Eight-year-old Arjun Arun Nair can’t wait for his parents to come home from work so that he can play a round of Monopoly with them before calling it a night. Till then, his grandmother is his playmate, as he brings out his collection of games one by one.
Playing a board game before bedtime has become a family ritual, says Ambika Shetty, Arjun’s mom. “My husband, Arun, and I used to have game nights that would extend into overnight marathons. That was in Bangalore, before Arjun was born.”
Arjun’s introduction to board games was gradual, starting off with jigsaw puzzles, words games and the like. “Monopoly is the current family favourite and we play it in the evenings, especially now since school is out and he has no lessons to complete or learn,” says Dr Ambika.
In a day and age where children are hooked to electronic devices, board games come as a whiff of fresh air. “Especially during summer. In fact, just last night my family and I played a round of Game of Life. As it is too hot to play outside, my kids spend most of their time indoors. As we don’t encourage them to use ipads, Xbox and the like, they either read or play games. While my son enjoys playing Othello, my daughter brings out her packet of UNO, especially when her friends drop by to play,” says Ashirbad Praharaj, a hotelier.
Boredom has her children, Shravan and Shraddha, dust out their old board games during the summer vacation, says Maneesha S Kumaran. “Hare and Tortoise, Pearl Race, Carrom, Chess, Ludo, Mastermind… are some of their favourites. They also have a collection of jigsaw puzzles. The family usually joins in when they play so as to prevent quarrels between the two,” says Maneesha, administrative and finance assistant of a multimedia company.
Step into any departmental or lifestyle store and there is a corner dedicated to board games. Pictureka, Cleudo, Hungry Hippo, Game of Life, Taboo, Scotland Yard, Business India…
For those who refuse to travel without a game in hand, compact travel games come in handy. “My daughter used to carry travel versions of games such as Ludo and Chinese Checkers when we went on holidays. Now, she just carries her UNO,” says Ashirbad.
Most of the games target specific age groups. Junior versions of popular games usually feature Disney characters or cartoon characters to capture the child’s attention. Monopoly Junior Disney Channel Edition, for instance, has stars from the Disney channel such as Hannah Montana, Kim Possible and Raven replace the Monopoly tokens of Top Hat, Iron and Race car. And instead of buying properties and setting up hotels, you are trying to set up as many televisions as possible to collect money from friends and family each time they stop and visit.
“Some of these games are both fun and educational. For instance, Snakes and Ladders teaches children how to add and subtract, Scrabble, how to build their vocabulary, Monopoly, how to manage their money...,” says homemaker Ann Andrews, who encourages her children, Tessa and Titan, to learn through games.
And if you think it’s just kids who are hooked to board games, think again. Techie Rajesh Ramaswamy’s love for board games began as a child. While Mastermind was a favourite during his childhood years, it was soon replaced by Dungeons and Dragons, Trivial Pursuit, Scrabble, Monopoly and “basically any board game that got the brain cells working.”
Homebaker Arielle Varghese too is into board games. In fact, she and her friends catch up on the latest in their lives often over a game of Monopoly or Scotland Yard. “Which is every week,” she laughs.
While board games are a fad in the West, with new games appearing in the market each year, such games however, are hard to come by in the city.
“Most games that are available here are either rechristened, or adapted versions of old games. Like recently I bought Othello, thinking it was a new game. It is actually based on an old game I used to play - Reversi,” says Rajesh, who usually hunts for new games while travelling abroad. “I am currently trying to get my hands on Sequence, a board-cum-card game.”
With people, both young and old still hooked to board games, let the games begin.
