“Business skill enhancement through board games”

Written by Selma Ganic, Project Manager at Softray Solutions

The current COVID 19 situation has us all closed and for the first time ever we have plenty of time on our hands. The internet and social media are swamped with articles such as “Use the quarantine time to learn a new skill. Now you have the time.” But let’s face it, most of us don’t feel like learning at this point. Most of us would just like to spend time with the members of our household and just have a bit of fun. If there was only a way, we could do all three…

The good news is there is, the bad news… Well to be honest there isn’t one.

If you doubt that games can help your skill sets, let me rewind the time to good old days of our childhood.

Remember Monopoly. At that time, you were so angry you were not winning. At that point you were blaming the dice. If only you didn’t throw that number which got you bankrupt. If you only invested to make hotels on this field rather than the other. Ok, next time you will know. Next time you will aim to get a certain field, invest to make hotels on other fields and look at that, you won. You smartly distributed your resources into the right slots which brought you the win. And so, your resource management skill enhanced just like that.

Maybe Monopoly was not your kind of game and you like it simple, like Ludo. In Bosnian called “Guy don’t be angry”. So, you are right there playing with your friends, and you are so agitated. The person you are playing with just got the number he needs to eat your pawn. Now you can barely get a six to get out. You get angry, agitated maybe start yelling. The children you played with no longer want to play with you, because you get angry and they don’t have fun. Ok, so you promise you will not get angry and somehow get them to play again. You control your emotions when you play, use all throws of the number six to get your pawns out, keep the distance greater than 10 spaces between you and the other players, and look at that you won. Your emotional control and strategy skills enhanced with the simple Ludo game.

Maybe you didn’t necessarily find yourself in the two examples above, even if you are not particularly an enthusiastic player, I vouch there is a board game out there that will satisfy your needs and be fun. So, in the next section I will go over the categories and skills from those categories and explain how they are enhanced through board games.

Mind category

The mind category covers all skills that enhance our thinking. The skills that fall into this category are the following:

Cognitive functions — Board games force us to think fast on our feet. Even when it is not your move, you still think about the next moves that will bring you victory. Which brings us to the next skill.

Strategic thinking — All board games require you to think ahead and gather as much points as possible. You need to think of a strategy that will bring you to victory like in Monopoly, where you build a strategy to invest and build hotels and which fields are not worthwhile.

Creative thinking — When playing you are often faced with obstacles, and you need a good way to overcome the obstacle. Sometimes it is just as simple as drawing an association for the given term in Pictionary, sometimes you are faced with a more challenging task like connecting two dots on a map and making the most points or finding an alternative route. The more complicated the task, more creative thinking the solution requires.

Problem solving — As noted with creative thinking, when you are faced with an obstacle you need to resolve it. You need to pose the problem in front of you like a math task and find the solution.

Critical thinking — In order to win a game, you need to set the problem critically, admit where you have gone wrong, and fix it. You need to distance yourself from the game and think about the steps from both sides without emotion, to realise where the bad and good moves were, to bring you to victory.

Memory — Another game you probably played as a child, Memory. The game is simple. You have a grid of cards where you need to find pairs. Initially the cards are flipped randomly, and you memorize where the cards are as much as you can, and on your turn, you pair up as much as you can. This of course is the simplest example, however it can be translated to any other board game, where you remember the moves and cards of your opponent, to bring you to victory.

Social

The social aspects of a game are the ones that improve our socialisation as well as people skills.

Collaboration & teamwork — Many games require collaboration and teamwork with the players even if they are opponents. You must negotiate and work with the players to get what you need in order to get to your goal.

Trust and getting to know each other — Playing games like Ludo teach you to trust (or not) another player when they say they will not eat your pawn. You learn about them, how they behave in stressful situations, how they perform under pressure. In games like Pictionary you can learn how they think, what their associations are and personal meaning of certain terms.

Socialisation — While playing games, the conversation flows. Because of the situation of the game someone remembers another situation. Even when there is no talking you develop the silent communication with the player with your and their moves.

Character

While playing games in character others can learn about us, and the character also learns and advances. The character is affected in following ways:

Focus — While playing board games we are focused on the game. And while we still get distracted, with time our focus improves, and we get distracted less and less.

Patience — Waiting for something to happen so you can fulfill your plan is no easy task. Like throwing that six in Ludo is a great way to train your patience.

Adaptive and fast thinking — People always find ways to surprise you, and game events too. Once a change happens in given win conditions you need to adapt quickly to the new situation.

