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High-Tech Push Has Board Games Rolling Again

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Re: High-Tech Push Has Board Games Rolling Again

#11

Post by thaumasiotes »

tekalon wrote: post #9
michaelochurch wrote: post #2

Tabletop games are also great for helping people overcome social anxieties, which are common among smart people. The "flow" state is deeply anxiolytic. Games are good for getting people, who don't know each other, together to do something that isn't drinking. This is why I thought Google+ should have focused on putting German-style board games (using Hangouts, then an enormous technical advantage) instead of Zynga dr…

Totally agree. I used to play D&D with friends and it really helped with my anxiety. I could contribute to the conversation if I wanted, be quiet and just listen if I wanted, or read something else. I was an excuse to socialize, but also something productive to do if you want to socialize.

I remember being part of a D&D group (all preexisting friends). When the social atmosphere would get going well and everyone would be laughing and enjoying themselves... there'd always be someone to say "hey, everyone, quit trying to have a good time and pay attention to the game instead!"

Socializing isn't always smiled upon. :/

Re: High-Tech Push Has Board Games Rolling Again

#12

Post by anigbrowl »

gault8121 wrote: post #5

Board games can connect people in ways video games cannot. There is a level of rapid interaction, brought about by being at a shared table, which cannot be mimicked digitally. If you like Settles of Catan, and you are looking for something more advanced, I'd highly suggest Eclipse, Twilight Imperium, and Puerto Rico. These are challenging games that require careful resource management, political negotiations, and lon…

a shared table, which cannot be mimicked digitally

Not to dispute your point (I like tactility too), but I am very interested to see where the next wave of 'coffee tble computers' go, eg Panasonic's 4k toughpad (http://www.panasonic.com/business/toughpad/us/windows-4k-tab...) when they reach commodity rather than vanity pricing (they're $5-6k now, aimed at medical/media professionals).

Re: High-Tech Push Has Board Games Rolling Again

#13

Post by karlb »

The BoardGameGeek Gift Guide opened up a whole new world for me: http://boardgamegeek.com/wiki/page/Board_Game_Gift_Guide_201...

I now own about half of the games on it.

I discovered early on to buy only games that are either suitable for my two young kids (like Carcassonne, King of Tokyo, Blokus and Labyrinth) or are suitable for two players (my wife and me; Dominion, Pandemic and Ticket to Ride Europe).

We seldom get to play the games that require four or more adults.

Incidentally, my favorite board games on iOS are Dominion, Blokus, Neuroshima Hex, Hive and Chess.com's app. However, I'd recommend against getting games on your phone that you also play with your family, because you'll either become too good at them or you'll get bored of them before your family does.

Re: High-Tech Push Has Board Games Rolling Again

#14

Post by jaydub »

Board games are great because they are one of the last refuges of shared attention.

I'm personally a big fan of Axis & Allies, Puerto Rico, Castles of Burgundy etc. There's something really nice about people coming together and focusing on the same thing.

Re: High-Tech Push Has Board Games Rolling Again

#15

Post by araes »

tekalon wrote: post #9
michaelochurch wrote: post #2

Tabletop games are also great for helping people overcome social anxieties, which are common among smart people. The "flow" state is deeply anxiolytic. Games are good for getting people, who don't know each other, together to do something that isn't drinking. This is why I thought Google+ should have focused on putting German-style board games (using Hangouts, then an enormous technical advantage) instead of Zynga dr…

Totally agree. I used to play D&D with friends and it really helped with my anxiety. I could contribute to the conversation if I wanted, be quiet and just listen if I wanted, or read something else. I was an excuse to socialize, but also something productive to do if you want to socialize.

I actually wonder if this is going to slowly lead into a revolution in the pen and paper space as well. It has definitely been increasing on the indie side in recent years, with places like Drive Thru RPG doing a decent business, but its still mostly dominated by a few huge folks such as D&D, or the World of Darkness games. Part of that may be the time commitment that's necessary though. Board games really need only about an hour of your day. You can show up at a random meetup, sit down, play a game, and then hit the road if you want. The buy-in for committing to an RPG is significantly more deep in terms of time, the people, and your personal effort.

