Battleship Movie Poster. Image Credit: Universal Studios.

With Battleship coming to theaters in May, people are starting to ask: whatever happened to the plan to create movies based on the board games Ouija, Stretch Armstrong, Clue and Candy Land? It will be recalled that roughly four years ago, Universal made a deal with Hasbro to make movies based on the seminal board games.

However, while Battleship finally made it to the theaters, several others have either died a natural death or were doled off to other studios. In fact, Universal Studios has given the Stretch Armstrong project to  Relativity Media, while Sony has given the go signal for Candy Land, with Adam Sandler in the lead role.

Originally, the Universal plans were to strike a deal with Hasbro to create a successful franchise—like the Marvel movie franchise that gave Paramount and Disney the success it has been reaping now. It’s still too early to say if the eventual franchise will be successful or not until the Battleship movie has been released. Despite the lack of any clear basis though, Universal has nonetheless decided to pull the plug on creating movies out of board games.

The reason why Universal seems to have finally decided not to push through with its plan to create such movies is the strong derision and opposition of board game fans who seem to think that it is a bad idea.

The consequences, however, are quite hefty. For one, Universal is required to pay a penalty of $5 million for every board game that it initially tried to make but did not follow through. With all the board game movies it has failed to produce within the six-year life of the contract, Universal has just decided to pay a single multi-million dollar penalty and get out of the contract altogether. Instead, the rights to these movies have been handed over to other movie studios.

What board game would you want to turn into a movie? Or do you hate the mere idea of turning board games into movies in the first place?

Road Trip. Image Source: Public Domain.

Is it crazy to bring your favorite board game with you on your family vacation? Most people would answer yes. These are the same people who think board games should stay at home and should only be drawn out when there’s nothing else to do. On the contrary though, leaving a little space in your luggage for a board game may be the best travel decision you’ll make!

Board games kill boredom.

There will be more than a few boring moments on your trip—including the travel time to your destination, the waiting time before your dinner is served or the lag time when the adults are deliberating on the directions to the next location. These are the dull moments that call for a quick round of board game fun!

Board games teach life lessons.

Lessons like patience, strategy, and dealing with failures among many others are life lessons that people have learned from constantly playing board games. Once you’re faced with a situation that calls for the exercise of these life lessons, you’ll be surprised at what you’ve learned from playing board games on your family trip!

Board games bring the family together.

There will always be a gap between the parents and the children. Whether it is because of the generation gap or language barriers, these problems are nothing board games couldn’t fix. When playing board games, everybody plays one language—the rules of the game. This is enough reason for families to play even just one round during a family trip.

Board games are better than wild nights out.

After a long and tiring day of going around tourist destinations, you’ll get to your hotel room and probably have nothing else to do. This is exactly the time to play board games!

Chutes and Ladders. Image Credit: Hasbro.

One great thing about board games is that it cuts across generations and cultural borders. You’re never too old or too young to play a board game. All you need is a group of friends and time to spare, and you can enjoy your favorite board game at any time of the day.

For children, particular preschoolers, they can start with Chutes and Ladders. This is the perfect game for those who are still learning how to count and to follow instructions. It can be played amongst children, and guided by a preschool teacher or adult. This is also an excellent game when teaching kids how to count and follow instructions. It’s an excellent way to teach children away from the usual pressures of the classroom setting and is loads of fun!

By ages 10 to 11, most kids can’t stop thinking about adventures, fantasies, and superpowers. The perfect board game for them is Battleship. They may not be able to have superpowers in real life, but at least let them live out their fantasies by introducing this exciting board game to them! This is also a great way to divert their attention from video games that tend to be too graphic and influence undesirable behavior among children.

There’s also a game for those who loves trivia regarding topics ranging from entertainment and sports to history and culture called 20 Questions. Players will be required to guess a mystery person, date, or place based on clues. A player who gets to answer correctly with the least number of clues gets to advance the fastest. There are also bonus features and surprise mystery topics that make for an exciting and fun board game. This is a great board game for those who are preparing for a quiz bee or just want to sharpen their mind!

Family enjoying each other's company. Image Credit: Nationaal Archief (National Achives of the Netherlands)/Spaarnestad Photo/W.P. van de Hoef

Are you at a loss as to what Christmas gift you should get for a loved one? Look nowhere else, because board games are easily your best bet. Here are four compelling reasons why  board games make perfect Christmas gifts.

1. They’re ageless classics!

Everybody from any generation knows that board games. Unlike other toys that are bound to go out of style in a matter of years, board games are here to stay. Video games for popular game consoles such as Wii and Xbox are popular now, but will they be just as popular two years down the line? By then, there might even be a new console out in the stores! On the other hand, board games like Monopoly won’t lose its magic and would be just as fun even ten years from now!

