Board games are synonymous with book lovers, and the association is likely due to the powerful storytelling found in both worlds. A house with books will, almost always, also have fair access to at least a handful of classic board games – but what happens when books and music are switching to digital formats?
Where have all the board games gone? They haven’t gone anywhere, except maybe digital.
People still play board games – classics like Risk and new endeavours like Exploding Kittens. Tabletop games have also embraced the digital world, and most board games exist as both a physical tabletop game and a digital equivalent.
Mobile gaming has come a long way since pre-installed Snake and Bounce on Nokia model phones. Today, players can find almost anything via their app store. Here’s a journey through the history of board games, starting with the karmic roots of Snakes & Ladders.
The karmic roots of Snakes & Ladders
Snakes & Ladders is a simple, entertaining board game that most people are familiar with from childhood. However, most people are unaware that the game’s origin goes back to a game from India called Moksha Patam, where the goal is to ascend – or players could be damned to the underworld.
Snake is another game that readers might remember, first introduced with the Nokia 6110 in 1997. Taneli Armanto, the game’s designer, reveals that at least some of the game’s inspiration came from tabletop gaming. In an interview, he says, “We needed to, and did, play IRL (in real life) board games.” Snake, where players control a snake that “grows” the more it eats, soon became one of the most widely recognised games of all time. The simple concept was perfect for casual phone gaming, and it kick-started an entire gaming revolution.
The rise of household tabletop gaming
Games became a household pastime in the 1800s, and spread further with the release of simple books on card game instructions that made their way into homes. Whist, poker and other tabletop games were at their practical height during the 1900s. Bridge tables, designed proportionately for two-player teams, became a common household accessory. The Bridge Battle of the Century was played in 1931-1932, testing bridge celebrity Ely Culbertson and his partner, Josephine, against Sydney Lenz.
The Landlord’s Game (1903) is generally considered the original precursor to the popular modern game Monopoly. In 1943, Cluedo was first introduced by Waddingtons, and later it was redesigned and released by Parker Brothers. This appears to have set the stage for a series of modern board game releases, including Scrabble (1952), Candy Land (1956) and Risk (1959). Games are marketed to families, but are also played by friends and eventual enemies.
Tom Hanks, Dungeons & Dragons and the moral panic
Dungeons & Dragons was first released in 1974, the creation of Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. These two figures have become godheads in the tabletop gaming community after creating a game that was initially inspired by Tolkien’s lore. It was a good era for board games, where Parker Brothers introduced the nonsensical Mad Magazine Game (1979). Unlike with its counterparts, the objective is losing money, and this is combined with nonsensical instructions for players, like having to stand on one leg.
Unfortunately, the 1980s brought an unpleasant element to the table: moral panic. Ozzy Osbourne’s 1980 song “Suicide solution” was blamed for a teenager’s suicide. Rock developed a public reputation as “the devil’s music”, and people became utterly convinced that secret messages were hiding in music through backmasking techniques. The Satanic Panic inched into the board game world, convincing many parents and teachers that Dungeons & Dragons was filled with secret occult messages – or might even be just as bad as a Ouija board, connecting children directly to the underworld.
Hollywood star Tom Hanks had his first starring role in the 1982 movie Mazes & monsters, which had loosely taken inspiration from Dungeons & Dragons. The plot started most of the tabletop-related panic, showing a boy who plays a fictional game called Mazes & Monsters until he gradually descends into hallucinations and madness. See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FLi422rkUIY.
Mazes & Monsters represented board games as though they were hallucinogenic heroin, capable of causing delusions, withdrawal and total detachment from reality. The panic accidentally made board games more desirable for rebellious young people – and more arcane for conservative parents or teachers shunning them. Somehow, the same panic never reached family games like Noot vir Noot, where the objective was to match up music with its accompanying lyrics.
Why Monopoly doesn’t have the monopoly anymore
Monopoly used to be a classic, but has become one of the most unfavourable board games for serious players. While an occasional Monopoly game is still fun for many, there are modern players who feel that it’s the sure-fire way to expose the greedy, power-hungry player at games night.
