It's a wet Sunday afternoon (no, not in summer 2013, obviously; that would be a sweltering Sunday afternoon), and there isn't much to keep the family occupied. Well, apart from the 200-odd TV channels now available. Or a DVD. Or Xbox. Oh, and the internet, obviously. Obviously. I mean, really, that's the first thing we leap to when we have a nanosecond to spare, isn't it? Which of the wacky friends we never see has left the funniest (or most outraged/outrageous) Facebook update?
Hey, I'm a fan of the digital age, don't get me wrong. I'm not bemoaning the loss of conversation skills and family time, blaming it all on 'those damn computers'. Well, not completely.
But last night, I got to thinking. After dinner, my wife and I played a board game. (Shock, horror, I know.) And it was really, really fun. Bit of wine, bit of music, bit of light-hearted fun. And when we were on holiday with friends on a remote island last year, without access to the internet or even television, we resorted to charades. I can't remember a time when I've laughed more!
Playing the board game last night reminded me of those times in my childhood when my friends would come round and would bring their own latest game with them – and I to them as well. Connect 4, Downfall – all the old chestnuts. But whatever new game came along, one of my constant favourites was Monopoly.
Originally created in 1904 by Elizabeth Magie Phillips to teach children the pitfalls of monopoly ownership, more than a billion people have played the game since it was bought by Parker Brothers in 1935. 275 million copies have been sold worldwide in 43 languages across 111 countries.
Can you think of a purely digital game that has or will manage that? Angry Birds, you say? Admittedly it's doing massively well, with eight million downloads on Christmas Day alone last year. But even their aspirations of 100 million downloads doesn't come close to Monopoly's 275 million hard copies.
But recently Hasbro, the makers of Monopoly, have suggested that we no longer have the attention span to play full-length board games. No, these days we need quick, instant entertainment; 'snack toys' is the official term. That's why they've just released a children's 'first past the post' version which takes just 30 minutes.
Admittedly I wouldn't have the patience to play for 70 hours – the current record for one game of Monopoly – but really? We can't focus on one thing besides a film for more than 30 minutes?
The short version follows the release of a watered down version of Scrabble, called Scrabble Flash. In this game, the idea is to create as many words as possible of three letters or more from five electronic tiles in two and a half minutes. The tiles beep to indicate a player’s turn is over after 75 seconds. Personally, I like the original version – spending ages pondering over the best strategic place to snare a coveted triple-word score.
'Parents and children tell us they want a quick in-and-out, frictionless gaming experience,' says Jonathan Berkowitz, vice president of marketing at Hasbro. 'That’s the snackable component.'
In light of Hasbro's announcement, some critics have been needlessly snooty of the original Monopoly. One technology website thinks the whole premise of one of the world's best-selling board games is simply a bad idea: 'Make a game that isn’t about real estate, paying taxes and going to jail. Monopoly is fun for like five minutes when you are a kid, until you start playing other games that involve hungry hippos or mouse traps. Plus…the internet. Best game ever.' Sorry, chaps – I've got a billion people who say you're wrong.
Of course, Hasbro does have to move with the times, and there's no suggestion that the original Monopoly will be phased out (although apparently one of the playing pieces – the iron – is being replaced by a cat in August this year). Perhaps it's a very shrewd move, in fact, to try and corner the 'snack' version of the board game market. But I hope that people will continue to sit around with the TV, computer and iPad turned off on a wet Sunday afternoon. Or even a dry Saturday night, come to that.
Ashley is a copywriter, blogger and editor
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