It’s time to brush off those old boxes of Backgammon and Monopoly and sit down with your friends and family for Games Day this Tuesday.
Beginning in 1975, Games Day is a celebration of how games bring people together in fun and interesting ways.
Christine Stamatakis, owner of Mega Games on High Street, is passionate about the way board games connect people.
“You don’t need electricity, you just need other people. As a child we grew up playing board games, I’ve played board games with all my children – they’re just a lot of fun,” she said.
“It’s bringing together people. We would get shy people out of their comfort zone come in and they would all talk the same language – board games.”
Mega Games has serviced Penrith for 23 years where it has continually grown to accommodate an increasing desire to play games.
“We started out as a computer store and we saw the value in board games, so we started to add a few games, and eventually the board games took over,” Ms Stamatakis said.
She said that unlike many other group activities, board games can be played by anyone for hours of entertainment.
“It’s a whole mix from young kids to grandparents… we get a lot of kids playing the games and parents coming in with them,” Ms Stamatakis said.
Ms Stamatakis added that despite assumptions that board games available on tablets, like iPads, would hurt the industry, they have instead encouraged people to play together even more.
The most popular board game currently on the market is Ticket to Ride.
Emily Newton is the Weekender’s police and political reporter. Emily is also the Weekender’s Senior Journalist.
