Why I game.

In our home we’re painfully outnumbered by televisions. We have a bedroom TV, a TV for when we’re just lounging in the living room and for couch co-op gaming and then our beautiful dual Xbox/TV combo in the basement that would make 13-year-old me weep with joy. While that isn’t necessarily a bad thing, I despair for the condition my eyes will be decades from now. Aside from music and horror movies, I would say one of my earliest passions was video games. I have the fondest memories waking up one Christmas morning and losing my goddamn mind over cracking open my very own Sega Genesis. From then on I’ve enjoyed a multitude of consoles (sorry PC) and now we’re proudly an Xbox household. What draws me to gaming as a whole, aside the obvious of storytelling and gameplay, is the social aspect. We all can remember our drunken MarioKart evenings with friends or the first time you uppercut your opponent’s head off in a gory Mortal Kombat fatality.

Enter the world of board games. Just like video games, the possibilities are endless. You can battle monsters, grow trees, sail the 7 seas and more just by busting open a cardboard box. Finding that perfect balance of cooperation or competition with those who love a hobby the same as you do just feels good. Rolling some dice or slapping down a card to crush your opponent or wreck a boss harbors the same satisfaction as a video game does, but in a more intimate setting. You’re interacting with friends and strangers in a way that is strangely tribal. Stories are told, lessons learned and you leave with an experience that is unique enough to keep you running back to the game store time and time again to relive that experience. Combine that with beautiful artwork and components that remind you of your most cherished toys from ages ago, it’s hard for me to believe that there isn’t a game out there for everyone. And I’m willing to fight you on that.