There is something that has been bothering me for a while now and maybe some people here can help me figure this one out.
When I was a kid, one of the standard shabbos activities was playing board games (monopoly, risk, stratego, trivial pursuit, etc.), as I am sure it was for many of you as well. This was all fine and well, but it was restricted exclusively to shabbos, as other activities, such as video games, were not an option. I can probably count on one hand the amount of board games I have played that were not during shabbos.
So here is where my problem comes in; my experience has been confirmed by virtually everyone else I have asked.
However, we see with our own eyes that the game board industry is an ongoing profitable business operation, but I cannot believe that it is being entirely supported by the shomer-shabbos population (board games as a shidduch date activity notwithstanding); so I ask all of you, how is it that board games still continue to be made? Where does this industry's support come from?
The Amish, my friend...it's all about the Amish.
ReplyDeleteI have always assumed that much of the (particularly non-coastal) population in this country has things such as family night, and play games. I saw a TV show (gasp!) recently where Bernie Mac's (a'h) kids were playing Sorry! on a regular weeknight. Moreover, if a parent is on the family computer, and it's later in the evening, what else is there to do?
ReplyDeleteFinally, games need to be used just once to have been bought. If there's just one time a year for a family to play games, they will buy said games and keep PB and their cohorts in business. Remember - it costs them about $1 to make the game, and they sell it for $20+. And parents want their kids to play these games and not be online, especially if they're somewhat nostalgic.
I never played a board game on a date, btw. :)
ReplyDeleteI think that they're pretty popular in senior citizen centers and old age homes.
ReplyDeleteUm...
ReplyDelete[nervously raises hand]
I play games during the week in school...
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ReplyDeletePlenty of people play board games. In some circles they're considered a fun activity for a night in with your friends.
ReplyDeleteMy parents get together with friends on a monthly basis for a "games night" where they play a variety of different games, and eat too much junk food. ;-)
ReplyDeleteBut I know what you mean. Right now "Don't Break the Ice", "Don't Spill the Beans", "Candyland", and "Chutes and Ladders", are reserved for Shabbos/Yom Tovs at our house. The kids never even ask for them on regular days.
We play Settlers of Catan during the week.
ReplyDeleteAs a no-longer-Orthodox albeit childless person, board games are much more rare than they were when I kept shabbos despite a deep affection for games in general. However, I do have the occasional game night with non-Jews and non-observant Jews. Then there are also of course the clubs for more "serious" games like chess and go.
ReplyDeleteWe play Settlers of Catan during the week.
ReplyDeleteNoooooooo.
Then there are also of course the clubs for more "serious" games like chess and go.
There's a game called go?
Even if someone hates board games and never plays them, there's this strange compulsion to at least buy a whole bunch of them. It's as if it's not really a house unless you own some classic board games. At home the only time we ever play board games is when we have company, such as a certain jerkface, and we need something to do. Even then we end up playing the same two or three games that we enjoy despite the fact that we own about a brazzilion (real number) games. Many of these have never even been opened.
ReplyDeleteAgree with LogoYid a lot, too.
ReplyDeleteErachet - Go is one of the most famous games in the world...!
Wow. This is kind of ethnocentric... I grew up in a non-Jewish home and we played board games all the time. My (non-Jewish) cousins raising (non-Jewish) kids all have closets full of board games too. Their kids are normal, secularized Christian, American kids all between the ages of three and twelve.
ReplyDeleteTry the game "paired up" at your next adult melave malka and you'll know why people buy games.
ReplyDeleteIt's tons of fun!!
Now the "duller" games people buy b/c they feel the "should own" them.
http://www.amazon.com/Games-for-All-Reason-Paired/dp/B00004XCKE/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=hi&qid=1219083437&sr=8-1
And no, I have no interest in the company.... I've just spent many and enjoyable couples evening with this game. It's great for teenagers too.
When you have children of game playing age you buy games so they don't spend all their time watching TV. If they can't go outside to play sports they can play a game with friends. The rule in our house was that if you have a friend over you don't watch TV. Games teach skills in a fun way.
ReplyDeleteGames teach skills in a fun way.
ReplyDeleteA head fake! :)
So, is the answer really just that gentiles tend to play board games more than we do? Such a cultural difference seems to have no real reason/cause.
ReplyDeletedid you really just use the term 'gentiles'?
ReplyDeleteLOL g.
ReplyDeleteWe had the same 'No TV when friends are over' rule, so we played lots of board games when I was growing up.
ReplyDeleteMormons have something called a family home night once a week (or something like that). Board Games are probably part of that.
ReplyDeleteanon 2:17- did you see that on Big Love?
ReplyDelete