A Critical Hit


Board gaming has been undergoing an enthusiastic renaissance in the last decade, with friends and family gathering around the dining room table and gaming cafes, rolling dice, bargaining for sheep, and attending gaming conferences. Te US and Canada hobby game market had an estimated $880m in sales in 2014, up 20% over the previous year, with global sales reaching $9.6b in 2016, according to Euromonitor International.


Classics with massive followings – like Dungeons & Dragons, Magic: Te Gathering, and Warhammer – as well as thousands of new titles, may owe some of their success to the introduction of Settlers of Catan in 1995. A “Eurostyle” gateway game – one which focuses on strategy, cooperation, compelling themes, and attractive art – has sold over 18 million copies worldwide. When asked about the game’s success, Guido Tubor, managing director of the game, said, “Catan has benefited from a growing desire to interact and socialize away from screens. Specifically, Catan is a game in which players are always involved. Tere is no downtime. It requires social skills to play cleverly. It’s a game that is characterized by creating win-win rather than zero- sum situations.”


Other gaming enthusiasts have noted that board games teach life skills like strategic thinking, learning to win and lose, organization, resource management, and pre-planning. Millennials find tabletop games particularly appealing from a financial standpoint: while the upfront investment may be steep (Catan retails for $39.99), the games may be played indefinitely, virtually anywhere.


KICKSTARTER is an essential influencer in the market as well, noting...


$196m raised for nearly


4,000 tabletop related projects in its lifetime


Some of the most famous being Cards against Humanity, Exploding Kittens, and Zombicide expansions. As the last generation purely raised on board games, Millennials may find a touch of nostalgia in the cardboard and plastic pastime.


Tere are a number of key lessons here for our industry. First, Millennials love the board game value proposition of a high initial investment coupled with long-term, varying repeatability – which sounds an awful lot like season passes and memberships. Second, Kickstarter has been a fantastic platform to gauge target-market interest in board game themes and mechanics, as well as listening to community feedback to help shape games’ development. Lastly, destinations provide unique settings for gamers to play or attend events – you may want to start planning your next (or first) Magic: Te Gathering tournament.


Top 10 Boardgames 2016-2017”


1. Gloomhaven 2. Star Wars: Rebellion 3. Terraforming Mars 4. Scythe 5. Great Western Trail


6. Arkham Horror Te Card Game


7. Mansions of Madness 2nd Edition


8. Mechs vs. Minions 9. A Feast for Odin 10. Te 7th Continent


Survey by Boardgame Geek


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