According to hollywoodreporter.com online gaming has increased 75% since social distancing started. Despite the fact that I’ve contributed to this demographic, it just doesn’t feel the same as when I used to invite people over to play games. I’m not afraid to say it outright–I want to play games with people in person. Sure, virtual games have been okay for the past couple of months during quarantine, but I miss interacting with people in person. I’m not the only one who feels this way.

There is something amazing about the anticipation of having people over. I’m not speaking for everyone, but I myself love to host game nights. I love planning the meals which we will eat, which games people will bring to play, and which games I own I think people will play. I never thought I’d miss human touch or interaction in person so much, but I do. Not to mention it gives me an excuse to clean my house. I look forward to these game nights all week. Without this, planning meals for just two is like any other night of the week. The future just seems really dismal without being able to play games in person. I know these social distancing bans will be lifted eventually, and I know we’re helping save lives, but for us gamers who live and breathe board games it’s hard to get through the lull.

As board gamers I feel like we are lucky in the sense that when this whole quarantine hit we had hundreds of games to play right at our fingertips. So my husband and I got straight to playing games with each other for hours and hours. I love playing games with my husband, don’t get me wrong, but even with him here I still miss other people. I’m not even a huggy feely type person. I simply miss seeing people’s smiles.

Again, online board games are great. I’ve got to hang out with more people I haven’t seen in a long time. In a lot of ways it’s brought me closer to people who live out of state. But I do miss the tactile experience of board games. Who wouldn’t? People love the touch and feel of board games. Our podcast covered an entire episode on this topic alone (how people love the feel of certain board games).

Baord games in person aren’t just about the game either, it’s about catching up with the people you know and love. Sure you can do this online too, but I would argue it’s just not the same. There is some tangible thing that is missing, human ques, and facial expressions make for less of a meta game online then you’d get in person.

I guess today’s article is more to encourage all the gamers out there that things will eventually get back to normal. You are not alone if you feel crippled and desperate to play games in person. Our local game stores will eventually open back up. We’ll see our game night friends again soon, and we’ll all get through this together. Hold onto hope that we will play games again in person. Know that I’m with you in spirit everytime you roll a dice, or pick up a deck of cards, or race your robots around the game board. Hang in there board game community, we’re almost there!