There seems to be a resurgence in board and card gaming. (Hereafter referred to as tabletop gaming.) I think that's a great thing.
I was 9 years old when the Atari 2600 (VCS) launched with it launched a competition for the free time of American families. I have to admit I played a lot more 2600 games than tabletop games for the next few years. But that doesn't mean I didn't play any tabletop games. Battleship, Stratego, Connect Four, Mouse Trap, Operation, Sorry, Trouble, Mille Bornes, we played them all.
As I got older though computer and video games took more and more of my time and traditional games stayed on the shelf. The only tabletop games I remember playing after this were Uno and Rummikub with my grandmother, she really didn't get video games at all.
When my wife and I started our family we brought tabletop games back into our home, kids games but still games. Candy land, Connect Four made a return, along with memory and a few others. Eventually though as our daughter got older computer games and eventually console games took what little gaming time there was. Our boys really only played tabletop games when they were small because by '98 when they were born video games were the unchallenged champ of leisure time with games for children as young as a year available.
While I enjoyed playing video games with my kids, there is something to be said for tabletop gaming. it's more interactive, more friendly. For the last year or so we have been (as a family) playing more tabletop games. There seems to be a never-ending supply of new tabletop games available with new ones every month. We have played Munchkin, Fluxx, Zombie Dice, Ticket To Ride, Wits and Wagers, Apples to Apples, Battle of the Sexes, and Castle Panic not to mention expansions of a number of those.
We have had a lot of fun, a lot of laughs, and spent quality time together as a family. What more can you ask of some plastic, cardboard, and paper?
The tabletop game industry is growing fast and there is no shortage of games, information, and fun to be had. Some great websites you can go to for all your gaming needs are:
Board Game Geek - A great website that has all the information you could ever need about games and gamers.
TableTop - A reality show hosted by Wil Wheaton. He and his friends get together and play tabletop games. Great fun!
On The Table - A web show about tabletop games and the industry, more focus on wargaming.
There, now go and play a game...
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