And Who Are You?

Dad’s working late — again. Mom’s picking the baby up at day care and dropping Sissy off at soccer. Junior is in his room playing video games. Who knows when they’ll next be all together under the same roof.

Spending time with your family. Now that’s a novel concept.

It didn’t used to be, of course. It sounds like it still isn’t in Germany. According to Nick Medinger, marketing director of Funagain Games:

In Germany, their view of board games in general is that it’s something you do with the family. When you come home in the evening, instead of watching television, you pull out a board game and play it. There, you see entire families playing board games three or four times a week … In America,” he adds, “we’re so individualistic. Everyone goes off to do their own thing.”

Cheers to Mr. Medinger, who is in the business of trying to get families to spend more time together. His quirky store carries all sorts of games from all sorts of countries. In a Reveries Magazine article by Tim Manners, Medinger points out that “All these games take just a few minutes to learn and 45 to 60 minutes to play … You don’t have to invest a whole day or learn complicated rules.”

Sounds like fun. And a great way to get to know the people who live in your house.