On the surface, videogames and board games may seem like very different kinds of entertainment. Obviously, one is played in a virtual world and the other is played in real life. In addition, Steven Johnson asserts that while board games provide clear rules on how to play and what the objective of the game is, videogames fail to do this and instead force the player to figure out the rules by themselves. However, this claim is not quite true, as board games and videogames share more similarities than one may think. For example, the game Monopoly clearly states its rules and informs players that their objective is to bankrupt the other players. This is not unlike videogames like Halo, where the objectives are laid out before the game starts. Videogames may be played through a different medium, but at their core they’re no different from board games and in many ways are simply modern adaptations on the basic strategies derived from board games.
Good. Are you arguing board games also make us smarter by using Johnson's terminology? Board games also have the face-to-face social interaction aspect-- usually bringing friends and family together. Also, even if the electricity goes out, you can play board games. The last time I actually "finished" a board game was when the lights were out for a couple days due to a storm.
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