Management — Basis of most games is that you get certain resources and time to achieve a goal. You must find the best way to manage what you have at hand to win the game.

So, by this point I hope you are invested and interested to find a suitable game for you. The next section covers a few board games that I played myself and skills they improve.

Game recommendations

Catan

Short description: In Catan the goal is to reach 10 points. You build and upgrade cities based on needed resources defined in game play. You can also build streets. The game play is 1–2 h depending on number of players and luck since additional resources are acquired based on dice throw and trading with other players.

Helps with:

• Strategic thinking
• Teamwork
• Management
• Problem solving
• Creative thinking
• Trust and getting to know people

Players: 2–6 players, with specific rules for two player game and expansion for 5th and 6th player.

Mombasa

Short description: The goal is to buy shares and distribute trading posts as best as possible to earn as much points as possible. The game play is 2–4 h. This game is not easy and I certainly don’t recommend it for beginners however the reason I mention it as a project manager I found it extremely helpful and great to advance management skills.

Helps with:

• Strategic thinking
• Management
• Adaption
• Fast thinking
• Critical thinking
• Memory

Players: 2–4 players

Seasons

Short description: The goal is to score as much as possible points by summoning cards throughout three years with four seasons. To summon a card, you need to pay the resource cost and have an open card slot. Each card has a different effect on the game. The game play 45 to 90 minutes.

Helps with:

• Strategic thinking
• Logical thinking
• Management
• Adaptation

Players: 2–4 players

Castle’s of Burgundy

Short description: The goal is to build out your city with various types of tiles. Each tile gives you a bonus help when placed in your city. The tiles are chosen in a certain order from the master board based on your dice throw. The game play is about 90 minutes.

Helps with:

• Logical thinking
• Critical thinking
• Creative thinking
• Strategic thinking
• Management
• Adaptation

Players: 2–4 players

Ticket to ride

Short description: The goal is to complete as many routes as possible. The mission is to connect two cities by a railroad. To place a railroad, you need to give a certain number of color cards which are posing as game resources. Ticket to ride has various expansions like UK where you need to buy technologies to build. However basic rules and goal remain the same. Ticket to Ride is a very popular and player friendly game. It is easy to understand and if you are a beginner at board games this is my recommendation for you. Game play is usually 1–2 h, however it can also be shorter.

Helps with:

• Logical thinking
• Strategic thinking
• Patience
• Management
• Adaptation

Players: 2–4 players

So as a parent I know that parents are now thinking, I wish I could have time to play these games, but it is impossible with my kids. Well I also have some good news for you too. There are board games for kids where both you and your kids can enjoy and advance your skills. Keep in mind when starting a kid’s game, children usually don’t finish the game and get easily distracted, however the more you play the more their focus improves. Here are a few:

Ticket to ride: First Journey

Short description: The First Journey is a child version of the game ticket to ride. The goal is again to connect two cities via railroad; however the tracks and missions are shorter, there are more wild cards, and rules are a bit simplified so kids can follow. The game play is also shorter 15–30 minutes.

Helps with:

• Logical thinking
• Strategic thinking
• Patience
• Management

Players: 2–4 players

My little Scythe

Short description: The goal of the game is to score 4 out of 8 possible trophies. There are two resources: apples and diamonds, which help execute the missions. The players are encouraged to be friendly and help other players, although they can also choose to take part in pie fights. The game takes about 45 minutes to 115 depending on number of players. It is labelled for older children but my girl (5 years) loves it and plays it all the time.

Helps with:

• Logical thinking
• Strategic thinking
• Management
• Creative thinking
• Adaptation
• Socialization

Players: 2–4 players

Ghost fighting treasure hunters

Short description: The goal to get all the diamonds out of a haunted house before the ghosts take over. The movement and ghost placement are determined by dice throw. When entering a room, you have first to beat the ghost to take the diamond. The game is a co-op game where all players play together. The game is very simple so even smaller kids can play.

Helps with:

• Logical thinking
• Collaboration & teamwork

Players: 2–4 players

Well I could go on and on about various games. I vouch that there is a game you will like out there and that fits your needs. I hope that maybe some of them I mentioned got you interested. If not, I recommend the site https://boardgamegeek.com/ as it is a very accurate and reliable page to look and find something suitable. Now go out there find your fit, have some fun and advance in your skills.

Happy gaming.

If you enjoyed reading this, click on the clap button so others can find this post.