As someone who plays a lot of board games — particularly heavier board games — and hopes to do even more of that in retirement, I’m wondering if/how that is helping/will help fight cognitive decline.
I can imagine at the very least it won’t hurt, and intuitively it makes sense. But I’m not sure studies have been done specifically to understand how board gaming — or the problems being solved with board gaming - helps with cognitive skills.
Curious if others that are closer to this field have thoughts.
I love me some board games, but I prefer depth and decision space to complexity -- and the industry is dominated by stupendously complex beasts full of unnecessary mechanics that slow things down or extend setup without adding too much. A perfect example is TI4's expansion Prophecy of Kings, nearly all of which I despise for bloating a beautiful base game. I'm also always flabbergasted by how starved and railroaded I feel in games like Dune Imperium or Cole Wehlre's collection. Despite a wealth of mechanics, my choices are few and far between.
Complexity has its place, especially for engine builders like Terraforming Mars where complex interactions are the point. Many designers seem to be throwing in the kitchen sink arbitrarily. We're in a "bigger is better" paradigm.
I can imagine at the very least it won’t hurt, and intuitively it makes sense. But I’m not sure studies have been done specifically to understand how board gaming — or the problems being solved with board gaming - helps with cognitive skills.
Curious if others that are closer to this field have thoughts.