Game nights at home all the rage again

Remember when your parents’ friends came over for an evening of cards? Bridge? Canasta? Maybe a game of “Monopoly”? Boy, did you think they were fuddy-duddies.

“Trivial Pursuit,” which has since spawned all kinds of specialized offspring, is still the top board game.

Well, it’s happening again, but now it’s you! Game nights are all the rage in living rooms across America.

Sales of adult board games are up 4.5 percent this year, even though total toy sales are down 3 percent, says David Riley of the NPD Group, a New York marketing research firm. Some retailers have reported that sales of board games were up as much as 10 percent even before the high-volume holiday season began.

Why? Experts say it’s Americans’ desire to hunker down in the comfort of their own living room, away from an uncertain world.

“People want to be inside. It’s cold. And a lot of companies have even developed games that take less time, so it allows people to play more often, to have family time, to connect with others,” says Reyne Rice, a trend specialist for the Toy Industry Association.

On a recent trip to Michigan, Rice even found herself at an all-girl night of “Bunco,” a dice-throwing game. “It was great fun, to the point of being silly.”

The economy plays a part in the trend, too. With a family movie night or a meal out easily topping $100, inviting a few friends over for games is an economical alternative.

There are even Web sites where you can find game nights by state – www.homepokergames.com, for instance.

“And more people are having themes – ‘Monopoly’ or ‘Trivial Pursuit,’ ” says Patty Sachs, a veteran party planner in Jacksonville and owner of PartyPlansPlus.com, a free party advice site. “You don’t invite people over to just look at one another. You say, ‘Hey! We’re having game night!’ “

Says Richard Tait, founder of “Cranium,” which has spawned game nights from the USA to Finland to Australia: “The desire for human beings to reconnect and laugh at each other” is driving the trend. “They’re looking to reach out.”

Tait says some “Craniacs,” as the game’s devotees are called, have even asked the company to customize the board for special evenings. One Craniac in New Jersey, during his weekly game night, asked his girlfriend to marry him through a series of special questions. (She said yes.)

Sharon Forinash of Erie, Colo., and her family fell into game night a year ago when her daughter’s boyfriend brought over the game “Guesstures” one weekend.

“Now we have people over a couple of times a month. It’s gotten to be a fairly regular Sunday evening thing,” Forinash says. “We all just end up laughing and having a good time.”

But game nights aren’t just held in the home. Many companies are seeing the potential of mixing games with business. “Cranium” made its debut at Starbucks in 1998, and since then hundreds of game nights are held in shops across the country.

“If you think about where you can have a fun family activity, where you can sit down and relax, it’s a coffeehouse,” Starbucks’ Brad Stevens says. “Each store has its own personality, and people gather for any number of activities, including games.” Many stores now have baskets of board games or cards customers can use.

Joining Starbucks is Barnes and Noble, which launched its game night at 195 locations in July, offering the book lover’s edition of “Trivial Pursuit.” A similar launch of the board game “Think Blot” will come in January.

“Parents want to spend more time with their kids away from the TV,” Barnes and Noble’s Ellen Heaney Mizer says. She says similar game nights will be held throughout next year.

Beth Dempsey Lasnick, a mother of two in Stamford, Conn., has been following the game trend since spring. She holds her at-home game nights on Fridays. They center mostly around “Scrabble.”

“It’s about spending quality time with your kids,” she says, joining the common refrain. “It’s different from watching TV or being on the computer.”

Her 11-year-old son, Ryan, also is obsessed with Texas Hold ‘em, and he plays the poker game at home with friends for nickels or candy, something she does not discourage. After all, he’s home and he’s using his brain.

“He grew up with cards,” she says. “He grew up with “Pokemon.” It’s just an evolution.”