Board gaming has enjoyed a consistent rise in popularity over the last decade as indicated not only by growing sales but also by more coverage in main media. You can look no further than Kickstarter where Board Games are the most popular category and it seems like every month the record is being broken. In this age of digital information, analog gaming has emerged as a popular hobby.
My view is that the emergence of tabletop gaming provides other positive benefits. Analog gaming is so hands on, that in my opinion, it helps create a sense of community, whether between groups of friends or in the wider gaming world. It is this sense of community that gives the hobby attributes that can bring people together and bring out people's altruistic traits. The hobby can encourage positive interactions between others allowing board gaming to be a great wrap around for charitable events. Even in a direct sense board gaming is often used by non-profit organisations as a form of therapeutic activities which can also help reinforce positive character development.
There are many charitable organisations that use Board Games in one form or another to provide a platform and introduce a community to the organisation that they support. At Meeple Design we had the opportunity to support 2 such events that raise money for different organisations, Game for the Cause and CAPA Cup. The organisers of the 2 events were able to answer some of our questions about the events and organisations they support. We will have 2 articles providing more information regarding both events.
I look forward to the work of both of these events over the next several years and to the next decade of positive contributions that the Tabletop Gaming community can help make.