by Grant Bailey
The average Brit will rally up enough participants to play a board game just five times a year.
A recent study has revealed Brits’ board game habits – which games they are most likely to play, who with and how likely they feel they are to win.
For most, a competitive board game is a family affair, with 56 per cent of those surveyed saying they are most likely to go head to head with members of their family.
When it comes to selecting a game from the cupboard, a third of Brits are most likely to reach for a strategy game, while one in three prefer something which will test their knowledge and trivia skills.
Hasbro empire-building board game Monopoly was named the game Brits would be most likely to reach for on game night.
Scrabble, Trivial Pursuit and Cluedo were also popular favourites.
Brits also thought Monopoly was the game most likely to end in heated arguments once the competition got too fierce.
Greg Tatton-Brown from online casino Casumo.com, who commissioned the study, said: “A board game can be a friendly bonding experience in most cases, though that doesn’t mean there isn’t scope for the stakes to raise and for tensions to build.
“And while we’re almost certainly safe from any Jumanji-style escalations in real life stemming from a board game, in the moment, the matter of winning the next dice roll or piece move can feel like life or death.”
At the beginning of a game Brits generally feel like it’s all to play for, with 65 per cent confident that luck is on their side before their first move.
Though one in five are certain that fate is stacked against them, and things rarely go their way when the board-based antics get competitive.
In fact, 36 per cent feel they are easily ‘psyched out’ by other competitors, which puts them off their A-game.
And they aren’t above using these off-putting tactics themselves, either.
Twelve per cent have purposely got on someone’s nerves through the game in order to distract their full attention away from their next move.
And 17 per cent of eagle-eyed competitors have caught someone else trying to turn the game in their favour through underhand tactics.
Two thirds of Brits would also relish the opportunity to play a life-size version of their favourite board game.
Thirty one per cent would gladly take to the streets of London to build up their fictional fortune in a real-life version of Monopoly.
And one in five want to participate in a real-life murder mystery, Cluedo-style.
Seventeen per cent would even risk life and limb with a dicey game of real-life snakes and ladders, and one in five would jump at the chance to play an actual game of jungle caper Jumanji – if it actually existed.
Greg added: “Many of our favourite board games find their concept in daring and dangerous situations, which would cause us real peril – and real thrills – to compete in in real life.
“1996 adventure movie classic Jumanji was ahead of the curve in this sentiment, bringing the fictional jungle world contained in its board quite literally to life.”
Casumo.com just released a new game – Jumanji™ – and are running tournaments on the 25th and 26th June where participants have the chance to win real cash prizes. The online casino also hosts six different variants of Monopoly for players to try.
ENDS
