Board Games' Enduring Appeal

While the toy business in general is not doing especially well, BusinessWeek reports in a November 24 article, that board games are one of the few bright spots. The overall board-games category is up 10% so far this year and toymaker Hasbro reports sales up 50% in that area. Two former Microsoft executives stumbled upon this trend a few years back when they were looking for a new business idea. With some funding from Amazon and Starbucks, they came up with Cranium, a family game that included a bit of spelling, drawing, trivia and charades. Apparently their timing was great and Seattle has become a hot area for game development (maybe it's all of the rain...).

Industry insiders have attributed the popularity to a number of factors - everything from 9/11 creating a "nesting" instinct to the increasing appeal of "game nights" as inspired by that recurring theme on the TV show Will & Grace to a desire to return to simpler times or seek cost effective entertainment.

Some of the new breed of games includes an electronic component but others are still simple games that require no batteries or electricity. Although big toymakers dominate the field, this appears to be one area where small game publishers have a chance. Several reported success with relatively small investments and limited advertising.