In the age of AI, board games seem an unlikely candidate for a popular pastime. The experience of playing a board game is the polar opposite of using AI; while the latter allows us to avoid social interaction, the former requires full social engagement. Furthermore, as AI enables us to limit how much we need to think, board games demand our full intellectual attention. This makes board games’ recent rise in popularity not only surprising but also indicative of people’s desire to connect more deeply in a world where it is easier than ever to self-isolate.
According to Juli Lennett, an advisor at Circana, a global data market research and data analytics company, board game sales in the U.S. rose by more than 30% from 2019 to 2020, with the COVID-19 pandemic spurring demand. However, the boom in board games’ popularity seems far from a COVID fluke. Eventbrite, a global live events marketplace, saw board game live events increase eightfold from 2023 to 2024.
The popularity of board games is incredibly visible on Cornell’s campus. At Cornell, poker games are a constant presence in freshman dorms, and Cornell Chess Club's Friday meetings are a lively social hub. In a time where technological advances are rapidly transforming the world before our eyes, board games appear immune to our society’s increasing tendency to disconnect.
The popularity of board games is not only crucial for their survival, but is also significant for our society’s general well-being. Board games boost both individual and communal social capital, defined as the value ascribed to social networks and relationships. Robert Putnam’s book Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community, which analyzes the decline in American social capital in recent decades, alerted me to the concerning state of social networks and relationships in contemporary society. Putnam emphasizes numerous consequences of a social capital deficit, including lower civic participation and engagement, declining societal trust and diminished community strength.
Board games’ recent renaissance offers a unique opportunity to address declining social capital and thereby advance public welfare. Board games’ accessible nature are especially suited to developing “bridging social capital,” or the connections between people from varied backgrounds. Bridging social capital is especially significant and difficult to foster in an era of increased economic inequality and political polarization. If we can seize the opportunities board games offer to bolster social capital, we can leverage their growing popularity to improve communal well-being.
The prevalence of bridge among past generations offers insight into the potential role of board games in this day and age. Referring again to Putnam’s Bowling Alone, the pervasiveness of bridge in mid-century America is demonstrated by the fact that, by 1958, a conservative estimate found that almost one-third of American adults were bridge players. Moreover, bridge was a regular pastime among college students in both the 1960s and 1970s. Putnam also details the decline in the relevance of card games, chronicling how the ratio of monthly card players to monthly movie attendees dropped from four to one in the mid-1970s to four to three in 1999. Similarly, the typical American adult went from playing cards 16 times a year in 1981 to only eight times a year in 1999. As both card games, such as bridge, and board games are social tabletop games, the impact of the decline in card game players on increasing social isolation can be counteracted with board games’ growing popularity. The heyday of bridge demonstrates that such tabletop games can once again be a pleasure of everyday American life.
To fully capitalize on Americans’ growing interest in board games, it is key to broaden the role board games play in daily life. Instead of treating board games, such as chess, as a hobby often enjoyed online, we need to work to make them a social activity with ubiquitous appeal and reach, like going out to dinner with friends. Not often do you hear someone say, “I’m not a going-out-to-dinner person,” or “I don’t know how to go out to eat,” which are sentiments I often hear in reference to board games. Emphasizing the social rather than the technical aspects of board games, in conjunction with broader initiatives across communities, is crucial for fostering a more universal love of and knowledge of all types of board games. Board games have a unique ability to foster connections among people from diverse backgrounds in a time of growing social isolation and polarization, and their proliferation will greatly benefit the overall health of our society and culture.
Caroline Kelly is a member of the Class of 2028 in the College of Arts and Sciences. She is a contributor for the Arts & Culture department and can be reached at ckelly@cornellsun.com.
