FacebookPiP (Play in Public) Campaign
Why we need the campaign
When you want to watch your favorite sport, or go out to a bar/restaurant, do you have trouble finding friends that want to go with you? Probably not. So why is it so hard to find people to play our favorite board games with us? Wouldn’t it be better if we could find someone to game with whenever we wanted instead of having to game on the limited schedule of our game group or local board game store? What is keeping us from pursuing our hobby as frequently as most other hobbies are pursued? Where are all the other gamers?
I’m going to put a stake in the ground and declare that the biggest problem facing the adult gaming community is awareness. Not game pricing, packaging, quality, distribution, sales channels, components, artwork, mechanics, fresh ideas, themes, or anything else… it’s simply awareness. Until we hit 15-18% full market penetration (see this TED video at 11 min. in), people simply won’t be aware enough of the board game community to consider participating in it with us.
In Australia, 1 in 7 people played a board game in the past week and in Germany it is higher. In China, board game cafes are exploding. What is happening in the United States that is keeping us from breaking open this community? Maybe we’ve become anti-social, lazy, or simply too addicted to our television. Whatever the reason, this is an American problem.
We could blame ToysRUs for only stocking games for children. Or we could blame the game companies for not spending more on advertising. But honestly, the expansion of board gaming seems to be at an all-time high as the ripples continue to spread outwards from the introduction of Settlers of Catan years ago. The question I ponder is whether Catan will simply be another Trivial Pursuit. Trivial Pursuit was a game that triggered a wave of great party games and then the market plateaued. Will it all just be another fad of pop culture? Or can adult gaming finally resonate with the common public and stick around long term?
When gamers like me admit that our major hobby is playing board games, we get a response of raised eyebrows. The listener typically has one of two images in their head… cranky sugar-hyped children cheating at monopoly, or a misguided stereotype of costumed role-players still living in the basement of their parent’s house fighting pretend dragons to save a voluptuous princess (I’ll leave that latter issue to the RPG community to overcome). I’ve found that if people instead see the games in person, their perceptions suddenly change. Typically, after a couple plays with the right guidance, they want to buy a game, take it home, and play it with friends and family.
So, how do we spark this viral sharing of adult board gaming? Let’s just expose people to what is out there! We have the power to do something about this ourselves… that is the essence of the campaign. Let’s have the courage to play in an environment where people can see a game, safely ask questions, and go on their way. Let’s slowly raise the curiosity of the non-gaming community. At first it is about breaking down the stereotype of gaming, but eventually it will raise people’s desire to try it themselves. If enough people participate in this campaign, we can successfully expose a large portion of the general public to games they previously didn’t know existed.
In summary, the PiP Campaign is about raising the awareness of games to the point where customers ask their local toy and book stores why they don’t stock games for adults. It’s about bridging the gap between good local adult game stores and their community. It’s about expanding everyone’s inner geek to include gaming at a time when being a geek is a popular. It’s about pulling families away from the TV and back into interacting with each other. It’s about connecting friends together and enabling them to have more fun at home around the dinner table than in an expensive bar scene where only superficial relationships can form.
Just to provide some proof that this will work, I’ll share a true personal story with you. I went to a comic convention and hosted an open gaming area. When I asked if anyone was interested in gaming, or played games, the response was always a smile or smirk. But when I laid a copy of Tobago out on the table (set at a mid-point in the game), people kept coming over and asking what it was. Within 15 seconds, I typically got the response of “I didn’t know games like this existed!” Many of those people would ask questions about where they could find these games. Some of them sat down and tried Carcassonne or Dominion. A few of those folks bought a copy and sincerely thanked me for having fun. Quite a few parents walked away knowing they could play games with their children and have fun while doing it (as opposed to mindless roll and move games). It all started with a copy of Tobago exposed in all its glory on the table.
We can all do this. We can hit that elusive 18%. We (the players) have more power to make games go mainstream than anyone else. Will you join in?
The guidelines of the PiP Campaign
This is a campaign whose sole purpose is to expose the public to the variety of games available beyond childhood. The guidelines of participation are simple:
Play a game in public and share the experience.
- Game: any non-mainstream game that isn’t a children’s game
- it is most likely listed on boardgamegeek
- is is most likely not sold in ToysRUs
- it should require some level of strategy and not be mostly determined by luck
- remember: the goal is to increase awareness of the various types of games available beyond childhood, not reinforce the stereotype people have of board games
- Public: any environment that a game is not typically played in, any location where someone will see you playing a board game who wasn’t expecting to play or learn about board games in that environment
- Share: Declare your participation and support
- take a picture or write up a description
- post it somewhere (blog, website, facebook)
- tweet about it with the #PiPCampaign hashtag or post it on the Facebook Fan Page
- link to this page so people can learn about the campaign
- email me, DM me on Twitter, or leave a comment on the Facebook Fan Page about it so that I can tell everyone too!
Some helpful hints:
- Encourage observers to ask questions… explain the game at a high level (theme, goal), encourage them to try it out (even let them take your spot for a few turns)
- Talk about adult board games and the wide variety that exist… explain that some are more social and others are more competitive/intellectual (“the full range between chess and cranium”, these boundaries resonate with most people)
- In your write-up, brag about your attempt… how many people stopped, watched, and were curious… how many asked questions… how many people played that weren’t part of your initial group?
Spread the good word!
- Tell people about the PiP Campaign!
- Become a Fan of the campaign
- Encourage everyone you know in the gaming community to participate in the PiP Campaign!
