Kickstarter, a US-based crowdfundind platform, has lowered the barrier to entry to the board games industry, rewarding tabletop games more than their digital counterparts. One of the best examples of this is the game Kingdom Death Monster, which is still the fourth most successful project of all times on the platform, since it ratcheted up $12.4 million (€ 11.2 million) in November 2016.

Several other board games did manage to raise more than $5 million, but Cards Against Humanity remains the best case of the systemic change possible through crowdfunding: It is an independent game created by eight American students as a New Year's party game launched through an average campaign on Kickstarter, and is now one of the most popular games around.

Playing Cards Against Humanity

"Many people, regardless of their nationality are trying to socialize. There are many meetups and game gatherings, in English or German. In every neighborhood of Berlin there is one," Josef Anders, owner of Brettspielgeschäft.Berlin, a store selling board games, told DW.

Some gatherings are for free, some places ask for a euro per hour, some pubs and cafes simply request gamers to buy a drink.

"Miniature games with complex strategies and/or dark humor in general tend to be more successful. That's also related to a growth of board games for adults," Anders, the owner of the shop in the central Berlin district of Prenzlauerberg, added. He also mentioned a "drastic" increase in sales, with prices ranging between €5 and €500.

The independents versus big corporations

The ground is very fertile, not just for new retailers, but also for new board game companies. Many are independent. Quite a few are growing solidly. Often even faster than the bigger competitors.

"I think there is less red tape, less checklists and less at stake, especially if you are not a public company such as Hasbro. So an indie company like us can be much more reactive and take more risks. This allows us to try out new angles of games which can cause a new trend," Massimo Zeppetelli, head of marketing for North America at Big Potato Games, told DW.

Zeppetelli recalls the series of innovative initiatives launched by the British company. Big Potato Games has even installed a vending machine with board games in East London. They also organize nights at clients' premises. "We have done 20 events in the last 12 months. Typically the person booking us is 24-35, female and working for a large corporation."

However, big board games companies like Hasbro and Ravensburger maintain a strategic advantage. Their distribution networks are solid.

Gamescom: Gaming giants too must adapt or die Long queues for a sneak peak Hundreds of thousands of gamers have descended on Cologne again for Gamescom. The eager ones were queuing up to a day ahead of the opening on Wednesday. Last year about 370,000 people visited the trendy trade show and organizers expect a record number of visitors this year. With 1,150 exhibitors from more than 50 countries, fans can get a sneak peak at the latest games offerings.

Gamescom: Gaming giants too must adapt or die Half of Germany has sore thumbs One out of two Germans play games on mobile phone, consoles or PCs, according to Games, the German games industry association. The growth of the sector has been remarkable: in the first half of 2019, sales in Germany rose by 11% to €2.8 billion ($3.1 billion). Only about 4% of that revenue, however, came from games developed at home.

Gamescom: Gaming giants too must adapt or die Innovation boost Politicians, including Minister of Transport and Digital Affairs Andreas Scheuer, have promised to boost German game production. The Cologne trade fair after all showcases "tomorrow's innovations," he said. In 2019, game developers received €50 million in state funding, and Scheuer has said he plans to make sure the financial support continues.

Gamescom: Gaming giants too must adapt or die Highly-anticipated space shooter teased "Everspace 2" was given a sneak preview at Gamescom, although fans will hate to wait until 2021 for its full release. A trailer for the openworld space combat game went down a storm as well as teasers for the interactive thriller "Erica" from Sony and the upcoming releases of "Gears 5" and "Borderlands 3."

Gamescom: Gaming giants too must adapt or die Battle of the streamers Cloud gaming is a major topic at this year's Gamescom. Microsoft presented its Project xCloud which unlocks device restrictions on games. Other big players like Google want to stream the best-known games. In future, even the most elaborately-designed games may no longer need expensive hardware. In Germany, however, the lack of fast internet in some areas will be a major sticking point.

Gamescom: Gaming giants too must adapt or die Are gaming consoles dead? Nintendo's Wii revolutionalized gaming when it was released in 2006 around fitness and interactivity. A new generation of consoles are set to be previewed at Gamescom including Sony's PlayStation 5 and the new Microsoft Xbox (Scarlett). Both consoles are due for release next year. Industry observers suspect the age of the console is coming to an end, but the big manufacturers are still bullish.

Gamescom: Gaming giants too must adapt or die Immersion tools are all the rage The rise of smartphone gaming hasn't hurt the market for computers and monitors. Outside of North America, sales of gaming hardware grew 15% worldwide in the first half of 2019 compared to last year, according to the market research firm GfK. Curved monitors are the current must-have gadget for any serious gamer, as they help users to fully immerse themselves in the action.

Gamescom: Gaming giants too must adapt or die Digital sports taken seriously Germany's Olympic Sports Confederation has yet to recognize digital competitions as sports. But that hasn't harmed their protests. In Germany, e-sports grew revenues by 22% to €62.5 million last year, according to the consulting firm PwC. Another key source of income is sponsorship. Germany ranks fourth worldwide behind the USA, South Korea and China with its promotional earnings.

Gamescom: Gaming giants too must adapt or die No Gamescom without dressing up Cosplay (Costume Play) is of course a completely analogue hobby but nevertheless indispensable at every Gamescom. As in previous years, contests will be held for the best costumes. One popular trend from Japan is to try to emulate a character from a manga (comic), film or video game as true to the original as possible. Author: Josephine Schulz (mm)



German company Ravensburger reported in June that it outperformed the market, also as a result of investments made in the United States, where over the last two years it expanded by buying toy manufacturers Wonder Forge and ThinkFun.

"We are implementing our internationalization strategy. In recent years, we systematically expanded in the US. We made investments in the last years. Now we see the results," Katrin Seemann, press officer at Ravensburger, told DW.

Germany in the middle

"In Germany, board games have remained extremely popular owing to the historical connection of board game inventions and a large number of avid followers in the country for the same," elaborated Arizton Advisory & Intelligence, a market research firm.

Germany is one of the top markets, and the country hosting the biggest event in the sector.

"The Essen SpielFair is the biggest meeting point for game fans. This year there were over 210,000 visitors participating. Other famous fairs are the Cannes Games festival in February with more than 100,000 visitors, or the Gencon in Indiana with more than 70,000 visitors," Hermann Hutter, president of the German game publishers association Spieleverlage, told DW.

According to him, board games also have positive ramifications on social behavior. "Playing games can help to avoid conflicts and can train players to learn to lose or to be winners," according to Hutter.

A growing global market

"The board games market is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of over 10% during the period 2018-2024," Arizton Advisory & Intelligence told DW. It is expected to grow faster than the PC gaming market.

While everybody living in a big city in Europe sees commuters playing video games on public transport, board game addicts are less in the public eye — for now.

Yet board games, like books and vinyls, do provide solid evidence of a growing interest in the "real thing." After years of digitalization, classical forms of entertainment are coming back into vogue. Especially in Christmas, the social dimension of board games is likely to be an additional selling point.