The digital gaming industry might be booming, but it’s not at the expense of analogue games involving boards, cards and other such primitive physical objects, according to the organisers of the world’s biggest public trade fair for board games.
Whether it’s catching a killer, cracking a secret code, winning a world championship or defending a castle from attackers, anything is possible in the world of games – and not just on a computer screen.
Card games, board games and other analogue games continue to enjoy immense popularity in the digital gaming age, according to experts at the latest Spiel public trade fair for board games in Germany – the largest event of its kind in the world.
But games have now become a much more socially acceptable hobby, she says. Young adults, from 16 years old and up, are flocking to the analogue community, observes Hutter. What was once considered “unpopular and unsexy” is today a strong trend, especially among university and high school students.
Party and action games targeting families and children are especially sought-after, says Hermann Hutter from Branchenverband Spieleverlage, a trade association for the games industry – and games for young adults are also growing in popularity.
At this trade fair, there were no virtual-reality glasses, laptops, PlayStations or computers. It represented a break from screentime – a chance for the analogue games branch to create a new golden age for its products.
In the past, adults who played such games were sometimes seen as oddballs, says Dominique Metzler from Friedhelm Merz Verlag, which organises the international fair in the western German city of Essen.
But games have now become a much more socially acceptable hobby, she says. Young adults, from 16 years old and up, are flocking to the analogue community, observes Hutter. What was once considered “unpopular and unsexy” is today a strong trend, especially among university and high school students.
Why do people, young and old, like games so much? “Our culture is hardly imaginable without them. Like writing and speaking, playing is a way for us to express ourselves – it’s a cultural technique,” says Olaf Zimmermann, director of the German Cultural Council.
“There are few places where we are allowed to show our emotions so much,” he adds. Anger, joy, screaming, laughing – all allowed.
Another factor is that whether you’re shuffling cards, rolling dice, dipping into a fantasy world, solving criminal cases or building an Aztec temple, luck is always part of the equation. Knowledge and ability alone aren’t enough to decide who wins.
“Chance also plays a part. A person doesn’t need to have studied something in order to win – that makes games democratic too,” says Zimmermann. Games also bring people together: Teamwork, a sense of togetherness and mutual respect are all required.
Analogue games “offer social interactions that digital ones can’t offer,” says Hutter. That said, the digital games market, with profits in the billions of dollars, is roughly four times as big as its analogue sibling.
The contribution of analogue games in terms of positive consequences for society – trust, thoughtfulness, empathy – is not fairly recognised, according to the industry’s proponents.
Games can challenge people mentally, help children to develop cognitive skills, and even train finger dexterity, say experts. Quiz games can improve our knowledge, too. But above all, the main point of games should be pleasure, says the cultural council.
“Learning is more like positive collateral damage from playing,” says Zimmermann.
What will be the next trends in board games? In general, cooperative games are extremely popular at the moment, the expert says – essentially, all the players play against the game itself.
At the Spiel trade fair, one of the biggest hits was Cool Runnings, a game involving a race with ice cubes. When they melt, the game is over. In the children’s games category, a classic memory game called Memoarrr! won one of the top prizes.
The fair, which attracted more than 190,000 gaming fans, has been criticised for making a distinction between analogue and digital games, with some people finding the division artificial and outdated.
Many people take part in both game worlds, says Zimmermann. He’s not afraid that analogue games will one day be forced out by their electronic competition – as is often forecast. “People will always play. That will never die out.” – dpa
