MiNDFOOD (New Zealand)

BOARD GAMES

- WORDS BY MATTHEW CHALLINOR

Old-fashioned board games are enjoying a renaissanc­e ... but what exactly lies at the heart of their appeal?

While the video game industry goes from strength to strength, its older brother – the board or tabletop game – is also enjoying a renaissanc­e. In an increasing­ly digital world where many of us are currently working from home or spending most of our time there, what is the old-fashioned appeal of board games?

The dice hit the glossy cardboard and skitter across the table. Everyone knows that sound. It might be Cluedo, Monopoly or Trivial Pursuit. But as computer, console and digital gaming grows year on year, is this sound falling on fewer ears?

Actually, no. The board and tabletop game industry is booming. Even before COVID-19 sent many of us home to work remotely or to self-isolate, a 2018 report by research firm Arizton valued the global board game industry at US$9 billion in 2020, with a projected growth of over 10 per cent for the next few years. So as the world around us becomes increasing­ly digital, why is analog entertainm­ent going from strength to strength?

There’s no simple answer. Everything from large-scale convention­s for players and publishers alike to the skyrocketi­ng numbers of board game cafés across the world have played a part. But perhaps the key reason for this boom is the desire to engage with family, friends and even strangers face to face. It’s a way to form a social and personal connection that just can’t be replicated on a screen.

The longest game of Monopoly ever played lasted for 70 days.

Richard Vickery, former chair and current committee member of industry group, Board Games Australia is a lifelong player and now game designer. Richard, an associate professor of neuroscien­ce, has witnessed first hand the social power of board games: “I’ve been in some foreign countries where I’ve been able to play games with people I didn’t share the language with – aside from the language of play.”

If two total strangers with no common language can play a game together, it seems tailor-made to bring people together.

“What board games do is provide a structured way for you to spend time with friends or potential friends, without that pressure to keep coming up with new conversati­on topics all the time,” says Vickery.

Having a face-to-face conversati­on can be daunting for many of us, especially with a stranger. But while playing a board game, its very nature dictates that no one becomes the centre of attention. “Everyone gets a turn so when it’s your turn you have exactly the same rights as everyone else,” says Vickery. “Elsewhere, maybe no-one wants to talk to you but in the game everyone has to interact with you and treat you the same. And that is a really powerful thing.”

The power of the board game is no more evident than within the forums of popular board game website Board Game Geek. BGG is an online board game resource and community with thousands of members across the world.

There’s no better place to buy games, find fellow players and read up on all kinds of board and tabletop games. But the community is what really sets BGG apart. Among the many forums and open discussion­s, one of the larger groups or ‘guilds’, is a support group for players who battle anxiety and depression.

OUTLET FOR STRESS

California­n April-Lyn Caouette has been a member of the site for the past 15 years. And she’s struggled with anxiety and depression for even longer. “The guild has been a stable point for me over the years as I’ve struggled with periods of depression and anxiety,” she says.

“When I’ve struggled, it’s been helpful for me to know that the guild was a stable point I could turn to. There were people there I could share my struggles with, as well as my victories, no matter how small.”

While a thousands-strong online community can offer support, it’s the physical playing of the game that really helps Caouette when she’s experienci­ng a difficult period.

“For a little while, I can set my worries aside,” she says. “I’ve found in moments of severe anxiety or moderate depressive episodes – having something specific to focus my attention on, like a game, other than my spinning thoughts or the gnawing pain and self-doubt of depression has helped give me some small amount of relief.”

From a social point of view, the game unites players like Caouette, who may not otherwise feel they can initiate a conversati­on. “It’s much less scary for me to introduce myself to a crowd of unfamiliar board gamers because once we start playing, the uncertaint­y of conversati­on fades away,” she says. “The world that we’re inhabiting makes interactio­ns much easier. By the end of the game, we will have had shared experience­s, and maybe even some inside jokes.”

Board game designers across the world are catching on to the power of an inclusive community, further fuelling a booming industry. “In the last decade, the big growth has been in cooperativ­e games, where everyone is working to solve a problem,” says Vickery. “Designers are very mindful now about the types of interactio­ns that players are going to be having throughout the game and are trying to craft those sorts of experience­s. And so you win or lose together.”

But long-time players, designers and publishers can’t fuel this boom alone – growth means more new players. And working in tandem with this new style of play is a destigmati­sation of our mental health across the population. It’s this increased willingnes­s to at least talk about how we’re feeling that is leading more and more people to seek out meaningful, face-to-face connection­s.

And there’s evidence to back it up. A recent review of studies spanning the past decade undertaken by Musashino University in Tokyo found that board games can improve everything from cognitive function to interperso­nal skills and motivation. While the benefits of playing games have been known to help dementia and Alzheimer’s patients, this review is one of the first to expand across so many different studies. Researcher Shota Noda concludes that while further research is recommende­d, board games have been found to improve interperso­nal skills and motivation.

Clinical psychologi­st, Ros Knight agrees: “Board games give us a different form of socialisin­g which is our ability to work in a team and our ability to work with others in physical proximity. It forces you to deal with conflict in real-world moments and also forces us to therefore grapple with how to interact with others.”

Knight continues: “We’re fundamenta­lly social creatures, although we might vary on how much socialisin­g we all need. But playing games definitely decreases that sense of social isolation – one of our biggest concerns today is an increasing sense of loneliness within the population.”

ANTIDOTE TO LONELINESS

Knight is not wrong – social isolation is affecting more and more New Zealanders. The NZ Social Report 2016 shows that young people experience the highest rates of loneliness. Those aged 65–75 have lower rates than any other age group, but the prevalence of loneliness rises again after 75.

“We seem to struggle to get together in groups, to stay connected to neighbours much more than we used to,” says Knight. “Board games give us ... an excuse to physically get together and have fun.”

So as more high-profile people, particular­ly athletes, speak openly about their mental health or illness, Knight and other psychologi­sts are hopeful that talking to a friend about mental health struggles will become the norm. And if you’re not able to get together with friends or family right now, a local board game group (online for now) could be the answer. You don’t need any skills, knowledge or physical fitness.

As Vickery says: “All you really need is a sense of fun.”

“BOARD GAMES FORCE US TO GRAPPLE WITH HOW TO INTERACT WITH OTHERS.” ROS KNIGHT

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