By Samantha Cook I don’t know about you, but I can’t think back to my childhood without classic board games coming to mind – Scrabble, Monopoly, Cluedo, Trivial Pursuit and so on. Whether an activity for a rainy day or just something fun to occupy time during school holidays, these games were a fixture in my early life. However, at some point – I don’t know exactly when – board games stopped being cool. Joining the ranks of pastimes like knitting and crossword puzzles, these games went from being enjoyable pursuits to activities that you would only deign to participate in if you had no TV or computer access – and you were miles away from civilisation. Somewhere in the process of leaving childhood and stumbling my way through my teenage years, that sense of competitive enjoyment got lost, and just like all my other childhood relics, board games were relegated to the past. Until Friday, 11 November 2011, that is. I was invited by Twiga Communications (on behalf of Prima Toys) to celebrate 75 years of Monopoly, as well as the launch of the latest South African version of the game. Much to my enjoyment, the event consisted quite simply of a room full of invited guests playing the game and getting into the competitive spirit. In a clever move (playing off the property aspect of the game), Twiga invited members of the media to compete against the country’s top realtors, with representatives from Remax, Hall, Engel & Volkers, Firzt, Harcourts, Huizemark and Lew Geffen Sothebys. In a similar vein, Twiga then hosted a Trivial Pursuit launch at the Johannesburg Country Club on 18 November to promote the new Trivial Pursuit: Bet You Know It game, this time inviting media, social influencers and members of MENSA (yes, they are highly intelligent and highly intimidating) to face off against one another. After attending both events, I was surprised by how much fun I had, and more importantly, how much both events were enjoyed by the other attendees. You see, there is nothing quite like a board game to bring out your competitive side, and even while competing with relative strangers, there is an innate sense of camaraderie that emerges between the players. Forget dinner parties and drinks at the local pub – if you really want to connect with someone and feel out their personality, sit them down for a game of Monopoly. With all this in mind, I was left wondering why board games are so readily abandoned by the young in favour of either clubbing or gaming and LAN parties. “ The evenT conSISTed quITe SImPly of a room full of InvITed gueSTS PlayIng The game and geTTIng InTo The comPeTITIve SPIrIT” The simple answer is that this market segment has been predominantly ignored by those marketing these games, which is why Twiga and Prima Toys have embraced the opportunity to market both new and existing games to the young adult portion of the population. According to Chiquita Patrizi, head of marketing at Prima Toys, which distributes Hasbro products like Monopoly and Trivial Pursuit in South Africa, board game marketing has been targeted (for the most part) towards parents and families, with young adults being excluded from the marketing mix. For this reason, she says, Prima is attempting to draw young people in through the dual appeals of competition and face-to-face interaction. 45●JANUARY●2012●COUP