Back to the board game

What makes a board game happy Perhaps the fact that just like a wellloved toy it too looks worn and wellused with the box coming apart at its cardboard seams The ones that lie in the trunk or the backseat of Manoj Rathirsquos car would probably be ecstatic if this were the case Rathi the 32 yearold founder of a direct marketing agency drives them around flipping them open at cafeacutes restaurants or his friendsrsquo homes at every opportunity he gets Brijal Parekh centre plays a game of pictionary facing page Parekh gathers her family and friends for a round of the card game Phase 10 at her Sion residence He carries Rummikub and Chess Monopoly and Sequence preferring strategy games over others ldquoWhen you are playing against a person as opposed to your computer you can analyse them and their tactics much better and crack their style of playingrdquo he says ldquoItrsquos a healthy way of maintaining relations rather than sipping on a coffee and talking about random things Plus they act as a destresserrdquo Agreeing with him is Rati Shroff who works with a travel agency ldquoPeople think board games are for kidsrdquo the 35 yearold tells us ldquoBut Irsquod rather play Taboo or Pictionary than sit around with friends and gossip We have started substituting eating out or going for movies with board game nights They are not only super fun but also donrsquot cost too muchrdquo Strangers no more In a time when we rely heavily on technology to help us communicate and even wake us up it is almost heartening to see that for many people that battered box containing a game of Scrabble still holds meaning But like in the case of gramophones and silent movies is the lsquorevivalrsquo of the board game culture a product of mere nostalgia that is almost irrelevant to our age ldquoI donrsquot think sordquo says Arpana Gvalani owner of Bandrabased burger cafeacute Gostana that stocks board and card games including UNO Snakes and Ladders Karo Six Taboo and Scrabble for its patrons ldquoA lot of people connect over these games When you have a game that gets strangers together it creates a sense of comfort and is not intimidatingrdquo She has a point You might think itrsquos creepy when a stranger offers to buy you a drink but probably wonrsquot if heshe suggests a game of Cluedo ldquoThis kind of entertainment is healthy relaxing and interactive We desperately need that in a city like Mumbai especially todayrdquo At our fingertips There was a time when we patiently waited for a relative or a friend returning from overseas to bring us a new game because the store round the corner only stocked classic games like Snakes and Ladders and rarely ever added new ones to its collection But with ecommerce websites bringing the latest and the craziest games right to our doorsteps often with the comfortable option of cashondelivery we now have a plethora of options to choose from ldquoNot relying on the store owner to get you a game that you want is a huge reliefrdquo says Shroff who remembers her friends coming over from school only to check out the game of Candy Land that her uncle had got her from the USA in the early 1990s And though the tabletop board game faces competition from its digital technologydriven counterparts the board game industry in India has never gone through a lull and will continue to flourish in the near future anticipates Philip Royappan marketing manager at Funskool that creates markets and sells toys and games ldquoEarlier in stores board games had no visibilityrdquo he tells us over a phone interview ldquoYou would have to tell the shopkeeper what you wanted and wait for him to get it Today you can buy a game either at a retail store or on the web A lot of Indians who still havenrsquot played board games are now discovering them The only way from here is uprdquo Funskool has seen a rise in the sales of board games by 15 per cent this year as compared to 2011 Though classic games remain charttoppers newer editions are also accepted enthusiastically ldquoPeople are now even going for a highend version of Monopoly that replaces cash in paper format with electronic banking that gets you to swipe your cardrdquo says Royappan You would believe that this increased visibility of board games has led to us experimenting with newer games but Vishal Mehta owner of ecommerce website Infibeam holds that it is still the classic ones that are driving their sales ldquoWe have found that the adoption of these board games is now very high even in smaller cities and townsrdquo he says ldquoTraditional favourites like Monopoly Chess Snakes and Ladders and Jenga still sell in large numbers since people are already familiar with themrdquo Bonding sessions For CA student Brijal Parekh it was the humble board game that saved the day when she found herself in a class of 52 strangers during a course on management and communication skills ldquoSomebody brought out a pack of Taboo cards and soon people who didnrsquot even know each otherrsquos names were bondingrdquo says the 25 yearold Though she insists that board games are not a replacement for movies and clubbing Parekh feels that they have the benefit of cutting across age groups ldquoThere are games in which we even include our parents without making anyone in the group feel uncomfortable We are always looking for new games to help break the monotonyrdquo Her current favourite is Phase 10 a variant of rummy and the second bestselling card game of the worlds largest toy company Mattel Realising the potential of board games Rathi is introducing them to his employees by stacking them in his office boardroom ldquoThey can help employees converse with people they wouldnrsquot talk to otherwiserdquo he says ldquoThey can work as a great teambuilding exercise as well as a stressbusterrdquou00a0For Shroff who sometimes attends the popular lsquoBoard Game Nitersquo organised by cafeacute chain Mocha board games are no longer childrsquos play ldquoYou come to know a lot about people especially strangers from the way they playrdquo she says ldquoAnd thatrsquos always better than conversing with them when they are at their nicestrdquou00a0 Riding the digital wave In 2010 when the iPad was launched board game geeks everywhere rejoiced No longer did they have to run to the store to buy the game the large touchscreen presented a fantastic way of playing board games complete with the feeling of a fullsize board that you could interact with in a tactile way while automating the boring parts such as rolling dice shuffling cards and of course picking up all the pieces afterwards ldquoAdd to that the benefit of playing at your own pace downloading free apps or playing with friends in different countriesrdquo says Brijal Parekh The sales of games both digital and physical for ecommerce company Infibeam com have shot up by a staggering 300 per cent this year compared to 2011 out of which a sizeable chunk is that of digital games ldquoThis has to do with the fact that a huge audience is adopting smartphonesrdquo says Vishal Mehta who nevertheless insists that itrsquos the tabletop educational board games that still retain their popularity ldquoThe sheer number of people with data connections is increasing rapidly But that said I would say that digital game sales also drive the sales of physical board games Often when people get comfortable with a digital game they want to buy the physical counterpart to share it with friends and familyrdquo