Are Board Games Dying Out?

[shillelagh]

In our family - ww3 erupts when we play trivial pursuits. Especially when you split the husbands/partners/wives up. Its great!!!!

Cards - that was queenie, going for the pot, ontoon or 21, what ever game you could take money off the others playing.

[jambutty]

Undoubtedly board games have become less popular than in years gone by but when you consider the alternatives available it is hardly surprising. But it is good to see that here and there the board game still flourishes.

If (or maybe that should be when) ever we hit an energy crisis then I’m sure that board games and cards will make a rapid comeback.

The chess/draughts board is probably the most popular worldwide. However the board and draughtsmen lend themselves to a number of other games than just draughts that can be played on a draughts board. Fox and Goose sometimes known as Cat and Mouse and Chinese Checkers are two that come to mind.

I should think that Monopoly and Scrabble would vie for second place with Ludo a close third.

Read a brief but fascinating history of Ludo at http://www.uckers.co.uk/history.htm and then brush up on UCKERS, the Royal Navy version of Ludo at http://www.uckers.co.uk/ by far a superior way of playing on the Ludo board.

A deck of cards, however, is much more versatile than all the board games put together and have been put to good use for centuries. Fortunes have been won and lost on the turn of a card.

Like all games there have to be rules of play but with card games the rules often depended on where you were playing. To this end back in 1741 a chap called Edmund Hoyle set about standardising rules of card games starting with Whist but did not confine his efforts to just card games. Today a card school will often declare that the game being played is “According to Hoyle”.

The three non-gambling card games that are top of the list are, but not in any particular order, Contract Bridge, Canasta and Cribbage, with Gin Rummy galloping up behind.

The top three gambling games have to be Poker in all its variations, Brag and Pontoon, more popularly known as Black Jack or vingt et un

Read about Edmund Hoyle at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edmond_Hoyle.

The number of card games that have been invented is astounding and must run into hundreds and hundreds. See http://www.pagat.com/alpha.html for an ever growing list.

[moon]

I go on holiday with my Gramps and co. every year and we ALWAYS take ludo and donkey and happy families.

[JohnW]

Originally Posted by MargaretR

There was a card game we both liked, named Contraband, which involved smuggling the crown jewels and nylon stockings etc through customs.

I thought I was the only person in the world who ever owned Contraband. I never knew anyone else who had it. It was a very good game and I introduced my friends to it in the sixties and they all liked it too. Another game I had which no-one else seemed to play was "Oscar" and was all about film stars and their rise to fame. I still love board games and when my sons come over to visit from England there is always a big Scrabble competition.