Reddit users call Monopoly one of the worst games ever made, and it is regularly included in discussions for this reason. The UK’s royal family is generally barred from playing Monopoly because of its associations with rough, capitalistic playing. It’s fun – however, not always as much fun for everyone in times where there are thousands of other games to choose from.
Monopoly still holds some attraction for tabletop players and collectors, especially in terms of limited editions or unofficial parodies. Monopoly: The Longest Game Ever takes the things that players hate about the game and makes them one degree worse. For example, there are 66 properties, and the game keeps going until one player owns all of them.
Board games for promotional value
It didn’t take long for corporates to realise the raw promotional value of board games, and several attempts were made to turn board game enthusiasm into cash. However, it’s safe to say that most games designed with promotion over playing value turned out disastrous or close to it.
N’Sync: Backstage Pass is a game that was based exclusively around the boy band’s star power, which doesn’t exist as much today. Monopoly: Britney Spears is worth owning only if you’re a very specific type of collector (or potential celebrity stalker).
Board game fans can tell when companies are taking shortcuts or rigging the dice, creating games worth little in playing value but a lot in potential promotions. Lest players forget the scandal that’s become known as McMillions: in the 1990s, the McDonald’s Monopoly promotion resulted in more than $24 million worth of prize-related fraud.
Modern board games: Redesigning the table
Popular board games are undergoing a modern revival, partially due to their integration with smartphone apps – or the increasing need for human interaction that became a common living standard after the lockdown.
Hasbro’s Clue (Cluedo) was updated for modern players in 2023, with new characters, graphics and crimes. A related movie starring Ryan Reynolds and Jason Bateman is reportedly in development. Board games have become fashionable, with real-life games attracting fans who want interaction – and online games leaving a gap for introverts who prefer limited interaction through digital means. Actor and author Wil Wheaton has become a board gaming celebrity, featuring in The big bang theory and the gaming web series TableTop. His blog and Facebook page frequently have great recommendations, like Trails (2021) – a board game that’s based on exploring United States National Parks.
One Night Ultimate Werewolf is designed for three or more players, where some players are villagers and others take the role of the werewolf in disguise. There’s Arkham Horror, released in 2005 by Fantasy Flight Games, in which players are investigators on the trail of the Cult of Cthulhu. According to BoardGameGeek.com, it’s one of the top board games ever created. Z-Man Games’s Pandemic (2008) is a survival-based board game, also playable online. For mystery lovers, On the Case is a unique South African solve-the-murder board game that allows players into “immersive mystery games told through fictitious criminal case files”. The point readers should take from this is that board games are still popular, and there’s a lot more to see than just Monopoly.
Tabletop games without the table
Most classic or traditional board games have a mobile equivalent. We’re in an age when the National Lottery has a smartphone app and when tabletop games can be played without a table present. Games are still played on a board, but with a smartphone’s screen instead of a tabletop. Imagine any board game made instantly portable, and you’ll quickly see why board games haven’t gone anywhere yet.
The attraction comes via their accessibility, and perhaps the ability to connect over games with friends (or random strangers) without too much talking. If you’d like to play the most classic games, here’s the official Android version of Clue and the modern version of online Scrabble. Words with Friends (2009) is a similar word game and can be played directly through social media or on a mobile.
The unofficial Dueling Nexus matches players against others (or an AI) in the Yu-gi-oh! Trading Card Game, also known as Duel Monsters. There’s also Konami’s more official Duel Links, with prizes and a tournament for serious players.
Exploding Kittens (2015) is a whimsical, cartoonish version of the classic card game Snap. Funders backed a $10 000 kick-starter project for its initial production.
Tabletop Simulator is a special gaming site, allowing a freeform tabletop that users can customise to their own game specifications. Users create their own simulations that others can play or join, and it counts for anything, including the most classic Dominoes, Risk, Catan and more.
Board games show no sign of slowing down, and there’s no room for boredom when you can choose from almost any interest and find an appropriate game.
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