The return of the board game

Sales of board games are on the up as a Christmas gift. Fans like the person-to-person contact in this digital era. (SRF/swissinfo.ch)

In the age of smartphones and computer tablets it might come as a surprise that board games are becoming increasingly popular. The Spikus games shop in Winterthur has noticed a clear increase in sales compared with last Christmases. Spikus owner Peter Moll says that people like to communicate, after sitting in front of the computer every day. They like quizzes and parlour games. Games enable communication.

Party games, such as Tabu or the board game version of Rummy, are a perennial favourite at wholesaler Manor. Every year around 1,000 new games are put on the market. The current trend is for games with a scary theme, says games reviewer Tom Felber. 

According to Felber, the board game boom is even bigger in the United States, where sales have increased by 20% compared with the previous year. He sais this is also thanks to some celebrities, such as actor Will Wheaton, who spread the idea. It’s possible that this will reach Europe and make the boom here even stronger.

The Swiss spend on average CHF289 ($295) on Christmas presents, according to a study by Ernst & Young.