Here’s Why Board Games Are The New Video Games

[First published on www.tabletoptribe.com]

In the 1970s, amongst the Space and Tech Lego, Evel Kneivel figures and Action Men, two new forms of entertainment stirred.

In 1972 the video game Pong appeared in limited quantities at arcades. The simple digital bat and ball game was surprisingly addictive and by the middle of the following year was a runaway, mainstream success as one of the first home console games. In turn it spawned classics like Space Invaders, Asteroids and Missile Command. The video game revolution had begun.

Pong also spawned the first ever Rage Quit.

At around the same time Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson gave the world Dungeons & Dragons (D&D). This novel take on a Tolkienesque universe, where players cooperated to forge their own heroic stories, gripped hold of the imagination and hasn’t let go since.

Snappy subtitle you got there, guys.

Over four decades later these two pillars of geekdom still stand. Video games dominate the world of entertainment generating over twice the revenue of the film industry. RPGs, whilst…