The Play's the Thing

By Paul Williams
Friday, April 14, 2006

Shouting, building partnerships, trying to destroy the competition, showing off how smart you are -- these are the activities Washington thrives on. So it's no wonder a new generation of high-tech, fast-paced board games has attracted a loyal following, expanding the market for game-night gatherings.

Jennifer Resick, 24, of Arlington has friends over to play Cranium and other board games every few weeks. She might set up a theme, such as girls' night, or she might host a quick game before heading out to the bars in Adams Morgan.

"I have had arguments over questions or things that happened during the game carry over to the cab ride on the way out, and I'll have to say, 'Game night is over, we all have to move on,' " Resick says.

She stresses the importance of choosing a game first, then inviting the correct number and mix of people. She has been known to send Evites for game nights "so you can lay out the ground rules, people can get psyched up about it, form teams ahead of time. Vendettas can carry over from the last game night."

Resick's game of choice is Cranium. Sales and orders for the game, first released in 1998, are at an all-time high, company officials say.

"Two or three years ago I got into Cranium," Resick says. "I really chose it because it was a compromise game. If I was going to talk people into a board game, it was always a hassle to get everyone to agree on a game. Some people like Taboo because of the word aspect of it, others would choose a trivia game, others wanted something creative, and Cranium was a good compromise because it has something for everyone."

In Cranium, players race around a game board in teams and draw cards based on the color of the space their game piece lands on. The cards might require a team to answer a trivia question or solve a word or spelling puzzle. It might require one teammate to hum a tune, act out a word charades-style or draw something without looking at the paper while team members try to guess the clue.

The idea for the game came to Cranium co-founder Richard Tait while he was on vacation in the Hamptons with his wife, Karen, and another couple in 1997 when his friends challenged them to a game of Pictionary.

"My wife and I are unbelievable [at Pictionary]," Tait says. "We crushed Dan and Maggie."

The defeat didn't go unanswered for long.

"They immediately challenged us to a game of Scrabble," Tait says. "Sure enough, they humbled us. . . . I felt like the idiot in the room, and I thought, 'Why isn't there a game that gives everyone a chance to shine?' "

Although the game may give everyone an opportunity to excel, part of the fun is that it also gives everyone a chance to fail spectacularly.

"Every time we play it, all we do is end up laughing the whole time," says Jenna Ford, a 26-year-old from Northwest Washington who hosts frequent game nights. "You're doing wacky things like sculpting clay or trying to draw while blindfolded."

That element of participation is what separates board games from other forms of entertainment, says David Parlett, author the "Oxford History of Board Games" and creator of the game Hare and Tortoise.

"Playing games in a group has the same appeal as going to a gig or a live concert, a play or a film: You are sharing an artistic (perhaps even spiritual) experience with others whose simultaneous appreciation of it enhances your own," Parlett wrote in an e-mail. "The chief difference, of course, is that games add the additional factor of performance -- you are actually forging the experience yourself, not just watching others do it."

Rob Daviau, a game designer at Hasbro since 1998, has worked on the design of about 100 games. He says board games are a perfect excuse for people to socialize. It's also a cheap alternative to heading out on the town.

For a good adult party game, he says, "the focus isn't as much about winning as it is about having a good time. You want easy-to-learn rules, playable by lots of players, [that] plays quickly and evokes laughter."

Before hosting a game night, Daviau recommends clearing a big enough space for players to comfortably spread out, especially if a game requires any movement. Have enough food and drink on hand so players can easily refuel without interrupting the flow of the game.

Daviau says you should know what type of mood you want to set and pick a game accordingly -- Scrabble has a much quieter, competitive feel than, say, Jenga. "People who like to play chess and Go are very different than people who like to play Taboo. Both are good games; they just appeal to different people."

And don't be afraid to try something new. "I think people are always a little bit hesitant to learn a new experience, whether it's a game or anything else, because you have to put yourself out there and you don't want to look foolish," he says.

The most important thing is to have a good command of the rules before people come over, Daviau says. "There's that period of learning where it can go wrong if the host or hostess is opening up the rules and saying, 'Let's see how to play the game,' and it takes 20 minutes," he says. "That can bring the evening down."

Board games are among the oldest forms of popular entertainment. Parcheesi, first introduced to a mass audience in 1867 by Milton Bradley, is the oldest game on the Toy Industry Association's list of classic games, and strategy games such as chess, checkers and Go have been popular for centuries.

There has been a proliferation in types and styles of games over the past few years. To compete with newer games, Hasbro has been rebranding such classics as Scrabble and Life with wooden boxes to give them a retro feel, while targeting niche audiences with such licensing-based games as SpongeBob SquarePants Monopoly, Lord of the Rings Risk or Saturday Night Live Trivial Pursuit Special Edition DVD. Daviau recently developed a DVD adaptation of Clue.

"The things that are really driving the trends in board games for the older market are things like reality shows, pop culture, celebrities or entertainment properties, where the successful toy companies have taken some classic games and overlaid these opportunities for pop culture, or bringing in the component of a DVD," says Toy Industry Association analyst Reyne Rice.

Rice says that although exact figures for DVD games aren't being tracked yet, she thinks they've made at least $150 million in sales over the past two years since the debut of Scene It, a game built around movie clips on a DVD. She also says all of the major board game manufacturers are boosting their design, sales and distribution staffs in that area. Scene It has several versions that focus on specific topics such as sports, music, television and even the "Harry Potter" movies and books.

David Long, Scene It's creator, credits the game's success to a recipe of pop-culture references and high-end visual appeal combined with the social interaction of a traditional board game.

"Everyone's familiar with the [video] content," Long says. "Would you rather read a question about Harrison Ford, or would you rather see a clip with Harrison Ford in it?"

Long received full disclosure for this article: The writer met his girlfriend two years ago while demolishing her and her friends in a game of Scene It.

"It's great to hear that people are getting together and making that connection," Long says. "As people move faster and faster in our culture, it's great to see people taking the time to get together."

Paul Williams is a freelance writer from Arlington. His sister has been paying him rent on Baltic Avenue, the Electric Company and B&O Railroad since 1982.