The concept of a dice-rolling or card-shuffling board game may seem archaic and outdated in today's technological age, but the industry has actually seen an unexpected growth in the past decade. While many would assume that the era of computer screens and video games would make board games redundant and dull, the past six years have seen sales of tabletop games rise anywhere between 25% and 40% annually, with thousands of titles released and millions of copies sold.
While the tabletop gaming industry is admittedly incredibly dwarfed by the latest console and computer games, the gaming medium is far from ready to disappear. 2018 has seen its share of big releases already, from the Dungeons and Dragons-style Gloomhaven games, which required several players and hundreds of hours to beat, to the more simple luck-and-circumstance games like Sakura, a game about competitive portrait painting. With an appeal to players with skill levels and interests as varied as any video game or console device, board games have not lost any edge in marketing appeal.
All of this excitement over new tabletop games is not to imply that old games have lost any value. Traditional tabletop games still enjoy tremendous popularity and success.
For example, the game Monopoly, besides causing infamous fights and numerous breakups in friendships and relationships, has sold more than 275 million copies worldwide. Monopoly also continues to produce new versions of the classic board game, such as a version that encourages the players to cheat their way to victory (as if much encouragement is needed there!)
One of the surprising factors in the economic upkeep of tabletop games is the very instrument which many believed would cause it to die out- the internet! Online retail stores, such as Amazon, eBay, or Target, allow for wider access to purchasing tabletop games than ever before.
Apps have been developed and used to simulate the feeling of playing board games with friends, such as the app Catan, which allows iPhone users to play a digital version of the incredibly popular 1995 masterpiece against AI or friends.
While apps have their use, such as downloading Evil Apples and watching on in horror as your grandmother wins the online version of Cards Against Humanity (true story), tabletop games have one more advantage over their digital counterparts: nostalgia. While video games and apps on the iPhone can connect a player with friends far away, there is a certain je ne sais pas to turning the old family edition of Monopoly into a drinking game for the now-grown children and their collegiate friends, whose friendship is hopefully strong enough to survive such a rigid test.
