Vibhor Mathur’s desire to collect board games seems to be never ending and this despite the fact that he has a collection of interesting games at home and a few stored on his PC. It’s peer pressure say his parents, but something they don’t mind. “The games that I want to play don’t just represent fun with friends and family, but they also help you think. Playing Scrabble even on alternate days has improved my English by leaps and bounds,” says this Class XII student.
It’s not just Mathur or his peers, but a large percentage of people across the globe that have played board games at some point in their lives.
Board games certainly go back in time bringing all sorts of characters and situations to the fore. They serve as sources of information and knowledge of one’s culture and heritage and certainly activate the brain cells. Then of course, there is the nostalgia of the generations that have grown up playing them. “At some point in time, we used to play Pachisi, a game derived from the Mahabha-rata played between the Pandavas and Kauravas. Now, no longer seen in stores, it was a huge success when the serial on the epic was broadcast. My brothers and I not only bought the game, but we also tried to live its aura,” recalls V Hitesh, a Delhi resident.
With Pachisi not so visible these days and chess, ludo and carrom considered boring, the time belongs to the new generation board games like Taboo, Scotland Yard and Mastermind. Big names in urban Indian households, these are brought out whenever a family wants a brainy diversion or there is a party at home.