The Games Of Life

By Richard Gottlieb -- Gifts and Dec, January 1, 2008

Some of my most evocative memories of childhood involve games. Thinking of playing Monopoly (poorly) or Star Reporter (poorly) on someone's screen porch during those muggy Virginia summers with a group of geeky 12-year-olds, I can almost feel their fun flowing over me.

I still play games. I play Scrabble, and, frankly, I miss the old wooden tiles. I even joined a Scrabble club once as an adult, and immediately lost to a 7-year-old prodigy. (At least I hope he was a prodigy.)

Undaunted by that or any other losing moment, I have, over the years, found time to play and lose at any number of board games: Careers, Cootie, Outburst, Pictionary, chess (I once taught someone and immediately lost to him) and on and on. Interestingly, despite the fact that I am unfailingly poor to mediocre at all of these games, I love them.

So, you may ask, why am I bringing up this piece of nostalgia that you have undoubtedly heard a thousand times? Well, the fact that lots of us have these memories means they are important.

I compare it to reading. Studies show that having a parent read to us or even seeing a parent read leads to greater literacy. In the same sense, I think playing games with a parent, siblings, or one's friends leads to social literacy. We learn how to interact with other people using a set of rules about what we can and cannot do. It's just like having a job, being a good citizen or being a good parent. Therefore, those who sell games serve an important role in society. They provide a way for people to cluster and offer life lessons.

More in store

Because of this importance, I want to see more traditional game stores. I want to see bookstores carry even more games. In fact, I want to see games everywhere, so that future generations have the same warm memories that I have. More importantly, I want to see games everywhere so that there are future generations of game players, and of game makers.

So how do we make that happen? One way is for mass market retailers to move the 6,000 variations of Monopoly to a store section of their own. Call it The Monopoly Department. They should devote that space left behind to as broad an assortment of game titles as possible, because the more the titles there are, the more interest there will be in browsing. And the more browsing there is, the more purchases there will be.

Another way for this to happen is to provide more opportunities for people to enjoy games. This can mean more support for consumer shows like Chi-Tag, Origins and GenCon, as well as the many smaller game events that take place virtually every month of the year.

We can also push for the inclusion of games in school curricula and activities. A 2005 Associated Press article noted that two scientists won the Nobel Prize for their work in “game theory.” To quote the AP, the pair “defined chess-like strategies in politics and business that can be applied to arms races, price wars and actual warfare.” It seems to me that if games are good enough for the Nobel Committee, they should be good enough for the local elementary school.

Come to think of it, maybe had I been a little better at Scrabble I could have won a Nobel Prize—or at least not lost to a 7-year-old.