Tech Breathes New Life into Old Board Games
CHATTANOOGA, TN – The history of board games can be traced back almost 4600 years to Mesopotamia and Chinese culture had their first recorded board game with rules around 200 B.C.
They have evolved over the years but games like Monopoly and Settlers of Catan have roots in these ancient games and today we’re exploring how the latest technology has updated them for generations to come.
Henry Flood is the owner of Epikos Comics and Games, and helped weigh in on the technology in board games and how it’s evolving.
“I love that we grew up playing board games. Right. But there is tech involved with it that will help run things for you,” says Flood. “Whether that’s something like Mansions of Madness, which needs kind of that game master feel to it. Someone to corral the players towards. Well, the app can do that now. It knows how to direct things for you.”
Restoration Games has been around since 2016 and they revamped a classic game called Stop, Thief! The original game is now a collector’s item so we couldn’t get our hands on one, but we do have their updated version. When we were snowed in this year my wife and I spent most of a day playing the updated version with the new cellphone app. It gives you clues to find the thief but still lets you interact the old fashion way with cards and dice and moveable pieces.
Taking it a step further is a trivia game we also love called Outsmarted. You can pick it up on Amazon or at their website and it feels a lot like Trivial Pursuit felt as a kid, but instead of cards you have categories you can purchase for it. It comes with plenty to choose from, but the game is customizable to your favorite categories so you can add hundreds of new categories and never play the same game twice. The coolest part about this is that you can play remotely with friends anywhere in the world. They can log in on their smart phone and play right along with you as well.
“One of the things I’ve noticed in and I don’t know if stop thief is this way or not, but I know a lot of the other ones I’ve looked at have been, is that because you have an app based with it, you can start playing some of them solo. For me, my family’s super busy all the time. So for us to sit down and learn a game together, it takes a lot of time. May not be able to happen, but if I can turn around and play the game 2 or 3 times myself, then I can boil down the rules for the rest of the family,” says Flood.
Next time you’re snowed in, or wish you had someone to play a board game with, check out Mansions Of Madness, Outsmarted or Stop, Thief and see if you can play remotely with your friends that are also snowed in.
