We have all played board games with our families and friends, sitting around the table taking turns and hopefully proclaiming ourselves the victor. And if your sore loser little brother doesn’t give up in the middle of the game, it can be a meaningful bonding experience for everyone.

Board games have been around for centuries from the Ancient Egyptian game of Senet to that torn up copy of Candyland supporting the weight of Monopoly and Scrabble in your family’s closet. But board games are making a resurgence, especially in the horror market.

Sara Miguel, Marketing Coordinator of Cryptozoic, makers of the popular board game “Walking Dead” says that board games have definitely matured, “Games are for more than just kids, as people are finally taking games seriously. They used to be a quarterly diversion. Now they are a weekly hobby.”

Nicolas Raoult, co-author of another popular horror board game “Zombicide” for Guillotine Games agrees that the culture is changing and people are wanting to re-connect socially rather than electronically, “The Western civilization just went through a technological dawn,” he says, “For years, machines evolved to extend any individual’s benefit. For five years now, people feel the need to get together again and share, through boardgames, some human interest. Machines are going the same way. With games like Skylanders or Disney Infinity, barriers between technology and boardgames are getting thinner.”

The electronic age has made it easier for people to play games through a server connection, but there are people who I call box gamers, or “Boxers” if you will, who invite friends over to socialize and instead of connecting through a network, “unbox” a game and role play that way. Even the grammatically correct two-word phrase “board game” is becoming one word, as both Miguel and Raoult combine the two into a one-word noun, and use it as a verb.

In the past, Dungeons and Dragons (D&D) brought a certain set of people together. Labeled “nerd” or “geek”, these types of gamers created their own rules, characters and boards. Cryptozoic’s Miguel says that D&D was the pioneer of boardgaming, but today the experience is a little less time-consuming but with the same sense of accomplishment:

“D&D was the frontrunner for the hobby, to be sure,” she says, “but D&D and boardgaming are still miles apart. D&D is more akin to the Online MMO experience these days. Boardgames have only recently (on the grand timeline) made cooperative games cool. There used to be 2-3 cooperative games. Now they are 20-30 top quality co-op boardgames. Boardgames are a contained experience and more socially acceptable because of it. The time investment required to play D&D (or MMOs for that matter) will always give them a nerdy stereotype. When a typical modern boardgame takes one hour to play and no one gets knocked out before the end, it’s hard for anyone to call it “uncool.” You played a game with some friends at a table, drank a beer, somebody won, and now it’s over. Hard to complain about that!”

Nicolas of Guillotine tends to agree about the nerdy stereotype, but he says that today players are wealthier and becoming more nostalgic for the experience:

“In the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s,” he says, “boardgames and role playing games were made and aimed at “nerds”. Now, the “nerds” are full adults and most of them occupy mid- to high levels of authority in companies. As they entered university, they were told money would make them happy and would solve all their issues. As they got their first job, bought a car, a house and had kids, they discovered they were lied to all along. Now, most of them would like to feel the thrill of their young years again. they can get quite happy and excited, but are still full adults and professional on the inside. Gaming brings them, and other people, together to have fun. You could get quite baffled by the skills and professional fields of expertise gathered around a boardgaming group.”

 

Boxers do not have to be experienced to play games like “Zombicide” or “The Walking Dead”. Raoult hopes that his game “Zombicide” can be taken out of the box and played even by a lightweight like myself. I asked him why:

“Because it is quite simple (I hope so), cooperative, and get a fresh twist in the zombie world. People are turning back to fight zombies, not fleeing them anymore. You can invite any member of the family, explain the same rule, and immediately dissipate any fear of loss. Hardcore and casual gamers are reunited against plastic zombies!”

When I asked Miguel the same question about the out-of-the box playability of “The Walking Dead”, her answer seemed to reflect Raoults’ in that a beginner is able to remove the contents of the box and begin playing without worry of becoming confused by heavy rules. She tells me what players can rely on:

“They can expect a tension-filled game with some interesting decisions about resource (hand) management and if/when to help a fellow Survivor. A beginner can dive right in, as the rules are pretty straightforward. The decisions I mention are not hard ones, but there are enough of them that you’ll get the hang of it very quickly.”

Both companies, Cryptozoic and Guillotine were inspired by not only the fans of horror and board games, but recognition of a culture in need of something that could immerse players in their favorite TV shows and horror characters:

“Most of Guillotine Games’ team used to work together at Rackham Entertainment.” Raoult explains, “When the company closed, we wanted to keep on working together on projects on our own. We had experience and networks, so we asked our distributor partners what they would like to have in their catalog. They answered “a zombie game”. By that time, we had developed a game prototype using the core rules of Zombicide. We refitted it to get along with the theme, and Zombicide was – basically – born.”

Miguel says that the inspiration for “The Walking Dead-The Board Game” wasn’t about a player always being the hero, “Cory Jones had a great idea for a Walking Dead game where a player could turn into a Walker and then go after his former friends. From there the rest is history.”

 

Both companies are not resting on the success of their games. Each is in development of new ones that Boxers can enjoy in the near future.

“We already have 3 other Walking Dead titles,” Miguel says, “one is a cardgame, one is a dice game (WD: Don’t Look Back), and one is a cooperative boardgame (WD: The Best Defense) with an expansion: Woodbury. We are also continuing our DC Comics Deck-building Game and Adventure Time Card Wars Trading Card Game with new and fun content. We have a few new titles coming out in 2015 that we can’t mention just yet!”

Raoult says that his company Guillotine is also developing their brand, taking it to new levels for players, “The Guillotine Games’ team is working on more specialized games to be published in 2015. We are also working on more mainstream games for 2016.”

 

So whether you a seasoned “Boxer” or a beginning one, getting together with friends and family for a night of “boardgaming” seems to be becoming more and more popular. Game night is now filled with socialization, fun and cooperation. Whether you’re fighting against a zombie or you are one, horror boardgames are making a difference in the market. No longer does game-play require you to pass “Go” to collect, but now you need to run through “Go”, kill zombies and perhaps become one yourself.

Where else can friends and family have a bonding experience and perhaps eat one  another in the process?

 

To order your copy of “The Walking Dead-The Board Game” you can visit Cryptozoic.com to find a seller near you, or visit Amazon.com.

To order your copy of “Zombicide” you can visit Coolminiornot.com.

iHorror wants to know what kind of gamer you are. Tells us your experience with boardgaming and what some of your favorites are.