The Psychology Of Board Games

A collaborative feature

We love playing games. But have you ever thought about why we do? Here we explore why we play games and it’s fascinating.

Social Interaction & Fun

Ok, we’ll start with perhaps the most obvious. We play because we enjoy the fun of playing games, whether the games are the long strategy games or the quick and easy ones or somewhere in between. We play because we are with friends, with family or simply with fellow board game enthusiasts. We may play for the enjoyment of winning or to enjoy classic old school games or the latest in gaming hotness. Ultimately, for many, it may be the opportunity during or at the end of a busy week to spend some good quality time with friends and family, an opportunity to socialise in a more relaxed environment; as long as things don’t get too competitive mind!

When we play games, we can engage in good quality interaction as part of the time spent. The main focus may be the games we play, but don’t ignore the value of the social side, taking pleasure in spending good quality time without pressure, maybe having lunch together at same time especially if you are having a games day.

Challenge

Playing games is a time-honoured way of testing yourself, planning ahead, developing strategies and trying to outwit your opponents. We love a challenge! We don’t have to be super competitive, but outside a purely friendly or training game, we love winning and testing ourselves against others.

When we play a competitive game, we become more focused. Our concentration can improve and so too can our enjoyment. This is helped by learning new games or developing new strategies too, especially if you enjoy the challenge of regularly growing a games collection with new games.

Many games nowadays (take The Night Cage for example) come with alternative or “advanced” rules for players who are looking to exceed the challenge of the last time they played. Being able to adapt boardgames to suit your level of experience keeps them fun, challenging and increases their replayability. It also prevents them from stomping you as a new player, as you can pick an entry level which is suitable to your play style and level of skill.

Not all games are purely competitive with some games being co-operative. Some games come with the option to have teams like Concordia or are inherently designed for teams like Axis and Allies.

Some of these games are purely co-operative whilst others may feature a one versus the rest or team-play like Fury of Dracula or with hidden traitors as in The Thing. This helps give variety to the board gaming experience and helps develop different strategies to meet the differing challenges.

Sometimes with co-operative games, the challenge is being able to find a way to work together effectively! Games help us to improve and develop our team-work and problem solving, as we work with friends and/or family to overcome the tasks set out by the rules of the game.

De-stress And Relaxation

We don’t just play for the challenge though. Pastimes are often intended to be relaxing and that is precisely what board games can be. Yes, board games can be stimulating, challenging, competitive and relaxing all in one.

In a similar way to how we like to physical exercise, go for a run, do some gardening etc, being mentally active and having mental exercise can be very de-stressing. Your body can relax, unwind and you can mentally switch off from the world and you enter a different one.

More now than ever, we are seeing an increased range of games being produced that are aimed at solo or single players. Some of our favourite multiplayer games, such as Wingspan, come with a built-in single player mode for when you want to have some down time alone. Whilst the social aspect of board games is one of the most valuable, the fact that more games are now offering a way to play them by yourself, makes them more versatile.

There’s a real value in being able to take your time and solve a puzzle or a problem by yourself, without interference or outside influence. Sometimes time by yourself is the perfect way to de-stress and unwind after a hyper-stimulating day in the real world!

Therapeutic Value

Of course, there is a deeper psychology here. Playing board games can be therapeutic. Going beyond simply being relaxing, board games can help us manage our mental ill-health.

Neil - I know from working in a mental health day recovery centre how playing board games can help promote recovery for client. This can include building up assertiveness and confidence, improving self-esteem, helping to utilise and develop social and communication skills.

Going further, clients reported that the social side of playing board games helped them manage unwanted thoughts whilst others felt that they could put their illness to one side and feel safe in a community of others who all understood how difficult it can be managing mental ill-health.

For others, the therapy can be physical, tactile or cognitive. Playing some board games helps utilise motor and cognitive skills, which can be vital when recovering from illness or accident. The social side and the fun can be present too, but there is a deeper benefit from playing.

Other benefits from playing board games can include improving concentration and memory as a key feature. We can in effect utilise board games to help train our brain whether through cognitive skills, improving tactics, developing flexible strategies or simply becoming calmer and setting up better thought patterns through practice.

The frustration of being “pipped to the post” in a competitive game of Villainous helps us to better memorise the patterns needed to improve for the next game. The fact that your tile decision in Azul could lead you to losing points later in the round, helps us to develop mental flexibility in adapting our plans to improve our chances of winning, whilst the game environment changes with each player’s turn. These are just some examples of how “gaming therapy” helps to keep our minds stimulated, flexible and challenged.

