Board games are often seen as a very niche activity or something that is mostly geared towards children. But board games are a lot like books; there are all sorts of genres, games that are for kids, teens, or adults, longer games, quick games, games that are meant to be funny, more strategic, some more based on luck. Similar to book genres, games can have a plethora of themes: solving global warming, exploding kittens, traveling through Japan, building a railroad empire, raising birds, visiting national parks, exorcizing ghosts and so much more. Some people that are looking for a less strategic experience may be interested in cooperative games where players work together to complete their goals, or games that are more based on luck. Folks of a more competitive nature may enjoy a game that involves sabotaging your opponents or social deception. Party games can easily accommodate a lot of people playing and allow people to jump in or out as needed. Much like with books, you might just need to find the right one.
Game publishers also get very creative when making their games. They come up with fascinating back stories, create beautiful artwork for the board and pieces, and craft interesting rules and mechanics for how to play the game. One of my favorite things to see in new games is the variety of pieces involved and how they are used together to play the game. The creativity displayed by the game creators is part of what makes playing board games so enjoyable.
There can be a few challenges when it comes to trying to play games, especially games that are new to you. First is finding people to play with: even if there are people that you know you would like to play with, finding a time that works for everyone to meet in person can be difficult. Finding a good group of people that enjoys the same types of games and can coordinate their schedules opens a whole lot of opportunities to experience new games.
The other challenge is learning and keeping track of the rules. With so many different games, playing new ones can be a challenge; most people are not interested in reading a long rulebook to understand the rules enough to explain to other players. This problem can often be made easier thanks to game companies or just people on the internet who enjoy board games. You can often find multiple videos online either from the publisher of the game or an independent group that explains the rules and may even show a few turns of play. Watching these videos with a group can make learning the rules much easier. You may not be able to know everything from one viewing of the video but if everyone remembers a bit, you can work together to figure out how to play, and if you don’t play exactly following the rules it’s not a big deal because at the end of the day the point of playing is to have fun.
Our library has a number of games in our Library of Things that you can borrow to try out at home. Find them in the Media Alcove with the DVDs next to the circulation desk. Also, please feel free to join us for our Beebe Board Game Club on the last Thursday of every month at 6PM in the Living Room. There’s no need to be familiar with games ahead of time, we can teach you how to play if a game is new to you!
