In the popular sitcom How I Met Your Mother , Mickey Aldrin, Lily’s father is unnaturally obsessed with creating the ‘next big board game’. In one scene, he forces the characters to play a game called ‘Contagious Disease’. The results are partly hilarious and partly disgusting. Regular viewers will remember Chinese lead paint, bile and some other bodily fluids.
In India, we have always had a long history of indoor games. This is, after all, the country whose epic revolves around one part of a family getting so competitive over a board game, that they are willing to lose an entire kingdom, a wife, and their dignity (in that order) just to keep playing, in the hope that one spin of the dice can turn the tables for them. That’s what games do. It turns hopeless losers into winners, all in the nick of time.
Srividya Kalyanaraman, who loves Pictionary and Taboo, says she plays mostly with family at least once a week and definitely on holidays. “We have very fond memories associated with each game we play. Once, just to annoy other players I kept guessing ‘earring’ for every word, and eventually, at one point, it turned out to be the right word!”
While board games were primarily with family for Srividya, for Anamika Raghu, it began with meeting people on Twitter. “Growing up, I had no access to any board game. Until adulthood, I’ve never stayed over at a friend’s house playing games. It was only after tweet-ups did I regularly start playing games. It was a way to entertain ourselves instead of talking about other people on Twitter.”
For many, game nights tend to extend into an overnight marathon. Actor and stand up comic Murali Satagopan says, “A typical game night starts at around 9 p.m., when the crowd slowly starts trickling in and the nine-member table gets filled by about 10 p.m. Games go on as long as there are enough members; so a typical game night can go on till 3 a.m.. Sometimes, we have wrapped up only for breakfast.”
Board games have also become a great way for a group of like-minded people to come together and spend time. Funskool’s marketing manager, Philip Royappan, says that there is still room in India for traditional board games. “Earlier, when we introduced the e-banking version of Monopoly, we used to sell a few hundred a month. Now it’s about 3,000 units every month.” Of Funskool’s Rs. 150 crore turnover, a quarter comes from board games.
Mohan Krishnamoorthy, who loves strategy games, admires the thinking that goes into making a game. “I also like what I often term as “tight” games. For example, the game ‘Power Grid’ is so tightly designed that the loss of one resource could completely destroy the game.” Mohan’s game nights also have strict rules. “Game nights at my place often include dinner and drinks — although the ‘no drinks at the game table’ rule is strictly enforced. I had a glass of red wine spill once while playing Settlers of Catan and that was painful. Ever since, we keep all drinks — and food — off the table. Oh yes, I did have to repurchase Settlers of Catan.”
Board games could also be a great way to break the ice in a first-time meeting. “When groups of seven or eight people meet,” says Anamika, “there are always topics that bore someone in the group at some point of time. Sometimes, people don’t open up at all. Playing a board game brings everyone on the same page and ensures that everyone is engaged.”
The wonderful thing about board games is that you get to shake off the worries of the work day and get to actual work, which is winning the game. And yes, winning does matter. No matter how old you are, when you play, nobody has to stay an adult.