Role-playing And Imagination

Some board games allow us to take on roles and play characters, either deliberately through the mechanics or via players simply using their imagination. I’m not referring to dedicated roleplaying games here. That is a different story and something that can be covered separately.

Neil - What is referred to here are those board games where players can either take on roles ranging from playing a hunter tracking down Dracula in Fury of Dracula for example (or Dracula himself evading the hunters!) to games where players are taking up a nation or playable race in empire building campaigns such as Twilight Imperium 4. These are two of my favourite games in part because of the challenge of competing with friends, but also the roleplaying aspect of them.

Some games are designed specifically around a theme with asymmetric roles designed to both reflect the theme and create varied and flavourful gameplay, such as Talisman or Werewolf – and in the latter, you don’t need to roleplay, but there can be additional fun in doing so.

Melissa - You don’t need a degree in Performing Arts or a vested interest in drama to enjoy the fun which can come from the role-playing encouraged by board games.

My favourite example of this comes from how my family play Mysterium. By day, we are a civil servant, administrator, sales assistant and a doctor. But set up a game of Mysterium and suddenly we transform into a tortured spirit, trying to communicate through images their last moments to the living, and the psychic mediums trying to use their powers to interpret these signs.

We use accents and gestures to get into the roles of each individual medium, and our spirit isn’t allowed to communicate to us with anything else other than the picture cards! Whilst this is totally unnecessary to the actual running of the game, we find it adds an additional layer of fun and intrigue to an otherwise straightforward game.

Theme And Mechanics

When we look at our own board game collections, what do we notice? Any favoured theme or mechanic? Do you tend to buy games with a fantasy theme or maybe sci-fi, railway building or trick taking? Then again do you like games with worker placement like Paladins of the West Kingdom, 4x style like Twilight Imperium 4, area control games like Kemet: Blood and Sand or wargames like Warhammer 40K?

Neil – Fantasy is my favourite theme. I do tend to gravitate towards the theme, whether it is pure fantasy like Heroquest or mythology-based utilising such rich cultures like Britain, India, Egypt, Rome, Greece or Scandinavia to inspire games ranging from Lords of Hellas and Lords of Ragnarok to Kemet: Blood and Sand to Kingmaker.

Here you can have games with a similar theme, but the mechanics are difficult and vice versa. But our interest and the reason we play lies in the immersion in the preferred theme or the challenge of play using mechanics in a different way.

Melissa - Ever since primary school, I have had in interest in Ancient Egypt. The mythos, the Gods, the landscape, the architecture - every aspect of their lives just appealed to me as it was so different from our own society and history. Because of this, if a game has an Egyptian theme underpinning it, you can rest assured that I probably own it (or that it’s on my wishlist!). Ankh, 7 Wonders, Pyramido and Ra are but a few of my favourite games, not just because of the style of gameplay which they afford, but because they are immersed in an Egyptian theme. I also love that these games allow me to share in my interests with my friends and family, who otherwise may not have the same appreciation for Ancient Egypt as I do.

Personal Development

Games are a great way of working on ourselves and improving our psychomotor and social skills. Whilst our primary reason for playing a board game may be for fun, to relax or to pass the time, these incredible little boxes of boards, meeples, dice and cards disguise a much more valuable and profound purpose.

From co-operative games such as Forbidden Island, to the politics and bluffs of hidden role games like Coup or Salem, board games help us to develop our communication and linguistic skills. They teach us new terminology and vocabulary, and help us to improve the ways in which we articulate thoughts and ideas to the people we are playing with.

Board games are a brilliant way of boosting confidence and developing self-esteem. Everyone gets a chance to be the “first player” or the team leader in a co-operative game, allowing even the quietest of players the chance to bring forward their ideas and strategies to the rest of the table. Games encourage us to try new things, without the risk of consequence. If your first idea doesn’t go to plan - no worries! Just set up the game again once it ends and have another go!

We are competitive. But board games have taught us that this disappointment isn’t a failure, but a conduit to allow us to improve on our decisions and tactics the next time. Games have allowed us to develop and take control over emotions, and use them to become a smarter and more critical thinker, when it comes to competitive games such as Arboretum and Catan.

Conclusion

Board games are fun, they are therapeutic and educational, they can be both challenging and relaxing and allow us to tap into our imagination. Playing board games is a great pastime!