Poll: Are board games dead?

[Kilo24]

Board games are live and well. I'm not talking about Monopoly rereleases, I'm talking about games like Arkham Horror, Dominion, Agricola, Small World, and plenty more. Honestly, I find that there's more innovation and better design gameplay-wise in board games than there is in video games as long as you look at boardgamegeek.com or somewhere similar.

Modern board games are designed to be replayed, unlike most modern non-multiplayer video games. Though the themes and the stories are quite a bit more tenuous than most video games, the fact that mechanics are the major thing that board games are sold on is a very big deal.

 

[Scarim Coral]

Pretty much. The last time I play those was when I was back in High School (Gamecube, PS2 and Xbox era). I no longer got the board games with me.

 

[Grouchy Imp_v1legacy]

Nowt wrong with board games. My 18th birthday present from my folks was a bespoke chess set (although the passage of time has taken its toll on it), and whenever my tabletop RP group is missing a couple of members we haul out games such as Game of Thrones (a Risk type affair but set in Westeros), Arkham Horror (Cthulhu mythos game), Battlestar Gallactica, Doom (yes there is a board game version), and so on.

But only because my group (s wallets) learned long ago not to let me bring out the poker set...

 

[Phasmal]

Well, I only play board games in certain situations. Namely, when my little brother wants to play them.
He's 9, he loves Cluedo, and Monopoly, and a DVD boardgame we have called Khufu's Casino.

Oh, and I LOVE Articulate!

I'm probably going to get that WoW monopoly set, too.

 

[Dandark]

I wouldn't say they are dead, I know a few people who still play regularly. A group of my friends play one every week, I can't say im a fan of them since I have never really tried them.

 

[lRookiel]

Chess is a game I play (I'm terrible)

I reckon chess will never die, all the competitions and such will make sure of that! :3

 

[HardRockSamurai]

I must admit, I don't really seek out "new" board games unless it comes highly recommended from someone I know. I mostly just stick to replaying the classic board games (ie- Monopoly, Life, Scrabble, etc), not out of spite, just out of habit; plus, my generation has gotten so used to the "classics" that playing them comes easily to us, it's kinda like riding a bike (and you never have to explain the rules anymore).

I do actually like playing board games. I have many fond memories of playing games like Monopoly with my family, and I even used to play more contemporary board games like Scotland Yard with friends (and playing Chess while drunk is awesome); I'd love to see board games make a come-back, instead of being made into expensive [http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/ridley-scotts-monopoly-movie-hires-229944] and unoriginal [http://news.moviefone.com/2012/01/31/candy-land-movie-adam-sandler_n_1244948.html] movies...

 

[plugav]

I only play sporadically myself, being more of an RPG fan, but my city (Wrocław, Poland) is home to weekly and monthly board gaming events, so, from my perspective, it seems like board games have never been better.

 

[Antari]

Board games are almost manditory once you pass about 4-5 people. Have always loved them and always will. Still haven't found any video game that has been able to quite capture the play style of alot of board games as well. Most are extremely creative. The Ticket to Ride series is a great current one for all ages.

 

[Idlemessiah]

Nope. Kids board games haven't been cool for about a decade but you go into any 'geek' shop theres loads. Theres actually a shop in Leeds that pretty much just sells manga and board games. It's an awesome shop.

 

[Sepphyre]

Does it count if you play Monopoly on an iPad? If so, then yes.

I don't really go for newer franchises but I occasionally play the classics. And also chess.

 

[Diddy_Mao]

My friends and I get together about once a month or so to play Risk.

Okay in all fairness, we get together and drink...there just happens to be a Risk game being played.

Other than that I play a lot of Arkham Horror which is a pretty solid good time if you get the right group together.

 

[Fat Hippo]

Not at all, I just started playing Arkham Horror. Great game, and far deeper than most, which also gives it more replay value.

 

[Zyntoxic]

well I'm not much for risk but I really like trivial pursuit, and these I play regularly with my boyfriend and his family, and I really love Talisman and Arkham Horror, and recently I tried out a board game version of one of my favourite swedish table top RPG's, and it was really fun.

so I would say it seems pretty alive, some table top RPG:ers will even tell you board games are taking over and killing the Table top RPGs completely, kind of similar to the "the industry is dumbing down games to suit a bigger audience" discussions

 

[FamoFunk]

I don't play them, but in a few years time when child is old enough they'll be out in force, as they're actually pretty fun!

 

[WyndWalker02]

While board games had started to die out a decade or so ago, they're making a comeback with a vengeance in recent years, primarily due to the emergence of the so-called "eurogames" like Settlers of Catan (one of my personal favorites) or Carcassonne. My wife and I are avid gamers, both in video games and board games, and we have gathered a fairly impressive collection of these newer board games (also defined here to include card games that don't utilize the traditional 52-card deck). The ones I can think of offhand include:

Settlers of Catan (and it's expansions)
Carcassonne
Talisman (and an expansion)
Chrononauts (and it's expansions)
Guillotine
Stronghold
DungeonQuest
Arkham Horror (and one of it's expansions)
Betrayal at House on the Hill
Fluxx (with the Jewish expansion!)
Munchkin (Munchkin Booty, the pirate version, as well as it's expansion 'Jump the Shark')
Cosmic Encounters
Dominion (and a couple of the expansions)
Shadows over Camelot
Kingsburg
Thunderstone (and most of the expansions)
Lord of the Fries
Battle Cattle
Car Wars
Elixir
Ticket to Ride
Citadels

And all of these are in addition to several of the more classic Parker Brothers of Milton Bradley games like Monopoly (of which I own several versions), Life, Scrabble (of which my wife owns several versions), and Risk.

I really do encourage anyone and everyone to find a local gaming shop that hosts board game nights, which most seem to do. They typically either have a bunch of people who bring games in with them to play with people, or the shop provides store copies for people to try out (in the hopes that they'll then buy a copy for home). These games are mostly excellent, have great replay values, and are so much better from a monetary standpoint for long-term entertainment than going out to do stuff. My wife and I get together with friends at least once every few weeks and spend the better portion of a day playing various games, and it's so much fun.

 

[Gatx]

A good board game is always a lot of fun. Just started getting more into them myself.

On another note I feel like every time I get into something, someone says it's dying. Became an English Major - "literature is dying, people don't read anymore," learned Japanese - "China's going to be the new dominating Asian economic force," just got into a new MMO - "not popular enough, servers shutdown." Why am I always late to the party?

 

[Mersadeon]

Wynd Walker: You have a point there - those are "Eurogames", and in Europe, board games are very much alive. (I'm german, by the way.)

So, me and my friends play lot of board games. I learned, however, that Monopoly is not for us. Everytime we play it, it takes more than one day and it's full of backstabbing, lying greed. That's not bad for a board game, but it just takes too long.

 

[Auninteligentname]

"I play sporadically" is the closest to me, me thinks.

I don't play too much of board games, but if I am at a friends house, we often make more people come over and play a board game. The games we play the most are "Spy alley" and Monopoly (and if I host, nintendo version).