The adult board game market is booming. Have we fallen into childhood together?
Essen is not the most famous of the German cities. But for a rapidly growing army of board game lovers, this is a real paradise. Every autumn, the international exhibition of board games International Spieltage, or simply Spiel, is held here, gathering both players and game publishers from all over the world. This is one of the largest gaming festivals in the world.
This year, about 160 people visited the Spiel in four days. They were able to see and experience over 000 board, card and role-playing games, including the long-awaited version of Magic: The Gathering. It was originally a popular card game released in 850, in which players take on the role of wizards fighting each other. Now it is presented in the form of a board game.
The festival ended with the largest gaming tournament to date. In honor of the 20th anniversary of The Settlers of Catan, about a thousand people played it at the same time.
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The board game market is experiencing an extraordinary boom today. According to the consulting company ICv2, its volume in the US and Canada alone is about $880 million. Its annual growth over the past five years has been in double digits, says ICv2 chief Milton Griepp. Children’s games were also presented at the Essen festival, but the majority of board game consumers are still adults. Today you can find games for every taste: from Fluxx, a frivolous card game where the rules change throughout the game, to Power Grid, an extremely tricky business game where players act as oligarchs who own energy companies, or puzzles like the hand-drawn Twilight Imperium , where you need to ensure the leadership of your civilization on a galaxy scale.
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Steve Buckmaster of the British company Esdevium Games says that video games (especially mobile versions) not only do not distract people from the desktop, but, on the contrary, expand the audience of players. The appearance of the computer version of the popular game only increases the sales of its desktop counterpart. The internet helps gamers set up meetings and tournaments in real life, and crowdfunding platforms like Kickstarter make it easy for budding game designers to get started. Those, in turn, are increasingly using computer technology in games. So, for example, in X-COM, the desktop version of popular computer games, an application for a smartphone “plays” for alien enemies.
Meanwhile, traditional board game stores are adapting to the new situation by organizing tournaments and providing players with a face-to-face meeting lacking in online gaming. If earlier it was believed that only weirdos and losers were interested in fantasy and aliens, now, against the backdrop of the craze for the Game of Thrones and superhero films, this hobby fits well into the mainstream.
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- Why do we like to play so much
What happens to millions of adults? Perhaps an epidemic of infantilism has begun in the world? After all, until recently it was believed that games are the lot of children, and an adult playing enthusiastically caused ridicule. Many of us continue to think that all this is nonsense, pampering and a waste of time.
The psychiatrist Stuart Brown, who devoted his life to the study of the game in human life, strongly disagrees with this approach. Here is his opinion1.
1. “I have collected and analyzed thousands of cases from practice, which I call “game stories”. And I discovered that perhaps one of the key factors of a full human existence is to remember what a game is and make it a part of everyday life. But the ability to play is necessary not only for happiness, but also for maintaining social relationships, creativity, and innovation.
If that sounds like a bold statement to you, consider what the world would be like without the game. It would not be just a world without children’s games and sports. Life without play is life without books, movies, art, music, drama. Imagine a world where no one flirts, daydreams, jokes, or sneers. It would be a rather gloomy place. In a broad sense, the game is what raises people above the prose of life. I sometimes compare it to oxygen – it is everywhere, but most often it is not noticed or appreciated until it is taken away.
2. “If we stop playing, we share the fate of all animals that outgrow the game. Our behavior becomes fixed. We are not interested in new things. We find fewer opportunities to enjoy the world around us. When we stop playing, we stop developing.”
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3. “The game is nature’s best tool for creating new neural networks and resolving cognitive difficulties. The ability to create new models, to find the unusual in the routine, to light up with curiosity, to notice the details – all this is facilitated by the state of the game.
When we play, dilemmas and difficult tasks naturally filter through our unconscious and resolve themselves. Quite often, people come back after a game not only energized, but also with fresh ideas to work with.”
4. “We are shaped by the game and with its help we develop and adapt to change. It has the potential to drive innovation and bring us multi-billion dollar fortunes. But in the end, the most important aspect of the game is that it allows you to find a deep connection with the best in us and in other people. If your existence has become a desert, the game will revive it.
However, as Freud said, the main thing in life is love and work. But still, the game goes beyond them, fills them with bright colors and stops the arrow of time. Play is the purest expression of love.
When enough people recognize the deserved status of the game in our lives, the world will be a better place.”
5. “Find a game that will feed your soul; create an environment in which people will understand your needs; exist in it and make sure that there is always enough play in life – this should be one of your priorities.
1 S. Brown, K. Vaughan “Game. How it affects our imagination, brain and health” (Mann, Ivanov and Ferber, 2015).