Why Tabletop Games Still Thrive in a Digital World

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Tabletop games are physical games played on a board. In a digital world, the social interactions they forge are attracting more players than ever before.

Estimates are that there are around 140,000 different board games in the world today. They were first played as far back as 3,500 BC, and the industry is worth around £10,000 per year. In a world of digital and online gaming, this only seems to be getting more popular. But why is this, and how do boardgames continue to attract new players?

The Everlasting Appeal of Board Games

Take a step back in time to the early nineties, and it seemed like the age of the boardgame was well and truly dead. The eighties hype over D&D was well and truly over, with only die-hard fans remaining. Instead, people had turned to the new wave of home consoles and computers. As these improved in quality, boardgames seemed doomed to be a relic of the past.

Yet improvements in these games were also their undoing. To play a Sega Genesis in cooperative mode, you still had to get together with friends. Both sitting on the sofa with snacks and drinks, you would work together to overcome gargantuan tasks. This was lost when the age of online gaming came along. Suddenly, people could play together from across the world, bringing advantages but isolation along with it.

This is where tabletop games regained their popularity. Suddenly, sitting around a table, throwing dice and dealing cards was a desirable way to spend your time. This can be seen in the number of games currently being produced, with figures at around 3,500 new board games released every year.

The Fostering of Social Interaction

Crucially, tabletop games contain social interaction. In today's digital world, there really is no substitute for this. Sitting at a table with a person, talking face to face, is something inherent in the playing of a boardgame.

Yes, you can play these games online and do them remotely. The problem here is that this fosters quite a sterile atmosphere, and even with chat functions, humans still miss out on the facial expressions, odd one-liners and general humanity in being together.

Games do try to replicate this, as close as they can anyway. In the world of online iGaming, the live casino sector has recently taken this on board with its streaming games. They use hosts and hostesses based in a studio, who will spin roulette wheels and deal cards. Players can then wager based on the onscreen action, and even interact using the chat function. This replicates some of the human interaction found in a casino, though not all of it. Combining these with high roller casino bonuses, they have managed to build a huge audience of players, both old and new.

Another way this has taken place in the iGaming sector is through the use of leaderboards and increased gamification. Primarily, this has stemmed from the crash gaming genre. By including high scores and letting people wager on the same outcomes, it fosters a sense of social inclusion. This can be compared to collaborative board games in which people must work together as opposed to against each other, such as Leviathan Wilds and Atlantis Rising.

Across the country, boardgame cafes have risen to cater to these needs. Originally coming from the US, now most towns in the UK have at least one or two. In many ways, they have been described as the original social network.

Brain Boosting

While there are many games that involve luck, or larger elements of it, many of them require some serious critical thinking. Settlers of Catan, now known as Catan, is a prime example of this. It involves weighing up available resources as you struggle to become the dominant force on an island of the aforementioned name. This fosters some very important skills, including forward planning, risk assessment, and management.

There is also an immediacy to these types of games. Events are taking place all the time, as one person rolls a dice and picks a card, the next one takes up the baton. Decisions must be made not just on one person's results, but everyone's. This instant gratification has been echoed in the world of casual digital gaming. Titles like Candy Crush are a multicoloured explosion of constant movements and sound. Just look at the popularity of slot games to see this, with their spinning reels and mechanics.

The Digital and Board Gaming Crossover

Some games have managed to bridge the gap between board games and the digital realm. Chronicles of Crime is an ever-popular spin on the whodunnit genre. With this, you must solve a mystery, managing your time as you hunt scenes and interview those involved. Central to this is the use of an app, which lets you inspect crime scenes and brings up new clues alongside the cards you have laid out on the board.

Board games have also been a huge influence on the iGaming sector. Monopoly is the obvious example here, which has lent its license to several gambling titles. These have ranged from slot games, all the way to live gameshow casino games. Cluedo has also done the same, though to a lesser extent.

One fundamental positive about boardgames is that they are always there. You may not always have a phone charge, or a console to hand, or even electricity. Yet a board game can be produced under any circumstances, from rainy days on holiday to huge prearranged sessions. This means their popularity continues to endure, and will probably do so for a few thousand more years.

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