Sticking With Board Games in the Digital Age

Nov. 4, 2004 — -- It was like an adrenaline-packed dash to the finish line, but the prize was not a gold medal. Instead, it was a neatly packaged box of Pictionary, the trusted board game that often has players squinting at their teammates' indecipherable squiggles before gustily yelling their answers.

Jed Miller still remembers the time he drove down to New York City from Amherst College in Massachusetts with three classmates to buy a copy of the beloved game.

It was the winter of 1987, at the height of what he calls his "collegiate obsession with Pictionary," and the game was sold out at every store in Massachusetts. In desperation, the four friends packed into a car and drove down to Manhattan, where they rushed into Altman's on Fifth Avenue just 10 minutes before the old-world department store closed, and emerged with their much sought-after Pictionary set.

"We were completely sober at the time," recalled the Amherst grad, who is now 38, in an e-mail to ABC News. "But the entire episode had the glee and desperation of a stoner's late-night run for the munchies."

These days, "games" usually means video games. There are PlayStations and Xboxes and downloadable software with stunningly believable 3-D images. There are superheroes, gun-toting, muscle-rippling hunks, cute and cuddly characters, Harry Potter licensed games and sports videogames.

So in this high-tech age, is it harsh to ask what possible chance do the old board games have, with their dice, pencils, sand-clocks and plastic pieces? Should the companies who make the board games of yore just pack up and lament the death of their industry?

If market figures and analysis by toy experts and board-game manufacturers are anything to go by, the answer is a surprising, resounding "No."

Fans like Miller suggest there's still life in the genre. A New York-based online communities expert, Miller is a tech-savvy young man, familiar with the latest video and computer games. But while he's had some enjoyable video gaming experiences, Miller says nothing comes close to the sheer fun and challenge of a trusted board game.

Business Is Booming

By all accounts, the board-game business is booming, with sales figures for old standards as well as new board games on the rise -- unlike the conventional toys sector.

Board-game sales in 2003 were $1.04 billion, up from $1.02 billion the previous year, according to NPD Group, the leading U.S. marketing information provider. And board-game sales from January to August 2004 -- the slow retail sales months -- touched $70 million, up 7 percent from the same period last year.

In contrast, NPD figures show sales for conventional toys between January and August this year were $9.4 billion, a 4 percent decrease from the same period last year. And annual conventional toy sales for 2003 dipped to $20.7 billion from $21.3 billion the previous year.

Overall sales for video game systems slowed in the first half of 2004, too, though analysts expect them to pick up in 2005 with the release of new hardware for playing the games.

Time Alone and Time Together

Technology may have its obvious thrills, but the appeal of the old board games is that they bring people together.

"I still think of video games primarily as a way to pass the time alone," says Miller. "Frankly, I lost interest when it began to seem like skill at video games was a matter of learning cheat codes and the right combination of button and joystick moves to rip out your opponent's spine."

Miller notes that board games can also be a great "ice-breaker" at parties or on dates. Two of his friends actually met and began dating after one placed an online ad seeking partners for "platonic Scrabble."

Indeed, Cranium Inc., the makers of the popular new board game Cranium, launches its products at Starbucks outlets, where customers have the time to linger and chat, before making them available at stores such as Barnes & Noble.

Bringing Families Together

But the fastest-growing games, according to Reyne Rice, a toy trend specialist at the Toy Industry Association, are multigenerational games that can typically be played by anyone above the age of 8. "I'd say the most popular games are the family games that keep getting pulled out year after year," she said.

While several board games succeed in drawing the family together -- at least for the duration of a game -- some attempt to enhance the familial experience.

Family Reunion, a game produced by California-based USAopoloy Inc. for instance, comes with 240 photo cards meant to inspire family members to recall memories and occasionally reveal old family secrets. The game can be customized with family photos and ancestors can be traced with the help of a family tree.

"We see the business getting stronger as more and more families want to spend more time together," said John Davis, president of USAopoly Inc. "Video games come and go, but board games have transcended the test of time."

'We Own the Blue Jeans'

Indeed, one of the most popular board games in the world emerged during the Depression years and the thrill of its quintessentially American capitalist get-rich-quick opportunism has not waned for nearly seven decades.

Monopoly is still one of the top-selling board games in the world, produced in 26 languages and sold in about 80 countries. Such is the appeal of the board game with fake money, fake banks and fake interest rates that Monopoly is still banned in the Communist states of North Korea and Cuba.

"If games are like high fashion, then we own the blue jeans," says Mark Morris, a spokesman for Hasbro Inc., the Rhode Island-based makers of Monopoly.

Super Fast, Super Tough

Board games such as Monopoly, Pictionary, Scrabble, Candyland and Trivial Pursuit may have a timeless appeal, but that does not necessarily mean they go unchanged.

Since Hasbro granted USAopoly the license to create specialty editions of Monopoly, the market has seen a number of new versions of the old favorite, such as the Simpsons Monopoly and the Mickey Mouse edition. This holiday season, USAopoly is releasing its Surfing Monopoly and a Snowboarding Monopoly.

"Craniacs" -- as die-hard Cranium fans refer to themselves -- this year have the new super-fast Cranium Turbo Edition, released this season.

Indeed with board games getting faster, shorter and tougher, the old requisites of skilled partners are as important as ever.

"I can only enjoy Scrabble with someone as good at it or better than I am," says Miller. "If the challenge disappears, then it starts to feel more like doodling."

But sometimes the competitive spirit it unleashes can be uncomfortable. Miller for instance says he's still embarrassed by a particularly vicious round of Pictionary he got into recently. "I'm still ashamed of the time I couldn't get my best friend to say the word 'coffee pot' and I lunged across the board shouting, 'There's no such thing as a 'milk pitcher' you idiot.' "