All aboard Games!

Some traditions stick. Take board games for instance—a group of two or more people sit around a board and compete and play for the final prize—being the winner. These days, most families are separated by miles, exceedingly busy work schedules or video games, blackberry messages and Internet searches. But there’s still time for board games.

The board game has managed to fuse families closer and will continue to sell more as long as retailers are aware of the new family structure. John Williams, executive director for the National Scrabble Association, Greenport, N.Y., says, 9/11 has left its mark on the family structure, and retailers need to be aware of growing social trends and respond according to what people really need.

“There’s a post 9/11 dynamic where people want to reconnect and embrace simplicity and family,” he says. “Retailers need to be aware of popular culture and what the reality of the demand is going to be.”

Games that can be played by all age groups are another definite shoe-in, which is why Scrabble still sells steadily, Williams tells Playthings. “A 10-year old, 20-year-old, a 40-year-old, a 60-year-old and an 80-year-old can all play at the same time,” he says. “Whether you’re playing the word cat or the word quixotic, it pays off for the person playing. If you can spell you can play—even if you can’t spell you can play. The learning curve is very simple.”

Time management can be hard, but families crave together time whenever they can get it. It’s difficult for a family to play a video game together, so board games are the best option. “I think there’s been a shift in peoples’ priorities, spending more time together with friends and family,” says Michelle Harp, vice president of marketing, Pazow Games, the San Francisco, Calif. game company that puts out drawing games like Who, What, Where—Who, What, Where Jr. will be out next month. “For the younger generation too, it’s a great way to reconnect with people, to get to know other people playing games. It’s a very human thing. I think people for the past two years have been gravitating towards that, spending time together.”

Retailers also need to make sure consumers know what games are out there, so they can pick the best one for their schedule. While one family may want an hour or longer game, others may require something that can be played within a half hour. Mike Kilbert, Complete Strategist, a New York City game store, says multi-player games for more than four players, with built in interaction are most popular.

Kilbert recently had an in-store game tournament for the launch of a D-Day inspired game, Memoir 44 by Days of Wonder, Los Altos, Calif. “There’s a social interaction that you don’t get with computer games,” he says. “You can actually interact with other people.”

Cranium, Seattle, has picked up on the need to connect with family and is releasing the Cranium Family Fun Game this fall. The game includes 16 activities like flipping frogs through a ring that your little sister just made out of purple clay and passing a Cranium cube to your mom, using only your elbows. Trivia, drawing, humming tunes and guessing definitions are also included.

“It’s a human trend,” says Richard Tait, co-founder of Cranium, Seattle. “We are all responding to the overheads of lifestyle and the need to laugh and spend time together. I think that what they are responding to is the magic of new experiences being brought into their lives and how they can reconnect through experiences.”

Let’s face it, the workplace isn’t what it used to be—it’s busier. The Families and Work Institute, New York, reports that 54 percent of Americans feel overworked in the past month by the amount of work, and one in three are chronically overworked. Now, more than ever families need more family time, even if it’s just to play a game for an hour or two.

“One of the things that I think is a tragedy in today’s world is the average family is having dinner together two or three nights a week,” says Tait. “When I was a little boy growing up it was four, five six nights a week, seven nights a week. We want to bring a game to the market that would really celebrate and encourage those moments of dad and daughter, mom and son playing together—for that moment of uniting and celebrating the connections we have as a family.”

While classics like Monopoly, which celebrates its 70th anniversary this year, and Trivial Pursuit are available in video game format, board games are still around for those who crave one-on-one interaction.

“While many classic board games are being adapted for electronic platforms, I believe the social aspects and tactile experience of board games will always be irresistible,” says Stuart Montaldo, president and founder, Doublestar Games, St. Louis, creators of Cogno, The Alien Adventures and Deep World.  “Children and families will always entertain themselves with both electronic and nonelectronic games. One does not replace the other, any more than a video game about basketball replaces playing real basketball with your family or friends.”

Tait tells Playthings that families are looking for things to do together despite technological disruptions. “A lot of electronics cause distractions for us, whether it’s checking your blackberry or getting a call on your cell phone. All of us find ourselves at a traffic light checking our email on a phone. How do you have that moment with your family—45 minutes or an hour? Is that too much to ask?”

Price is another important factor in board games sales, and retailers should have a good range of products in different price categories for their customers throughout the year. Games under $20 will sell more the first three quarters of the year. During the holiday season, people are more apt to purchase the higher priced board games for family and friends. During the year, most stores sell out on all the $20 and under games.

Dan Levy, president, Hub Bub Games, Chicago, says that he holds off on in-store promotions like in-store demos and game play where copies of the the game are given as prizes, until the fourth quarter, because his game is over the $20 mark. “Hub Bub is seen by the retail stores as largely a fourth quarter item even though it sells all year round,” he says. “People tend to spend more during the holidays. The other day I bought a game that was $32, and I really had to think as I was buying it. I was trying to look for something cheaper—for the first time I got a real taste for that. If it’s not Christmastime, I’m not dropping thirty bucks. For now on, it’s all cheap games, good inexpensive games.”

Hub Bub is currently sold at more than 300 specialty toys stores with one chain, Calendar Club, a subsidiary of Barnes and Noble. “Our goal is to keep all these specialty toy stores happy by not dropping a bomb and providing the product to someone who’s going to give the product to the public at a discount.”

Big store or small store, licensing is sticking. Yes, Lord of the Rings was a huge film—so were the slew of Lord of the Rings games that followed. With a Trivial Pursuit for Saturday Night Live and Lord of the Rings, anything is possible and any license is possible, but landing the right one is key.

“It’s a real gamble,” notes Williams, who says Scrabble has been approached by Planet Hollywood and other companies over the years to grab its brand. “If you attach yourself to the right thing, it’s basically found money. Scrabble is like baseball, it’s so pure. You don’t have to do anything to it. Not to say that won’t happen one time—it really has to work. I don’t think game playing will be enhanced by licensing.”

Some game makers believe that licensing only provides a quick sell and very little lasting value unless the movie sells or the baseball teams win or consumers have some nostalgic connection to the characters moving the product.

“Basically you’re slap-ping a popular image on it and it sells more,” says Levy. “As a small manufacturer, I’d like to see the industry get away from it, because it gets more and more dominant. Larger retailers are reluctant to take on products that have the pre-sold feeling of some other product reconnecting with it.”

Tait tells Playthings that new innovative games are necessary to keep board games in the toy industry longer. The veer towards more licensing board games, he says, is not healthy for the industry, because it doesn’t encourage creativity. “For people who are responding and like the favorite characters, unfortunately, it’s stifled innovation,” says Tait. “You get multiple products with the same play experience, just with a different theme.

Levy agrees and says that there’s little room for imagination when a board game is licensed up. “It perpetuates the notion that you can’t just come up with a good game,” he says. “It also destroys creativity, because there’s less emphasis on coming up with a new game and more on 'what can we slap on this cardboard today to make it sell?’”

Ringing cell phones and email pile ups aside, board games have one simple message: have fun! “The main thing is to have fun,” says Charles Smaltz, creator of Politics, Chum Chum Games, Spokane, Wash. “People are talking again, whether it’s politics or whatever. If they get a board game into the house, everyone starts playing and gets into it. Although they love the computer and video game, it’s different, because it’s face to face.”