For a moment there, it looked almost as though modern society had killed the humble board game. After all, how could the likes of Monopoly and Cluedo compare to newsfeed scrolling on Facebook, battling your friends online in a game of FIFA, or unlimited Netflix binging?

But, well, let’s not get ahead of ourselves. In the era of self-isolation, many of us are remembering that the chance to spend time with other people, to sit around the kitchen table with our households, is a treat.

As I flick through board games on Argos’ website, I’m told that over 100 people have bought Cluedo in the past 24 hours, while over 100 people are just looking at Monopoly, presumably pondering whether, if they started now, coronavirus or a game of that would end soonest.

Board games are just the thing to bring households together, distract us from our worries, and they may even be good for our health. That’s according to a recent University of Edinburgh study, which found people who played lots of board games tended to have stronger thinking skills in their old age than those who didn’t.

So, if you want to get into boardgames, where do you begin?

Best classic board games

“It's a good time to be creative because some games manufacturers aren't bringing out many new games this year,” explains Peter Jenkinson, board game expert and founder of Toyology. This year he’s expecting more updates of classic titles than anything new, but it might be worth searching on eBay instead of buying new. “The classics are always better in their original format,” he says.

However, for added fun you can mash-up old games to find clever ways of putting them together. “It isn't as challenging as you might think. Maybe when you're playing Scrabble, once you get 20 points then it's your turn to sink a battleship or something? It's not that geeky, it's quite a fun thing to do.”

Here are Jenkinson’s top recommendations for the classics...

Monopoly

£20, Argos