Game Mode: The New American Board Game Craze

1A

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4.4 • 4.3K Ratings

🗓️ 19 February 2025

⏱️ 31 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

We all know the classics: Monopoly, Backgammon, Checkers, and many more.

For some, board games are relegated to the dregs of American entertainment, to be broken out at bad parties and played by candlelight on nights where the power's out.

But for many, a new wave of board game production and enthusiasm has them clearing calendars and pulling up a chair.

We discuss what's driving the tabletop gaming surge and what it means for an industry that's primarily analog.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	This message comes from Wondery.
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0:08.9	And now, she's ready to draw from her own experience on what it means to redefine yourself on her new podcast, reclaiming with Monica Lewinsky.
0:18.4	Listen wherever you get your podcasts.
0:35.7	If you were a kid in the 70s, 80s, or 90s, board games were a mainstay of TV advertisements.
0:38.7	When you play a clue, you have to figure out who did it.
0:42.1	There are suspects, weapons, and scenes for a crime.
0:43.8	Risk.
0:48.3	Win the game, and you win the world. Take a chance, find romance.
0:51.3	All your dreams may come true.
0:53.7	Be a winner. Be a winner at the game of life. The broader game
0:59.0	The broader game industry has matured into a market worth about $230 billion.
1:03.8	And within that market, board games are growing fast, too.
1:07.2	Sales of board games have jumped more than 30% since 2019.
1:11.2	And that interest is driving attendance at board game conventions like Gen Con and Pax Unplugged.
1:17.5	In 2024, a record 71,000 people attended Gen Con's four-day event in Indianapolis.
1:24.0	Their attendance has doubled in the past 15 years.
1:27.2	We're talking about more than the traditional
1:29.2	board games you might have played as a kid, like Monopoly or Sorry. Large companies and
1:33.9	independent designers publish thousands of board games every year. What's drawing people,
1:39.5	adults, and kids to keep the board game tradition alive? And how are designers of modern board games innovating in the genre?
1:47.4	As part of 1A's ongoing series game mode, we're putting down our game controllers and going
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