Richard Gottlieb

Finding romance over a board game

Finding love over a board game?  Yes you can and...it's a little wierd but  (mostly) not as wierd as you think. 

When I used to live in the mid-west, it was common for charities to run fund raising Trivia nights. The idea was for people to attend in groups of 8 or 10, buy a table and compete with other groups in answering trivia questions. People brought food, there were prizes and most people drank (their performance varying by their choice of beverage; coffee drinkers outperforming beer drinkers but beer drinkers having a better time). 

A lot of people came (200 or 300) and it was actually a lot of fun. At the time, I thought about how much adults love games and why there was not more of this sort of thing.

Well, it appears, at least according to an AP article, “Shortest pickup line takes nation: 'Wanna play?'” that adults are very much into playing games and using them as a vehicle to find, of all things, looooooooove. 

Here is what the article has to say:

Connect Four, Hungry Hungry Hippos and Twister are the new alternatives to speed dating, nightclubs and staying home alone.

PlayDate, a monthly social event held in more than 20 cities, is catching on among adults weary of the usual nightlife. They play old-school board games, Double Dutch and hold dance-off contests in a throwback to youth. And some pick up a few phone numbers along the way.

…

PlayDate has since grown from 80 friends to more than 500 strangers who regularly attend monthly events in Houston, Los Angeles, Seattle, Philadelphia, Chicago and other cities.

What a great idea and what a lot of fun. It makes you wonder whyboard game companies aren't using vehicles like this to build brand awareness and sales.  Smart companies will contact PlayDate or Nate Scheidler at The Chicago Board Games Meetup.

Posted by Richard Gottlieb on April 30, 2009 | Comments (2)