2. They impart the value of socialization and sharing, among others.

Board games are not just fun and educational, they also teach life values that the gift recipient won’t get anywhere else! Board games like Murder Mystery teach kids the importance of sharing and socialization. After all, they won’t get to enjoy their board games without the company of their friends and family!

3. There are age-appropriate games for everyone!

Spare yourself the trouble of trying to find age-appropriate Christmas gifts for your nieces, nephews and godchildren. There’s an age-appropriate board game for every age group. With a wide selection for every age group, you won’t run out of Christmas gift ideas for every kid you’re planning to give a gift to!

4. They’re not that expensive!

With your ballooning expenses for Christmas, of course you’re looking for a gift that’s both meaningful and inexpensive. Board games address both concerns. Board games cost a fraction of what most action figures and video games cost, so you won’t have to empty your pockets just for one Christmas gift—you can buy a handful and still have a lot of spare money for other Christmas gifts left!

Backgammon. Image Source: Eyes Wired Open.

With the kids coming over for the holiday break, it’s time to dust off the board games and start playing endless rounds of Risk or Clue. Board games are definitely an excellent way to bond with the family, along with other holiday activities you’re planning. But where do you find the time to play board games in the first place? Here are a few suggestions:

1. Play a round of Backgammon or Chess when getting to know the new house guests.  Is your college daughter bringing over a friend for Christmas? Did your relatives decide to celebrate the holidays with your family? This is a great time to play board games that allow for small talk and a little catching up for old time’s sake.

2. Creative party games are perfect for every Christmas party. Whether it’s a Christmas party for young adults or for children, there’s bound to be a game that will spice up the party. 25 Words or Less, Time’s Up, and Barbarossa are only a few examples of board games that never fail to entertain.

3. Why go to Las Vegas when all the fun and company you’re looking for is right at home? Casino games are a great opportunity for adults to talk to each other, just chill and have fun on the porch.

4. With the winter at its peak, you’d best stay indoors with the family. You don’t have to bore yourselves out; there are several indoor games to play. Memory games and Roulette are only a few indoor games that are excellent for the family.

5. Don’t forget the kids! The holiday break is easily the best time to reconnect and bond with the kids, before everything gets busy again and everybody goes back to their regular lives. Kid’s games are definitely great for bonding and getting to know the children.

Time. Image Source: Idea Champions.

Time flies when you’re having so much fun. When playing board games with the family, the fun can be a little too over the top that you tend to lose track of the time and only realize how long you’ve been playing when it’s time already time for dinner! If you choose to play any of these games with your family, prepare for hours of family bonding!

1. Was there even any doubt that Monopoly would make the list? The record of the longest running Monopoly game, according to Hasbro, is 1,680 hours! That’s an awful lot of playing time for a game that supposedly only takes 90 minutes to play.

2. Risk, the board game classic that started way back in 1959, poses the challenge of world domination. With several strategies and missions to accomplish, no wonder this game take around 2 to 3 hours to play!

3. Carcassone has had several versions released, including Carcassone: The Discovery as one of the latest editions. The rules are simple enough, but it’s the addictive quality of gameplay and the endless possibilities of exploring difference geographical areas, vast greenlands, and oceans that make the game so addictive!

4. Trivial Pursuit is one of those trivia games that several others have tried to imitate and failed. With hundreds of questions to resolve, Trivial Pursuit is a fun learning activity for everyone in the family! Just make sure you do a little bit of research before you go ahead and play a round!

5. With the many expansions of the Settlers of Catan, including the recent Starfarers of Catan, it’s no wonder it’s become a household name of families who love sci-fi and fast-paced board games! As a game for 5 to 6 players, Starfarers of Catan is excellent for sharpening one’s skill and strategy.

The classic children's game, Operation. Image Credit: Milton Bradley.

Every year, the Canadian Toy Testing Council holds the Children’s Choice Awards to determine which toys are a certified hit among children. With the Children’s Choice Awards, parents can find out which toys kids love, manufacturers can produce toys better suited to the preference of their target buyers, and children will know what other children their age love.

In this year’s Children Choice Awards, 500 children were asked to try and test a variety of toys that have won them over. Although at the top of the list is the high-tech LeapPad Explorer Learning Tablet that allows children to flip, stretch, draw, and play using a stylus and a table, most of the kid’s choices are both low-tech, educational, and simply fantastic!

This year’s Children Choice Awards is a victory for board games, as several choices are board games. Games like Snack Attack!, Sneaky Snacky Squirrel Game, Gallop!, and 10 Days in the Americas are only some of the board games that found their way into the list.

According to the executive director of the Toy Council, Liliane Benoit, the trend this year is return to traditional board games or toys that have stood the test of time. The emphasis on quality family time and interaction is apparent in the choices of the kids this year.

The games are categorized into age groups—from 24 -30 months, 3-6 yrs, 3-4 yrs, 7-10 yrs, and many other age groups. The Canadian Toy Testing Council has been assessing the functionality, durability, design, and value of toys since 1952. CTTC lets children test the toys for around six to twelve weeks and then evaluate the toy with the help of home testers, before finally giving a rating.

