It would be fair to say that our mobile phones have already turned us into disastrous, distracted and depressed cyborgs of the 21st Century.
The reliability on these devices makes you pretty vulnerable to daily activities. Without your phone, you miss out on Uber − now you are left to your navigation skills.
Without Maps, you have to find your own way now, maybe even talk to a few strangers to get to your destination (introverts will know that pain). No Tinder, which means you will have to bottle up some courage to talk to someone at the pub instead of regular finger exercises.
You are now void of Swiggy and Zomato − find that number on the pamphlet, call up the restaurant and hope they don't mess up your oder − also, no cashback!
Over the years, you might feel that you are relying on your phone's calculator a tad-bit too much. Simple multiplication has been become a challenge and all you remember from your school days is that the mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell.
Why the negativity towards smartphones?
More than negativity, it is the position that they have brought us into that is of concern. We heavily rely on these devices to do our work that we have become terrible at basic operations.
So where do we go from here?
There are many ways and a thousand different people will refer thousand different things. We will focus here on board games and why you should keep playing them despite your age, schedule and habits.
Why board games then?
Board games are incredible at building memory, imbibing strategy and finding ways to get a task done. They are something just about every person growing up has interacted with and create a social atmosphere where you can get along with others and have a fun time deciphering or solving these games.
What are my options?
There are a plethora of board games that you can play and each of them have a flavour of their own. While something like chess is great for positioning and tactics, a game like Monopoly is all about management and negotiation skills.
We would just be scratching the surface with this as there are many such games across different countries, spanning different genres and culminating in a new experience every time you pick a new title.
But I can just stick to my smartphone again...
Yes you can, but you lose out on a lot. Firstly, if you install a new game, it will be hours before you learn the mechanics − if it's something as complicated as a first person shooter, there are many factors that will either hinder your progress or have you look up YouTube tutorials.
Next is the loss or lack of a social connect − you may have a multiplayer mode or voice chat involved, but nothing beats the thrill of coming together, looking at your rival in the eye and competing with them. The dopamine levels are higher and your sense of reality is heightened.
To end the debate, you will not be able to try as many games on your phone since fatigue will kick in and you will be spoiled for choices on your app store. With board games, you have a physical game present at all hours and it's not easily replaced.
I can't have a thousand board games at home man!
No, you can't. But the fun doesn't end there. Search for your local board game communities and join in. They will be well versed in their game knowledge and will help you pick up newer, more unknown titles from across the world.
This way, you learn about little things in life that you normally wouldn't and you make some new friends along the way.