Remember being a kid and wasting away rainy days playing board games with your loved ones? Or playing games of Monopoly that left you sure your sister might try to murder you in your sleep? Ah, the good old days.
In an age where everything is digital, will today's kids grow up with those same rainy day memories and restless nights? Or will they only remember staring at screens and fighting over who gets to be Toad in Mario Kart? While video games and board games alike can both aid distraction and fuel sibling rivalry, can the board game ever reign supreme again, or even be cool for that matter?
Luckily, I'm here to tell you that I'm pretty sure board games are cool again, and you should hop on the bandwagon.
Now, I haven't completed any studies or research so I can't say for sure how cool you will look when you show up at a party boasting about the deluxe edition of Scrabble in your trunk, but bear with me.
One reason I'm pretty into the resurgence of board games is that they have gotten more hilarious and adult in recent years. Some table-top games even revolve around memes, and you know the kids love those things! Not only are they appealing to the things younger audiences may be looking for, but they are also appealing to their sense of humor. Cards Against Humanity set the trend and now the options for card games with silly phrases and insanely funny outcomes are countless!
Even more than games just being more hip today than the riveting games of Parcheesi you played with your Grandma, board games serve as a great equalizer. I have been clumsy, have had terrible aim and maintained a serious lack in athletic skill basically my entire life. That's what makes board games so excellent! Most of them revolve around the luck of the draw or the chance in the dice.
Winning a game based on luck means everyone who enters the game arena is equal and being the loser doesn't mean you sucked, it just means the board game gods suck. No harm, no foul.
Now we can't ignore that board games can lead to some serious beef. Friendships can be ruined at the hands of what you thought would just be an innocent game of Sorry.
But there is something about sitting around with people you like, spending 45 minutes playing a board game and then figuring out that maybe you don't actually like them all that much. Or even better, discovering that not even the hatred inspired by battling through a board game can make you hate the ones you love. So sure its a bit of a 50/50, but I say it's worth it to find out.
Most importantly though, board games give you an opportunity to disconnect from the digital world that consume so much of our lives. They can inspire conversation, will surely lead to laughs and can help you discover a whole new past time to share with those around you.
If you haven't hopped on the board game train yet, call up some friends or fam and plan a board game night. I promise you won't regret it!