The Golden Age of Board Games

[ysabetwordsmith]

Here's a thoughtful article about the rising popularity of board games.  

I'll add another point: better construction options.  Used to be you were restricted to what you could do with standard dice, pawns, paper, and a few other simple materials -- unless you could afford the ruinously expensive process of creating all new pieces.  Now you can buy much fancier stuff from designer hobbyshops, and many of those pieces can easily be customized.  That makes it simple to design a prototype of a game, and if it proves popular, you can then crowdfund an upgrade with custom equipment.  Some of the most popular modern games have gone through iterations like that.

Yay, facetime!

Comments

[redsixwing]

That is exceptionally cool. It's good to see the hobbies that don't require anything more than light and creativity getting some love - it's hard to play most video games multiplayer and have it really be a social activity, and board games played in face-space are among my personal favorite social things.

There was a great interlude a couple years ago: my company's HR department had a holiday thing going during work hours. They had punch and snacks, and they also set out a giant puzzle, and every time the rotating group of quiet people completed it, they'd come over and shuffle it up again.

-That- is how you get a bunch of shy, introverted, and socially awkward engineers to participate in your holiday party!

Better construction methods, and crowdfunding, are making a huge difference in tabletop RPGs, too. This is why we -can- have nice things.

Thoughts

[ysabetwordsmith]

>> It's good to see the hobbies that don't require anything more than light and creativity getting some love - it's hard to play most video games multiplayer and have it really be a social activity, and board games played in face-space are among my personal favorite social things. <<

I agree. I've no interest in computer games; it's more the interaction with people that makes a game appealing to me. Abstract ones rarely grab me; I need a strong storyline, engaging information, and/or fun actions to hold my interest.

>> There was a great interlude a couple years ago: my company's HR department had a holiday thing going during work hours. They had punch and snacks, and they also set out a giant puzzle, and every time the rotating group of quiet people completed it, they'd come over and shuffle it up again. <<

That is brilliant!

>> -That- is how you get a bunch of shy, introverted, and socially awkward engineers to participate in your holiday party! <<

Agreed. It's all about understanding people's different needs, and then taking steps to accommodate that, rather than trying to force everyone into one mold.

I was helping manage a gathering room at WisCon once, and suggested that we run off conversation-starting questions and leave them on the tables. That was fun. I've also been in consuites that had demo games out for people to play -- that's how we discovered Fluxx.

>> Better construction methods, and crowdfunding, are making a huge difference in tabletop RPGs, too. This is why we -can- have nice things. <<

Yes, it's quite exciting.

[cxcvi]

It's also a lot easier to prototype decks of cards, due in part to Magic: The Gathering, and the rising popularity of card sleeves that you can just slide a piece of paper into in front of the card.

[stardreamer]

I still miss my old board-gaming group from Nashville. Between our erratic out-of-town schedule and everyone else having kids, it just doesn't happen here.

Yes...

[ysabetwordsmith]

My partner Doug is a gamer spanning many genres. We have an entire closet shelf of tabletop games ... maybe about a cubic yard? We don't get a lot of opportunities to play in groups, but it happens a few times a year. Some of our favorites include ImagineIff, Fluxx, and more recently Bandu.

Re: Yes...

[stardreamer]

Totally off-topic, I found one of your business cards in a pile of stuff on my bedside table! No idea where I might have picked it up, but obviously we've physically crossed paths at some point.

Re: Yes...

[ysabetwordsmith]

Wow, that's awesome! Let's see, I've done science fiction conventions, Renaissance Faires, Pagan events, etc. mostly in the midwest area.

Re: Yes...

[stardreamer]

I used to do more stuff in that direction when I lived in Nashville, but I don't think the card was that old. It gives your address as a PO box in Charleston, IL, if that signifies anything.

Since I've been here... Rivercon/Conglomeration (until the latter collapsed, and haven't made it back to the reconstituted version), InConjunction at least once, Chambanacon a couple of times, Archon a few times (and the Archon NASFIC), the ill-fated Barataria Faire in Springfield, IL, and OVFF once. Any of those sound likely?

Re: Yes...

[ysabetwordsmith]

Most likely Archon. We went there a number of times.

Game design thoughts

[zeeth_kyrah]

I actually have a board game I imported via far-memory, that I'd like to get published someday. The name doesn't work for Earth as it doesn't translate with the proper social context ("Total Amoeboid Form" is not so exciting for humans to say; it flows much better in the original language), but a couple of other names I have in mind should do quite well (like "Rampage" or "Meeting of Elephants", as the pieces can move in groups or separately, like members of a herd).

All I really need to do is revamp the rules a little to add example pictures (they're pretty simple if you leave out the advanced competition stuff like handicapping, but figuring out which pieces to take in a swap-move can be complex) and get a full board and set of pieces made. I have a squared-off board I made by hand a while back, but that's not the right shape.

Re: Game design thoughts

[ysabetwordsmith]

>> ("Total Amoeboid Form" is not so exciting for humans to say; it flows much better in the original language), but a couple of other names I have in mind should do quite well (like "Rampage" or "Meeting of Elephants", as the pieces can move in groups or separately, like members of a herd). <<

Hmmm ... Blob Riot? Plasma Match?

>> All I really need to do is revamp the rules a little to add example pictures <<

Go for it.