by Naoko Kensaku

Created on: May 08, 2009

As a gamer, this question always makes me grin: Board games or video games?

Without missing a beat, I would say board games. Despite being a child of the Internet and being more familiar with the various kinds of video games (including social sessions with friends over the Local Area Network and the Internet), nothing beats a good old game of face-to-face Scrabble.

Or Monopoly.

In recent years, there has been a welcome resurgence in games, whether video or board, and this had led to many different gameplays on different mediums and rules. You don't have to just keep playing games you've played before as a children, like Risk and Scrabble. Now there are others like Munchkin, Settlers of Katan and even Railroad Tycoon for you to have fun with and while the day away.

Board games offer the satisfaction of watching your opponent's body language. They offer you the insight into human behaviour, into understanding yourself and the way you and your friends in a loosely-structured environment. There are many different ways and actions you can explore when playing board games. Your only limit is your imagination (or your Game Master depending on what game you play). The phrase "Life's a journey, not a destination" aptly describes board games. There's more fun to be had taking your time adventuring with your friends then there is the rush to complete all the main quests and side quests of your video game to "win" the game.

With a video game, you are limited to what the program will allow you to do. Even if you play video games at a party, you're limited to the screen. It is hard to watch your opponent's body language and gauge his reaction. There are some games like Guitar Hero and Little Big Planet that attempt to capture some of the fun of board games, but while they induce a lot of laughs, they are lacking greatly in the interaction factor.

After all, your main interaction at the end of the day is with pixels, not pictures. Where's the fun in that?

I do not deny that video games have their own function. However, I believe that they are less about socialising and more about releasing stress and having fun individually. Board games, on the other hand, are more about having fun as a group, without being overly stressed about where to go and what to do.

And really, who needs to journey through a pixellated dungeon when you've got a real-life dungeon complete with unexpected monsters and good friends?

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