Board Games: An Often Forgotten Pastime

As our lives become more and more consumed with technology and the technology itself becomes smaller and more conveniently carried, many of our old forms of entertainment have fallen by the wayside due to the perception of being clunky and cumbersome.

While I am all for progress and am in no way a luddite, I do think the rapid pace of progress in the 21st Century tends to leave some unnecessary casualties behind its wake.

Among these potential casualties is the old fashioned board game. Why waste the storage or take the time to set up these awkward bulky boxes filled with plastic and cardboard when we can just put in a paper-thin disc in our console of choice, ready to play at the push of a button? Why are these boxes of joy from a bygone era still worth our time?

Firstly, I do realize the irony in the author and reader participating in this discussion inevitably from one of these 21st century devices but allow me to try and convince you that many things are better done in moderation.

Have you actually stopped to think just how much of our day is spent staring at a screen? I used to work in office 10 hours a day and was an avid consumer of television and film when I was at home. Throw in the constant use of my smartphone throughout the day and I would wager I spent more time staring at a screen than being aware of my immediate surroundings. This can’t be healthy.

Take a break from the virtual and get real for a minute! Board games give us a much needed respite from staring at technology the majority of our waking hours, allowing us to instead look our friends and family in the eyes and have genuine human contact. There is a suggested link between the rise in depression and the consumption of virtual entertainment by today's modern man. It is easy to waste time virtually interacting with people, fooling ourselves into believing it is the same as the visceral experience of interacting directly and organically with our fellow human beings. We are social animals and it has been argued that we need these genuine social interactions almost as much as we need air to breath and food to eat to sustain our existence.

Get tactile! Board games allow us to use our hands and bodies in ways that digital technology cannot come close to competing with. If you have ever played Monopoly (the board game) you have to admit that there is a significant difference between a video game version and the original board game. In the board game you can feel the caste metal piece in your hand as you triumphantly slam it down on Boardwalk, ready to take your hard earned real paper money and toss it confidently to the banker with assured victory. The roll of the dice in many games like this is another tactile experience that software just cannot emulate. Every person has a technique unique to their strategy of rolling the preferable number on the six sided die. The feel as it rolls out of your hand. The sound as it travels across the designated playspace. These things create an air of anticipation that is like no other experience. This is likely why casinos are still a thriving business and why people sitting solo at the slot machines look so much more bored than the people gathered around the tables where the real action is.

So, before you spring clean your old board games, packing them away in a storage unit somewhere never to be seen again, take the time to give them one more go with your friends and family. Then decide if it is truly a waste of time and space. I guarantee you will think twice before packing them away.