Most Popular Board Games During COVID-19

During the prevailing lockdown, gaming has been prevalent all over the world as people are locked at home and have spare time to play. Here are Most Popular Board Games During COVID-19 to play.

This has promoted and increased the different types of gaming habits of most people all over the world. Google data indicates that board games are quite popular among worldwide players. An increasing number of people are searching for board games to pass time in this pandemic.

More Spare time today

The fact is different countries have been searching most as they pass the time during this extended time at home with a house and flatmates and friends and family, as never before. People have been looking for new ways to spend time at home more than they have ever had, or expected to have over the last month or two.

Technology, like Zoom amongst other has helped people stay in touch and remain connected with their friends and near and dear ones. Interestingly, there has also been a massive increase in the popularity of good traditional board games as per google.

Google Trend

According to data from Google Trends, the term ‘board game’ is one of the Most Popular Board Games During COVID-19 to play. It was searched more often on Google in March 2020 than in any other month as per records starting way back in 2004, excluding the occasional run-up to Christmas, when present-buying, board games, nostalgia and what to do with very distant relatives is a pressing concern for several people. This spike in search volume in March is almost double that what it was in February before most countries went into lockdown.

Which Traditional Board Game is Trendiest?

As per research, the board game Pandemic received the most search, which requires players to eliminate diseases that have broken out in different parts of the world, in recent months. As per Google Keyword Planner, the term ‘Pandemic board game’ received more than 245,000 global searches via Google in March, which is double the number of searches made for ‘Risk board game,’ which stands second with 90,000 searches. The only time that Pandemic (the board game) has received even a third of that amount of searches was in 2009 when the world was facing the Swine Flu pandemic.

Which Board Games Are The Most Popular?

While Pandemic has experienced the biggest spike in global searches via Google, it is those traditional, popular old board games like Scrabble, Monopoly, and Ludo that remain the most popular board games throughout lockdown. This displays the power of nostalgia in times of desperation and upheaval. Google trends reveal that Scrabble is the most-searched-for game online. This is particularly popular in French-speaking countries. French-speaking islands Martinique and Reunion searched it the most, which is followed by France, Senegal, and Canada.

Francophone Scrabble

It French alternative is ‘Francophone Scrabble’ of the game and likely accounts for those results.

In the last 14 years of the French Scrabble Championships, seven different nationalities have been declared as the winner, which have included Senegalese, Congolese, and Ivorian nationals, so its appeal is far and wide. Also, Monopoly is a favorite across Asia and Europe for many decades and amongst so many families, came in at second in terms of its global popularity, which is dramatic considering the game has been reproduced in 103 countries in 37 different languages.

There are pop-culture versions, modernized versions, football club versions, and several others, which means that this family favorite of Monopoly is highly unlikely to ever grow old or go stale within families.

Ludo

The third most popular board game is Ludo, which was the third-most-popular of the three leading board games worldwide according to Google data. Ludo originates from Pachisi, an Indian game that has its origins in the sixth century. It, therefore, makes sense that, per capita, 16 of the 17 cities that searched for Ludo online in Asia, including 15 in India. According to Google Keyword Planner, searches for ‘Ludo board game’ increased from 1,300 to 6,600 in India from February to March, a rise of more than 400 percent during the COVID-19 lockdown.

Which Countries Have Searched For Board Games Most Often?

The most popular board games in March were invented by English speakers. It, it should come as little surprise that they are most popular in English-speaking nations. According to Google Trends data, the UK, Canada, Australia, and many other smaller English-speaking regions were all among the top 10 searchers of ‘board game’ in March, per capita. No country, however, has dominated the search numbers as the USA has done. The USA alone accounted for more than 50 percent of total worldwide searches for ‘Pandemic board game’ in March and were responsible for over 40 percent of searches globally for ‘board game’.

The Game of Life

This all, therefore, explains why, according to Google’s Keyword Planner; board games were both amongst the 10 most widely-searched, even though they are rarely played elsewhere. Life, commonly known and marketed as The Game of Life; imitates a person’s life, from childhood through to adulthood, talk about school, college, marriage, and retirement. It saw 78.7% of its 40,500 searches in March come alone from the USA.

Sorry was also one of the Most Popular Board Games During COVID-19 to play. It is yet another board game first published in the UK in 1929, and rose to prominence across the Atlantic, with the US accounting for 61.3 percent of its 40,500 searches in March.

Board Games Vs Other Forms of Entertainment

In this pandemic, board games are becoming so popular during lockdown that, in some countries, more people are searching for them on Google than for Xbox or PS4 games. The fact is in March, the board game received 80 percent of them in Canada and 79 percent of them in France and the USA. Regardless of how popular the likes of Fifa, Call of Duty, and other video games prove year after year, data does indicate that human emotion and our relation to nostalgia are just stronger for the likes of Microsoft, Sony, EA Sports, and others to overtake.

Ludo is most popular in certain parts of Asia

For Ludo and FIFA received Sixty-eight percent of the combined Google searches in March were for the board game in India, with 59 percent of them going the same way in Pakistan. After unlocking around the world, possibly the surge in popularity for board games might slow down. But it’s clear that in difficult times, people around the world have found comfort and entertainment in the gameplay of these traditional forms of entertainment.