5 ms·
Board games are back because the Euro game designers kept it alive during what was largely a board game dark age through most of the world. They broke back thro
by cthalupa 9y ago
Board games are back because the Euro game designers kept it alive during what was largely a board game dark age through most of the world. They broke back through into other markets, and re-invigorated creativity elsewhere.
There's been a ton of exciting developments in boardgames over the past few years. Legacy games introduced a whole new element to board games, starting with Risk Legacy, and richly continued by others, including Pandemic Legacy, which has reigned supreme at #1 on BoardGameGeek, the largest boardgaming website, for quite some time.
Dungeon crawlers that are more influenced by D&D and other pen and paper RPGs have been big, with things like Mage Knight, Descent, and more recently Gloomhaven being smash hits.
Board games with "AI" players, like Mansions 2e mentioned in the article, or the automata in Scythe, are influenced by video games in that you can even play single player against a psuedo-player, but not in many other fashions.
Even incredibly niche, boutique, and expensive games like Kingdom Death: Monster which is basically three games and a wallet draining miniature addiction in one very large box have become quite massive.
- StanislavPetrov 9y agoI know he isn't exactly known for his board games but US game designer Steve Jackson has really stood the test of time and has continued to make interesting games for decades.
- cthalupa 9y agoMunchkin reskins from now until the end of time ;) Steve Jackson is awesome, and there's definitely room on my shelves dedicated to Munchkin, Chez Geek, and Illuminati. Despite Munchkin, etc, being very accessible, my understanding is that during the period the article talks about, where board games were "gone", it was very much relegated to the same sort of groups that would play D&D, GURPS, etc.
- clw8 9y agoYou seem to be quite knowledgeable about board games, so I'm curious if Stranger Things has led to an uptick in popularity of D&D and the D&D influenced ones you mentioned. Luckily I live in a big city so I was able to find a nice business to try out the game with friendly people, after watching the show.
- parasubvert 9y agoD&D and the like remain popular, though the latest craze are “RPGs in a box” which require less of the planning / time suck of a good campaign. There is a board game company that is very popular & uses Kickstarter a lot, called “Cool Mini or Not”, which reminds me a bit of the kids in Stranger Things. There are a variety of excellent minister miniature dungeon crawlers (Zombicide Black Plague for feeling like super heroes vs zombies, Arcadia Quest for PvP) or strategy games (Blood Rage), or tactical combat/thematic games (The Others, which is an all vs. one game of corruption and redemption tactical combat and horror elements like Stranger Things or IMO the Buffy spinoff Angel). There are also some other great RPGs in a box like TIME Stories, Descent, and Star Wars Imperial Assault (the latter two are nearly the same system , all vs. One style gameplay). The big excitement however is lately about Gloomhaven, which might rise to top game on BoardGameGeek next year (and deservedly).
- james-skemp 9y agoDescent actually has an app that you can run (tablet or PC) that will play the part of the enemy. Not required, like Mansions of Madness 2e, but a nice way to play cooperatively. Imperial Assault is supposedly getting an app like this soon as well.
- Merad 9y agoD&D was already in the middle of a popularity surge when Stranger Things came out last year. Fifth edition (5e) came out in 2014 and somehow managed to make the gameplay more streamlined (and appealing to new players) while also being popular with current and past players. In 2015 you had Critical Role (live Twitch show) and The Adventure Zone (podcast) both appear and be hugely successful. I’m sure Stranger Things deserves some credit for showing D&D to a wider audience, but I don’t know if it’s been a significant factor.
- plandis 9y agoStranger Things has made me want to try DnD but I also know zero people who play in Seattle :-/ Same problem with trying out Pandemic: Legacy. Damn social anxiety.
- gpvos 9y agoThe article acknowledges that the revival started in the 1990s already.
- pluma 9y agoGerman here. Board games were never gone so I'm not sure what the article headline is trying to say. I guess this is an American perspective? Most of the "innovations" the article mentioned sound mostly like they're responsible for Americans developing a new interest in board games. "Legacy" games, while somewhat innovative, sound like they're borrowing from pen and paper games (where characters might come back for new campaigns) rather than computer games (although CRPGs were heavily influenced by pen and paper from the start).
- JoeAltmaier 9y agoI think that's right. The OP is on an English site written in American English; the audience is likely that.
- pluma 9y ago> English site written in American English; the audience is likely that Does the term "lingua franca" mean anything to you? Considering most sites with an international audience use English and most of those use American English specifically, this does not seem like a foregone conclusion. HN is an English site mostly written in American English, do you therefore reckon its content is intended for an American audience?
- falsedan 9y ago> HN is an English site mostly written in American English, do you therefore reckon its content is intended for an American audience? Yes. The coverage and topics are heavily weighted towards companies in the Bay Area + local US events.
- b0rsuk 9y agoWhile boardgames experience a revival in Poland, at the start of the millenium they were looked down upon as childish waste of time.
- Erwin 9y ago