Thinks

Is the board and card game industry at a tipping point?

A very readable and most interesting 3-part blog series by Rob Bartel (designer and producer of video games with Electronic Arts’ BioWare) about how the history of board & card games is intertwined with that of video games and what that may mean for the future of the board game industry. He recently branched out into board game design with Two by Two and promotional card games for the sports marketing industry.

1. The first blog lays the groundwork with a broad history of the video game industry. It covers how video games shifted from being a novelty for adult tinkerers in 1972, to child’s play in 1985, to the genre-driven domain of teenagers in 1991, before finally reaching a tipping point in 2007 where it became a mainstream activity for people of all ages, genders, and backgrounds.
2. The second blog overlays that analysis with the earlier starting but slower moving history of the board and card game industry and how it has shifted from adult leisure in 1883, to child’s play in 1963, to the genre-driven domain of teenagers in 1974, to where it is today.
3. The final blog concludes with some bold predictions for where he thinks the board and card game industry is headed, in particular suggesting that the tipping point for board and card games has started in 2011.

Related:

• Developing board games on the iPad
• Some thoughts on the implications of AR for board game play