is so complex it needs to result in this kind of handholding, it's time to reconsider how games are designed. This is only a slight step above those god-awful FMV games that plagued the mid 1990s.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by rtb61 ( 674572 )

        Dude if you are sick of first person shooters, stop buying first person shooters, can I suggest any of the following, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org] and see that column for genres, type of games, pick ones that are not, first person or third person shooter and of course with a release date, say anytime in the last ten years. I like older games myself and have many on Steam but have stopped buying from Steam because they force game upgrades, that break the game, demand new agreements to give up your priva

    • I figured it was the lack of originality that killed video games. How many clones of Doom do we need? Is Doom 7 really that much different on PS4 than on XBox that someone should own both systems? Then add in that there are plenty of fanatics who jump on the new game as soon as it comes out - which makes multiplayer pretty hopeless for those who have 9-5 jobs and other non-gaming obligations - and the incentive for normal people to buy games right away diminishes pretty quickly.

      When I go to Target, B

      • Mario Odyssey sold over 15 million copies so far. That's far from dead.

        Video games are not dead. There are lots of amazing games out, more than I could ever possibly play.

      • I'd suggest going on Steam. The list of games available today is so large it might as well be infinite. The range equally so.

        If you do all your food shopping at the garage forecourt I guess the choice of foods available today would seem equally as limited.

    • The last game I actually had fun playing was the original Quake. It sucked over dialup but damn was it fun. Unreal Tournament wasn't bad either.

      • The last game I actually had fun playing was the original Quake. It sucked over dialup but damn was it fun.

        It sucked less over dialup than any other game of similar complexity, that's for damnsure.

        Unreal Tournament wasn't bad either.

        I played tons of UT, and even more TO (TacOps, a UT terr/counterterr mod). That was a great time for gaming.

      • Ah yes. I remember the "suicide punts" where players with broadband connections would rapidly suicide/respawn to knock dial-up players off of the server. When we wern't dealing with suicide-DOS'ers, we had some extremely fast and tight deathmatches. Just blam-blam-blam-blam in the episode selection map with almost no break in the action. My favorite DM mods were the homing rockets and the grappling hook. Fun times.

    • micro transactions killed video games

      Single player games (sans micro-transactions) are very popular now...

      Apple Games thing has a whole app store filled with games you just download and enjoy, no further transactions.

      Even Star Wars Battlefront II, original poster child for micro-transactions, completely dumped that whole concept and is simply a game now.

  • Luddite game night (Score:5, Interesting)

    by LatencyKills ( 1213908 ) on Monday December 23, 2019 @03:09PM (#59551042)
    My wife and I host a Luddite game night - sometimes once a month, and sometimes a little more frequently. We play a whole host of games, some more classically board or card game-ish (Trivial Pursuit, Pictionary, Cards Against Humanities, Oh Hell), others newer (Settlers of Cataan, Witch Hunt, Secret Hitler, Liars Dice, Coup) - the only requirement being that it is a game that doesn't require electricity. Our attendees span in ages between 18 and 60. Sometimes we'll add in a pot luck element. I for one am thrilled at a night away from the screen.

    • night away from the screen

      No Problem! Microsoft has an answer for that: Microsoft's 2008 Surface 'coffee table' [windowscentral.com]. It'll BE your bored (!) game, whichever one you want. All you have to do is let Microsoft track your dice rolls for you.

    • I have managed to reconnect with lots of old friends and even a few relatives with an occasional "Game Night" in the past year. Some decent finger-foods, some adult beverages and it's like being at a party, but without the loud music and without everyone trying to get laid. And far less vomiting.

  • Games are more then the game. (Score:3)

    by jellomizer ( 103300 ) on Monday December 23, 2019 @03:23PM (#59551072)

    There is a lot to say playing a game with people that you are near by with.
    Just yesterday I was playing Munchkin (granted it is a card game not a board game) with my friends. I found it far more enjoyable compared to playing an online game with them.
    1. We see each other non-verbal communication. We know if someone is stressed or doing well, we know when to take it easier on them, or to play harder. It is still a game so winning isn't everything.

    2. We can be more creative. Video Games often have to limit its rules to what is programmed. We can agree on alternate rules for the game, Eg Free Parking you get what is in the bank for longer game play or forgetting to ask for money when someone lands on your property leads to you forfeiting you revenue.

    3. Most games prevent experts from dominating. Online games, you will often have that one or two friend(s) who have practiced the game, where they know all the moves and combo. While you are just walking in walls, when playing for fun, one sided games with friends isn't so fun. It is just as bad if you have to play easy to make it fare for you less skilled friends.

    • When in college, we use to play crazy eights for bongs. Great game.

      Use to play spades and pinochle till the sun came up. Spades, back gammon, chess, yatzee, Dungeons and Dragons with books and multi sided dice.

