Yes, I play board games

I am a gamer.

When I say that, I don't mean that I play video games, although my wife is a Nintendo girl who has introduced me to the wonders of Mario Kart, Kirby and Professor Layton. Nor do I mean I'm a role player, although I have many years if D&D under my belt and still love a good RPG session.

Okay, now that I think about it, I pretty much love games in general. But what I'm talking about here is playing board games.

In particular, I'm talking about the modern board games that developed out of European family games. They get labeled Euros and German Games and Ameritrash and Designer Games. In general, though we are talking about games aimed at an older audience and have an emphasis on tactics and strategy.

Although, seriously, how did board games get a reputation for being just for kiddies? Card games from Poker to Rummy to Bridge are all considered adult fair, suitable for gambling high stakes. Games like Chess and Go are considered erudite and intellectual. Tons of people of all ages play Scrabble. As for war games, those are clearly aimed at an older audience, seeing as how half of them have rulebooks that read like engineering handbooks.

Really, unless we are talking about Hungry Hungry Hippos and the like, I don't see why games get a kiddy label. (I'm looking forward to when my son is old enough to play Hungry Hungry Hippos, by the way) Maybe it's because kiddy games are  where the marketing is really aimed at.

At any rate, I had been planning on trying to describe what defines a Designer Game a Designer Game, other than having the designers name on the box. Ten years ago, I would have said a two-hour play time, low conflict, no player elimination and simple rules that allow for complex decisions.

However, over the last few years, I don't think it's so cut-and-dried anymore. Game designers seem to be constantly looking for next big innovation. The word of gaming is a constantly evolving one, which is part of what makes it so fascinating.

I came to board games from role playing games. Role playing games, at least for me at that time, meant being committed to a long, ongoing campaign on a rigid schedule. More than that, even though everyone was supposed to be on the same team, there was constant jockeying for the spotlight in most of the games I was in. (And, often, I was as guilty as the next person of trying to hog the attention)

Board games, on the other hand, lent themselves to a casual, more friendly environment. Maybe the fact that we were openly competing helped folks relax. And you didn’t need a rigid schedule and have the same people every time. Yeah, I know for some people, that’s the draw but as I got further and further into my thirties, trying to keep up with a Dungeons and Dragons campaign felt more like a chore than recreation.

Just like folks who play lots of video games will tell you it helps develop hand-eye coordination and reflexes, I’ll tell you that board games help develop analytical skills, pattern recognition, negotiation, and system management. Sad to say, if you play enough economic games, the math practice will help you balance your check book. In short, I’d say that board games have enhanced my life as well as entertained me.

At the moment, I’m not playing many board games. It’s a side effect of being the dad to a son who’s less than a year old and, honestly, I wouldn’t trade that for anything. But I am pretty sure board games will be a part of my life, one way or another, for good.