- Point them right here for more information if they want it
- Point them here or here to see what others have done in the past.
Comments are closed.
Hey great initiative!
Some countries around the world it’s common to have people playing games in public, but in many others you can’t play in a cafe too long before you get moved along for “paying customers”…
Have to say though, I’m from Australia and I don’t think that figure of “1 in 7″ play boardgames each week is at all accurate. I’d say Australians would have the same attitude towards games as Americans, or worse. We often talk about people being more interested in boardgames in America.
The best reason I’ve heard for this is that our weather is so good that we have a very outdoors culture, very focused on sport. But I suspect that’s an overrated stereotype, as we try to be very European and American these days.
Thanks for the comments. I can’t speak to the 1 in 7 statistic, it was noted in the article I linked to from an Australian newspaper. Maybe it varies by region?
Awesome idea!! We will definitely be promoting this through our FB and Twitter. Let us know if Out of the Box can do anything more to help promote this!
Leah -
I’m guessing that OTB has games very well suited for this. Games that work well indoor/outdoor, small in size, quick to play, easy to learn… promote them for the campaign! Talk it up, we’d love to have your support! If this takes off, maybe we could do a giveaway?
I love this idea! We have a board game night with some friends every week and I play some with my family, but I love the idea of doing so in public! Oh, and the # of young attractive women we have in our LARP community has sure helped our group image when people see us! ::grin::
Sounds great! Where are you guys… maybe I could convince my wife to join your group!
Fantastic idea! I’m in.
I figured you’d be one of the people to catch this… blog and pass along!
What a great idea. I actually already blogged about a playing in public. We played Treehouse on the street while waiting for Fireworks on the 4th of July. We got some watchers, but no one stopped to join in.
There’s a photo my post: http://carolsnotebook.wordpress.com/2010/07/10/game-night-treehouse/
This is a great example of what the PiP Campaign is about… posting to twitter!
LOVE IT!
This is one of the ways we work to spread the word about our new family card game – we always have it with us. We play in restaurants while we are waiting for food to arrive, we sit in airports and play while we wait for a plane. We take it to picnics and the pool and the kids’ soccer tournaments and get people playing on a blanket in the grass between games. We pull it out in bars at happy hour. We don’t try to show it to people unless they come over and ask – but they ALWAYS want to know and they ALWAYS ask… “what the heck is that?!”
We always bring games to share when we are invited to someone’s house for dinner or a party.
I love that you are starting this campaign. I’ll tweet it, facebook it, linkedin it, and eventually I’ll blog about it. My blog is suffering lately – (I’ve been too busy playing games)
Well done!
Great idea! Count me in!
Definitely in with this program. I run two social gaming groups in Greater Boston focused on meeting in public places to meet games, but just as important — to meet one another.
Although there are many other opportunities for people to go out and do something, it’s quite possible to go out and be social without making long-lasting connections with other people. Boardgames require people to interact with other people and socialize again. This is our groups goal.
We run the majority of our events in restaurants and other places with exposure to the public. It’s funny how people will smirk and laugh at someone playing Settlers in a restaurant, but jump at the chance to join when offered.
Hopefully as we continue to get exposure, non-gamers will understand the benefits of gaming and the joy it brings to the players.
If you’re in the Boston area, come join us! http://cardsconversation.org
Tony – It’s pretty cool to hear about your group… if I’m ever in Boston, I will look you up!
Got your reply on my blog yesterday–I had actually already seen this post and was thinking of ways to get involved in this.
This is an excellent idea, a simple and straightforward campaign that promotes our hobby–besides, I am now completely out of family that haven’t been recruited into the hobby. Time to look elsewhere.
Glad to you have you in the movement! I understand the family thing, I keep exposing them with every holiday… but live to far away to be fully effective.
Kevin, just wanted to let you know that I got your message plus I had already read the blog post and was thinking about it. I certainly never hesitate to talk board games with folks but it can often be difficult to properly convey what makes modern gaming so great without actually playing!
Playing out in public more is a fantastic idea. I’m always impressed at how quickly people are drawn to board games once they see them in action. It really is a hobby with universal appeal.
Can’t wait to see how this takes off
Well… two days doesn’t make a trend… but it seems to be taking off! I like your blog and am happy to see you join the cause!
Some of my Twitter followers are already asking why the blocked games are blocked. If the point is to get people playing boardgames in public, why the exclusion? “I play Monopoly and Uno, why leave me out?” “Games don’t have to be challenging to be social.”
Given that the approved list includes a handful of “can be found on mass-market store shelves” games, obviously there’s an effort to compromise with people who think the movement smacks of elitism (I disagree, but that’s neither here nor there). I know the core of the movement is to promote social gatherings that don’t revolve around laziness and the couch/console culture. What do y’all think? Let all tabletop games in and then see who wants more challenging fare?
Zach-
You make a good point. When I authored this post, I was intentionally trying to get people to realize that the game market is not defined by what is found in ToysR’Us just like comic books are not defined by Barnes & Noble. Most people don’t game because they see it as child’s play. Most games in ToysR’Us are targeted for children. My main goal is to sell adults on gaming!
That being said, there’s nothing wrong with those games. They simply aren’t the games that need the exposure. It’s not intended to be an elitist approach, it’s intended to be a raising of awareness approach! The community will decide, I’ve cut this idea loose.
Zach-
I don’t know if you noticed, but I updated this portion of the campaign description.
Hi, great idea.
I don’t think its an american problem.
It’s global.
You’ve got my support from holland.
Come out and play in public!