      All of the above were games you could play with people as you talked and had a good time. All in the same place. Now, you don't even see a face when you play games.

      Not against console/computer games. But their is a time and place for both.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Ambvai ( 1106941 )

      Forfeiting money by not asking for it in Monopoly is actually a standard rule which I find rarely enforced except under tournament play; there's an interesting interview with a champion player talking about how he plays with a custom piece that's powder-coated the same color as the board to render it difficult to see on the board and thus easily forgettable.

      • Not seeing where you piece is, also has advantages other then squatting properties.
        Timing on when to build on properties, or determining which property to mortgage or buy back. Is based on where you are in the game and the chances that someone else will hit these spots.

  • "The first board game cafe" - nope (Score:3, Informative)

    by Tora ( 65882 ) on Monday December 23, 2019 @03:38PM (#59551148)

    Sorry, these have existed for decades. I don't know what was first, but I ran a game store with this play-friendly board game format and we had an attached restaurant (from another company, but we were partnered). That was in ~2003. Most game stores are a money-pit however, more a labor of love than anything else. For me, we shut down because of budget/partner issues and a different opinion of what direction to take things (I wanted to focus more on just board games, where my partner wanted to branch out more).

    There is another from Utah which has been around since around 2006, and it started as 100% pure board games only. I don't know what they've become since, however.

    • I lived in Tokyo (Kawasaki) for a month with my daughter, and -- there were board game cafes all over the place.

  • "Introverts are actually usually very careful about their social interactions, because they know that if there's conflict that emerges, they won't know how to manage it," he says. "So as a result there's a heightened sense of politeness and consideration at these places."

    That's not going to survive past a certain level of popularity. Once the normies get involved it's going to become just another flavor of the same-old-same-old.

    • because they know that if there's conflict that emerges, they won't know how to manage it," he says. This guy is confusing Introverts with Autism. Introverts tend to find social interactions with acquaintances or large groups tiresome and irritating, they do NOT have problems knowing how to handle those situations.

      • Introverts tend to find social interactions with acquaintances or large groups tiresome and irritating, they do NOT have problems knowing how to handle those situations.

        One might reasonably argue that if they were better at those situations, they'd enjoy them more.

        • It's difficult to motivate yourself to practice something you don't enjoy. And it doesn't follow that better understanding will lead to more enjoyment, it's also likely it will lead to condescension and contempt where you've learned the "rules" for manipulating social situations.

        • Introverts tend to find social interactions with acquaintances or large groups tiresome and irritating, they do NOT have problems knowing how to handle those situations.

          One might reasonably argue that if they were better at those situations, they'd enjoy them more.

          Introverts find large group social interactions draining even when they enjoy them.

    • Sounds more like he's talking about a bunch of people who interact as minimally as possible to avoid getting metoo'd. I've never known nerds or gamers to be that reserved when gaming.

  • I can't watch less and less movies, don't know why.
    Perhaps spoiled by good TV series?
    And I'm an old fart, not a teen with an attention span like a gnat, but I always catch myself doing fast forward a lot, some movies I'm at the end after 5-10 minutes.
    Is it me or is it the movies?
    Something in the water perhaps?

    • Nah, after a while you really have seen it all. All movies start seeming very familiar, because they are all just re-hashes of the same essential set of plots and twists. They are also aimed at the largest popular audience, so they rarely contain any real depth of intellectual stimulation.

  • Do they have an app for that?

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Bigbutt ( 65939 )

      Actually quite a few apps. Ticket to Ride has several maps available in its app. Splendor, Elder Sign, Galaxy Trucker, Sentinels, to name the few I have.

      [John]

    • There is a Milton-Bradley Dark Tower fan remake available for Android. It can either be played as a full fledged computer board game, or just used as a sunstitute for the tower if you have the actual board game, but the tower part is broken or missing. It's not very deep, but good enough for a quick romp. I loved Dark Tower back when I was a kid in the early 1980s.

  • If anyone is looking for a good starter selection of accessible, lighter family games to try for the first time, I highly recommend Shut Up & Sit Down's 15 Great Games to Fill Your Table This Christmas [shutupandsitdown.com]. (Well, last Christmas).

    I personally own 12 of the games on the list (along with my 90 other games) and can attest to their quality and popularity.

  • I have a whole closet full of boardgames. I love them. Others do not. Cards against humanity is pretty much the only that gets played from the closet. Special occasions mean I MIGHT get to break out heroquest if I've written a neat thematic "quest" for the players.

    Tabletop wargaming though. It's a sleeping giant. I play every weekend. Every friend I have that sees my armies wants to play. Even the girlfriends have killteams.

  • They never went out of fashion. Your failure to see that, or understand that things can be popular outside your hearing about it, doesnt change that nothing has changed boardgames being played the last 40+ years of my life.

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