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Why should busy adults try board gaming? It's a good question.
I’m relatively new to the world of Board Games. Typically, family games such as Monopoly, Cluedo and Connect 4 were a staple growing up. In my teens, I migrated to Warhammer 40k and then to Magic The Gathering in my early 20s. That was before work took over and I dropped out of the hobby entirely.
It wasn’t until I had children of my own that I started to reconnect with this often-overlooked form of entertainment, and you know what I found out? Boardgames have never been just for kids!!
The sheer amount of options on offer is simply staggering, but one thing is for sure you’ll definitely find something that you can enjoy.
My personal preference is for the lighter fare; the kind of game you can pull out of the cupboard, set up in 10 mins and finish within around an hour. The reason for this is simple, I very rarely get time for heavy games like Twilight Imperium, which take time to set up and then hours to play through, at least not during the week.
And when I do get time at the weekends, usually about once a month, I prefer to relive my youth with tabletop war games (I know these could be considered in the same group as board games but for this discussion, I’m talking about a full game in a box that doesn’t require anything else to play.)
But surely the simpler a game gets, the more for kids it becomes? This simply isn’t true; a game can be easy to pick up but still provide enough depth to keep you engaged and entertained.
So why would you want to spend an evening, as an adult, playing games rather than the usual pursuits such as watching films, going out for drinks or any number of other activities?
Well, hopefully I can break down the benefits for you below. Or at least this is what I have gleaned from personal experience. I’m sure there are many others that I’m missing here, so please feel free to let me know in the comments if there are any glaring omissions. Without further ado, here's why busy adults should try board gaming.
A Chance To Escape
Sometimes life can be hard, and we all need a distraction from the day to day. Board Games can offer the perfect escape; want to become a world-famous detective, be part of the crew of a starship or manage your own small holding? Well, there are board games to scratch those itches and many others.
It is hugely important for us to take time to switch off, unwind and distract ourselves from all the things that life can throw at us, and what better way to do that than to sit around a table with friends and have some fun.
Talking of switching off, unlike other forms of entertainment board games (generally) do not require a screen, unless you class the ones used to hide your actions, which I don’t!
Again, limiting our screen time can be hugely beneficial, and board games seem to be one area of analogue entertainment that is actually growing in popularity, as people look to live out their fantasies without the need for a digital medium. I think this is a major reason why busy adults should try board gaming.
So much so, that many big-name franchises in the film and tv industry have put their names on a board game or two, Marvel, Game Of Thrones, Star Wars and many others have all dipped their toes into the board game scene, and consequently, the hobby and your ability to explore strange new worlds is all the better for it.
Break The Ice
I don’t know about you, but I’m not the best at social situations! Small talk is just not one of my strengths. Sports, current affairs, politics and other adult conversational subjects are just not something I’m that knowledgeable on, so I find it hard to connect with people I don’t know.
Therefore, the opportunity to get the conversation flowing through the medium of playing games is very useful to me. There have been a few gatherings where games like Monikers have done wonders to break the ice. These silly, deceptively simple, party games are a real leveller. You really haven’t lived until you’re trying to mime octuplets to a bunch of strangers without using a single word!!
Interact And Reconnect With Others
I guess this topic is related to the above, in that games give us a canvas for interacting with others.
But they are also an awesome way to renew old bonds and create new ones. I remember one of my friends broke out The Resistance at my stag party to get everyone to engage on a common subject. It turned out that I was the Spy, which I managed to hide very convincingly even after a few drinks. This is still something that gets brought up in conversation when we get together today.
These sorts of shared experiences can create bonds that literally last a lifetime.
Meaningful interaction can also strengthen the bonds that you already have, my wife and I struggled through the first lockdown here in the UK, as many people did. Trying to balance childcare and work got to the point where finding any downtime at all became a challenge. This is another reason why busy adults should try board gaming.
The solution, it turned out, was pretty straightforward. We made a promise that, once a week, we would set aside a night to ourselves to play a game. It would have been so much easier to just sit in front of the TV, but we wanted a better reason to put down the laptops and share time together. Our first game was Marvel United, it was a fun experience even though we failed to beat the villain on the first attempt. This was partially due to us not having read the rules properly and partially luck of the draw.
But instead of giving up, we played again, and this time we were successful. That moment we knew we had the villain on the ropes and the board game gods saw fit to grant us the cards we needed for victory is exactly the kind of shared buzz that brings us closer together.
Opportunity To Learn Together
Yet another reason why busy adults should try board gaming, and one of the things that surprised me, is that board games give us ‘old dogs’ the opportunity to learn new tricks.
This is especially good when done together, whether it be teaching others how to play a game or revisiting one when you know you’ve misinterpreted the rules the first time (like we did with Marvel United!)
You see, most games, even the relatively simple ones, require you to put in the effort to learn the rules so that you can then start to understand how the different components interact allowing you to form strategies and plans.
As the learning happens, there is a moment of clarity when something just clicks, and it all comes together and to be honest, it’s a feeling that is hard to beat.
Final Thoughts
So, what have we learnt?
Hopefully, based on the title, why busy adults should try board gaming!
Games are a powerful tool for adults as well as kids, and they offer all kinds of opportunities to escape, interact, grow, and learn.
If you have found this article interesting and want to try some games for yourself, I’ve listed a few below for you to consider. I’ve erred more toward simpler games as these work best for those new to the hobby, especially when time is tight.
Cooperative: Forbidden Island, Burgle Bros, Pandemic
Competitive: Codenames, Qwirkle, Settlers Of Catan
Games For Bigger Groups: Monikers, One Night Ultimate Werewolf, The Resistance
That’s all from me today. I hope you agree that the benefits of sharing some game time with others can be hugely beneficial and that it encourages you to get your games out of the cupboard. You never know, maybe you’ll get the opportunity to try something new or rediscover an old favourite hiding at the back.
See you next time.