A guide for choosing the perfect board games

As one of humanity’s oldest hobbies, board gaming can be among the most welcoming activities.  You can play board games anywhere and with anyone - you can crack out a party board game at the office or enjoy playing around the kitchen table with your friends or even all by yourself, thanks to the growing number of solo games.

But like every choice in life that people have to make, selecting the perfect board game might be complicated, especially for beginners, considering there is a whole specialist language built up around board games.

Fear not; below is a guide to the seven types of board games, what they mean and their impact on the human cognitive functions.

Many board game types aren’t exhaustive or exclusive, and many board games will fall into more than one of these categories.  However, the following board game terms are an excellent place to start.

1.      Abstract Board Games:  focus on the player's skill and feature a high level of strategy and tactics.  These games have simple designs and mechanics and usually feature essential information with little to no theme or storyline.  They are no elements of luck or randomness. They challenge memory, calculation, visual-spatial skills, and critical thinking abilities.  Example:  Chess

2.      Area Control Board Games:  are games with some form of a map or defining space that players compete to dominate, usually through adding their pieces to regions or areas or removing opponents' pieces.  The more area a player dominates, the closer they are to winning.  However, a player's dominance can come through denying other players access to areas on the board rather than taking themselves.  These games develop tactics, creativity, imagination, and strategy skills, enrich vocabulary, and improve focus and memory.  They also boost confidence and are an excellent way to build conflict resolution skills.  Examples: Scrabble, Small World.

3.      Campaign and Legacy Board Games:  are defined by players' individual plays where the actions and outcome of one scenario will usually affect the next.  The players' choices and actions cause them to make permanent changes to the game and its components, such as applying stickers to the board or tearing up cards, often providing a one-time experience.  These games develop initiatives, leadership, engagement, elaboration, and collaboration and strengthen motivation and confidence.  Examples: Gloomhaven.

4.      Deck-builder and Deck Construction Games:  In deck-builder games, players start with their identical deck of cards but alter it during play, with players adding more powerful cards to the deck and removing less powerful ones.  In deck construction games, however, players follow specific rules to construct different decks of cards that players use to play.  Thus, the difference between the two types of games lies in the players' creation and customization of the cards' deck. These games develop strategic and critical thinking and problem-solving skills. They help categorize and analyze information, make inferences, distinguish between fact and opinion, drawing conclusions.  Examples:  Dominion, Magic: The Gathering.

5.      Dexterity Games:  They involve physical skill (i.e., using the whole body or just the fingers for moving things).  They can include flicking discs or other objects, balancing, or throwing objects around.  These games develop patience, strategic planning, hand-eye coordination, engineering skill, improved concentration and mental flexibility, and help in family and social bonding.  Example: Twister, Jenga, Flick ‘em Up, Dungeon Fighter.

6.      Roll-and-Move / Roll-and-Write Board Games:  Roll-and-move board games consist of players rolling one or more dice and moving on a looping track of spaces or a path with a start and finish often land on certain areas, trigger specific actions, or offer the player certain gameplay options.  In Roll-and-Write Board Games, players roll some dice and decide how to use the outcome, writing it into a personal scoring sheet.  Each decision impacts their options for the rest of the game, leading to different results. These games involve luck and skills.  They boost confidence and strong decision-making skills, memory formation, promote bonding and interpersonal connection and develop entrepreneurial, emotional, management, and practical negotiation skills.  Examples:  Monopoly, Welcome To, Era: Medieval Age