Re: High-Tech Push Has Board Games Rolling Again

#16

Post by iansimon »

michaelochurch wrote: post #2

Tabletop games are also great for helping people overcome social anxieties, which are common among smart people. The "flow" state is deeply anxiolytic. Games are good for getting people, who don't know each other, together to do something that isn't drinking. This is why I thought Google+ should have focused on putting German-style board games (using Hangouts, then an enormous technical advantage) instead of Zynga dr…

By far my favorite use of Hangouts is the crossword puzzle app. It's much better than having 5 people try to collaboratively solve a crossword in person.

I have no idea why I haven't seen more games like this in Hangouts...

Re: High-Tech Push Has Board Games Rolling Again

#17

Post by pessimizer »

anigbrowl wrote: post #12
gault8121 wrote: post #5

Board games can connect people in ways video games cannot. There is a level of rapid interaction, brought about by being at a shared table, which cannot be mimicked digitally. If you like Settles of Catan, and you are looking for something more advanced, I'd highly suggest Eclipse, Twilight Imperium, and Puerto Rico. These are challenging games that require careful resource management, political negotiations, and lon…

a shared table, which cannot be mimicked digitally Not to dispute your point (I like tactility too), but I am very interested to see where the next wave of 'coffee tble computers' go, eg Panasonic's 4k toughpad ( http://www.panasonic.com/business/toughpad/us/windows-4k-tab... ) when they reach commodity rather than vanity pricing (they're $5-6k now, aimed at medical/media professionals).

I think board games on table touchscreens would already be common if there were an open platform/framework to program them on, and they took advantage of additional phones/tablets over IP. The manufacturing cost on big touchscreens is already pretty low.

Re: High-Tech Push Has Board Games Rolling Again

#18

Post by molsongolden »

karlb wrote: post #13

The BoardGameGeek Gift Guide opened up a whole new world for me: http://boardgamegeek.com/wiki/page/Board_Game_Gift_Guide_201... I now own about half of the games on it. I discovered early on to buy only games that are either suitable for my two young kids (like Carcassonne, King of Tokyo, Blokus and Labyrinth) or are suitable for two players (my wife and me; Dominion, Pandemic and Ticket to Ride Europe). We seldom g…

Have you tried Love Letter?

http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/129622/love-letter

It's dirt cheap and many people create their own custom themed version. I have a super mario love letter clone deck that was printed via an online service and it's great. Your young kids should be able to pick it up and it's playable with 2 but good with 4.

Re: High-Tech Push Has Board Games Rolling Again

#19

Post by craigching »

thaumasiotes wrote: post #11
tekalon wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Totally agree. I used to play D&D with friends and it really helped with my anxiety. I could contribute to the conversation if I wanted, be quiet and just listen if I wanted, or read something else. I was an excuse to socialize, but also something productive to do if you want to socialize.

I remember being part of a D&D group (all preexisting friends). When the social atmosphere would get going well and everyone would be laughing and enjoying themselves... there'd always be someone to say "hey, everyone, quit trying to have a good time and pay attention to the game instead!" Socializing isn't always smiled upon. :/

> quit trying to have a good time and pay attention to the game instead!

I admit it, that was me. Playing the game (and the fantasy that goes with it) was always more fun for me :)

Re: High-Tech Push Has Board Games Rolling Again

#20

Post by craigching »

karlb wrote: post #13

The BoardGameGeek Gift Guide opened up a whole new world for me: http://boardgamegeek.com/wiki/page/Board_Game_Gift_Guide_201... I now own about half of the games on it. I discovered early on to buy only games that are either suitable for my two young kids (like Carcassonne, King of Tokyo, Blokus and Labyrinth) or are suitable for two players (my wife and me; Dominion, Pandemic and Ticket to Ride Europe). We seldom g…

> I discovered early on to buy only games that are either suitable for my two young kids (like Carcassonne, King of Tokyo, Blokus and Labyrinth)

How old are your kids? I would love to add more board games, but my kids are pretty young.

I have a five year old daughter with whom I started playing Forbidden Island about a year ago. She loves the game, though she has her own way of playing, she just loves collecting the "treasures", I usually have to feed her cards so she can do this ;) Adds a bit of a challenge for me to get her the cards before the island sinks!

My son is three, we haven't really added him into the fun yet.

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