Functionality, design, durability and value? These are definitely four qualities that kids and parents will find in board games!

Alphabet. Image Credit: Public domain.

Some kids find learning the tradition way boring and tedious. If it’s done in a manner that does not pique their interest, the lessons will most likely not be absorbed or will be forgotten by the child. Thankfully, board games have totally reinvented the way lessons can be taught—in a way that’s both fun and addictive to kids!

In fact, even ESL can be learned without having to sit through extensive learning drills and exercises, through a new board game called “English is Fun!” The board game, combining the elements of audio, print, and video, presents exciting and challenging questions that aims to help teachers facilitate ESL teaching and to facilitate learning for students.

There are three categories for the card game: Give Me Grammar (for sentence structure, tense, verbs, etc.), Express Yourself (for idioms, conversational words, and expressions), and What’s the Word (for vocabulary enrichment). For the DVD, there are three segments consisting of Look and Listen, Spell It Out, and Everyone Play. The Look and Listen features everyday conversations, followed by encouraging questions directed at the viewer. Spell It Out will help address students’ difficulty in spelling, while Everyone Play is a quiz bee of sorts for different players.

Of course, the board game can’t stand on its own and will require supplementary resources, which can be acquired from other educational board games.

Puzzles and word games are great for helping students widen their vocabulary and know the meaning of words. Comprehension, general knowledge, and word association are some of the aspects that these word games can help students with.

Logic games, for one, will help children with their deductive and inductive logic. Strategy logic and deduction games, such as Inkognito is set in interesting contexts that will provide a fresh break from traditional teaching methods and learning materials.

Children don’t have to hate school and learning. In fact, letting them learn with board games is a great start for them to eventually love and have a passion for learning.

Looking for a new way to spend time with your friends? Or maybe you and your dorm mates just want a quiet celebration after a particularly stressful week? Perhaps you haven’t quite thought of it, but you might want to ditch an all-nighter session of video games. Instead, you might want to go out to your nearest café and enjoy the night with your board game of choice.

While video games are easily the more popular choice for college students, board games are making a quiet comeback. After all, video games take a lot of time and effort to sustain—not to mention dangerous. There have already been quite a number of deaths resulting from playing too much video games—one from South Korea and another from the UK. Both instances, and all the undocumented deaths due to video games, make a compelling case for board games.

Video games are inherently designed to create as little conversations as possible. Board games, on the other hand, are by nature designed to engage people into conversations. Board games require the participation of at least two people face to face.

Just think about it: as you and your friends play Scrabble, you try to come up with the best combination of words and at the same time laugh among yourself about the insane permutations of the letters you’re given. Board games also provide the opportunity for catching up with friends, without compromising the quality of the game. That’s definitely hitting two birds with one stone!

For stretch of hours, video gamers ought to stare at the screen and practically suspend reality. Board games, on the other hand, create an opportunity not just for conversations but also for other enjoyable human activities—such as drinking, eating, and even gossiping if that’s your thing! Such is the problem video games don’t have a solution for. While board games can very well be paused, taking a break in the middle of a video game might as well result to a total loss!

Carcassonne Board. Image Credit: Elentin via Wikipedia.

Looking for a great strategy game? Here are some of our favourites!

• Carcassonne is a challenging, thought-provoking strategy game can stretch on for hours. Develop your decision-making abilities and outsmart your opponents as you assume the role of a land developer.
• Monopoly is a timeless classic, and another sure-fire investment in trivia entertainment.  More than 200 million copies of Monopoly have been sold world-wide, making it one of the best-selling games in history.  The best part? A basic version of Monopoly retails for only $21.99.
• Risk is a board game produced by Parker Bros. that was originally released in 1957 as ”The Conquest of the World” in France.  The object of the game is to achieve “world domination”. Players control armies with which they attempt to capture territories from other players, with results determined by dice rolls.
• Based on the popular game Settlers of Catan, Settlers of Canaan is a beautifully-illustrated strategy game where players compete to become the first tribe to settle in Canaan.  Trade resources and outwit your opponents to reign victorious.
• Mah Jong is an addictive game with an ancient history.  Challenging, entertaining and beautifully-designed, this four-player game is popular around the world.  Similar to Gin Rummy, Mah Jong is an easy game to learn but difficult to master.  Invest in this game for $29.99 and help develop crucial strategy skills.
• Ticket to Ride is a popular board game that takes place in Europe.  Players collect train cards in order to build routes that will grant passage from one country to another. There are various ways to win points in the game.  Creating the longest route, successfully connecting countries together and creating the longest continual route are all sources of bonus points, and the player with the most points collected at the end of the game wins.  This is a great strategy game that will make the hours just seem to melt away!