Remember When Games Were A Fun, Family Activity? Here Are Some Great Board Game Moments

Remember the board game? Pulling a box down off the shelf, laying out on the floor or table while the whole family, or group of your best friends, gathered around ready to have fun playing together? That was when playing games meant something other than sitting alone staring at a TV wearing headphones pressing plastic buttons until your thumbs ache.

This video from our nostalgic buddies at BuzzFeed, highlights the best moments from not one, not two, not five or 1o — but 31 classic board games. Some of the games are vintage, like Monopoly and Sorry! Others are more recent. But all of them will remind you of a simpler and in many ways more rewarding time when having fun was something people did together, rather than separated from one another by technology — when “reality” wasn’t “virtual,” but was as real as the person next to you.

Actually, it should be noted that even though video games are among the most popular and profitable forms of entertainment on the market, board games are making a bit of a comeback, surprisingly enough. The resurgence, however, is not due to renewed interest in the classics, but comes thanks mainly to “new wave” board games that board game expert Quinton Smith calls a marriage of the best of American style games and their European counterparts.

Traditionally, American games featured flashy design and themes that hooked players in, but played in very simple, straightforward fashion. “Eurogames” on the other hand were constructed with intricate, involving strategies and methods of play. But they suffered from boring concepts and design.

The “new wave” combines the sophistication of European board game play with the attractive, exciting style of American games, Smith says, noting, “You pay attention to the game because you don’t know when you’re going to have opportunities to do cool stuff.”

The board games in this quick but highly entertaining BuzzFeed video run the gamut from classic to contemporary, and after watching the 90-second clip, we think you’ll wan to round up the family and pull your favorite board game out of the closet.

[Image via Wikimedia Commons]