Turkey, Potatoes and a Boardgame

Indulge me. Those that know me know boardgaming is a huge passion of mine; and I've shown great restraint in not posting about it all that much (where I could probably write about it each day).

With Thanksgiving weekend upon us, I began looking to see if people in my game group were interested in doing something over the weekend. Historically, there hasn't been a great deal of interest - mainly because people are shopping and hanging Christmas decorations and other family-related things. So, I set my expectations low, and said, rather than playing some boardgames, we could do some videogaming instead.

Interestingly, the response was even worse. I then changed it to being a boardgame event, and the interest grew again. And, this got me thinking.

All the people I half-expected to come to the videogaming event DO play videogames, but they still said it didn't carry that much interest. Why? Maybe it's because videogames (and, I'm including computer games in this category) are designed so well these days with a robust artificial intelligence; there's almost no need to get together with people to play those types of games.

Boardgames don't have that problem. Sure, there are games that eventually have computer versions designed; and there are online sites that allow players to play against other players; but, there's nearly no substitute for being able to play in a tactile environment; with real people.

In Germany, where many of the games my group plays originated from (not as much anymore -- game design is now more worldwide, but surely, Germany was the origin for quite a few of the classics), playing a boardgame tends to be the primary leisure activity for families. More than watching television, families will break out a boardgame after dinner

You can read my take on the origins of boardgames on another site I was writing for this past summer -- here are the first two parts:

Where it all began: Acquire
The Gap between Acquire and the Euro Invasion

There are very few activities that allow for the level of camaraderie that boardgames offer. I'm always envious of my friends in the hobby that play a ton of games during the holidays. I try to do the same thing, but my family tends to be a little resistant. Still, I don't know that there's a better activity for Thanksgiving (after the football games are over, of course.....)

Let me know if you decide to do this, and let me know what you play!