Poll: Are board games dead?

[omega 616]

The thing is some (or most) of them are now in video game form aswell so, unlike traditional board games you don't have to clear them up.

I think the only reason board games existed is 'cos the technology to make video games was either not there or not capable.

Now you can just click an app or downloaded game and play monopoly/risk/whatever and get to playing, when you are finished, just shut down. It sure beats busting out the board, clearing a decent area, setting it up, reminding yourselves of the rules, playing, clearing up, putting it away.

I haven't played a board game in years! The last one was my first ever game of cludeo ... it was a Simpsons edition. After 10 or so games of monopoly I am still undefeated in my family

*insert smug face*

(ok, so it's not a world record but it's something!)

 

[GrandmaFunk]

I play about 3-4 times a month and our group buys a new game every 2-3 months.

my last purchases were Merchants&Marauders(awesome pirate game), Tanto Cuore(Dominion-style game with a Japanese maid theme) and Ikusa(finally a new reprint of Shogun/Samurai Swords!!)

my all time fav is Twilight Imperium but it's hard to get everyone to commit the amount of time required for a full fledged game.

 

[Cuacuani]

Personally, I like board games where one sessions lasts several hours or even a day. If you are similarly inclined you might want to check out Twilight Imperium, Vampire: Prince of the City, and possibly Tannhäuser.

my all time fav is Twilight Imperium but it's hard to get everyone to commit the amount of time required for a full fledged game.

Twilight Imperium has a new spin-off coming out, based on the old Dune game (basically, FFG bought the rights to the game but couldn't get the Dune license and so replaced it with the TI setting). So now you can play without having to give up a month of your time!

 

[MammothBlade]

I'd think not. I play chess on a physical board, when I have someone to play with.

 

[bluepotatosack]

I don't get to play them as often as I'd like.

It's been way too long since I last played "Zombies!!!".

 

[Volkov]

The most significant issue is finding people to play with, I think. They are not dead, but finding partners is a difficult issue even in big cities, in more so away from them. That said, if you do find partners, there will be more than enough games out there to try out. So no, they are not dead.

 

[Quaidis]

Board games are insanely popular. I just came back from a mini-convention where we played Slapshot, Eminent Domain, Dominant Species, 7 Wonders, and a few others.

I'll also be attending GenCon Indy, which is a large convention dedicated to games of all types, but centrally around the board kind.

Germany, through-out history, has been the hub of generally out-there and fantastically interesting IPs. Those silly Germans. Pigs in Space comes to mind right now.

 

[Something Amyss]

I'd play them more if I could find people who wanted to play them more.

But given the choice between board games and RPGs, I'd rather play RPGs, so any time I can find 2-3 other nerds to cram around a table, my dice will be used to check for traps and comfirm crits.

 

[Xenowolf]

My favorite game, Diplomacy, is a board game. If you haven't heard of Diplomacy you owe it to yourself to check it out. It's kinda like Risk except far more strategical, social, and has no luck elements.

Thanks for that, sounds interesting. I've got to check it out some time.

 

[Monsterfurby]

As a frequent user of Boardgamegeek.com and someone with probably a high three-digit-sum worth of board games on the shelf, I definitely wouldn't say board games are dead. Companies like Fantasy Flight Games are still making loads of money publishing them, and wargaming publishers like GMT have seen their business even improve over the past few years as well. So no, while board games have certainly moved further into geek culture, often crossing over with role playing games, that market has grown massively during the noughties.

 

[Paladin2905]

Hell no, I don't know where I'd be without my weekly doses of Power Grid and Puerto Rico. I keep seeing new stuff come out too; perhaps the problem lies in the perception of board games as things like monopoly that people learn to hate over a while playing them. Most people just don't have the exposure to things like Catan that are completely different from the standard scrabble/sorry/candyland crap that they feed kids on Cartoon Network.

 

[oneeyemug]

I don't know, I've been seeing a lot of new, interesting board games. This past weekend I played "War on Terror". A weird combination of Risk, Monopoly, Munchkin, Settlers of Catan, and political (in)correctness.

 

[Right Hook]

My friends and I used to play Monopoly almost every weekend in high school, some of us still play a board game once every couple months.

 

[yoshiru]

Settlers of Catan, Deplomacy.... Plenty of great games with great followings. If people think video games are an upgrade to board games, they're wrong. They're very much different things. It's easier to socialize during a board-game. Although you may not care about socializing until you're married and having a fun couple-date with your best friends.

 

[Imat]

I still play several board games. Fantasy Flight Games is perfect for my particular level of nerdiness. I highly recommend Arkham Horror to get you started. After that you could try Talisman and Descent (Not the computer game). If you like all of those, see what else FFG has to offer. This is what board games have become for me.

 

[Hawk of Battle]

Risk, Axis and Allies, Diplomacy, Twilight Imperium. Yes, when I play board games, I like to take over the world.

Now if only I could get enough people together to play regularly...

 

[aegix drakan_v1legacy]

I like board games. I don't play them too often, but a buddy of mine is NUTS for them. As a result, we tend to play together once in a while. He's good at finding fun new games to play.

They're not "dead" per say. It's just that they're not considered super mainstream because the overwhelming population would rather watch TV or play video games. There's still plenty of people who play board games, judging by the fact that I've seen plenty of thriving board game stores downtown.

 

[BishopofAges]

To be honest, around my neighborhood the boardgame isn't really disappearing or anything. You see, at my local games shop they support a game demo almost everyday where they take a game off the shelf, crack it, and show others how to play. At the end you can buy it for a discount price, because it was opened and such, slightly used.

This, in my opinion, is the best way to advertise, because you can play and if you didn't enjoy, then there is no harm. If you did have a good time, you could come back later to play again or just buy it and enjoy with your friends/family.

 

[Syphous]

I've been playing The Walking Dead board-game lately. Pretty good. I suppose board-games would look dead if you don't actively look for them. They're not really advertised and hyped.