GAME ON?
During the pandemic, board games
became an entertainment lifeline
for people stuck at home. Demand
for them is still high. But now, the
industry is feeling the effects of a
global shipping crisis. And this
crisis is hitting some companies
hard.
Board games sold in the United
States are often made in other coun-
tries. Prices have skyrocketed for
shipping containers and the space
on ships needed to get products to
the U.S. People are buying games,
but there’s no way to get the games
to customers, Maggie Clayton says.
She’s director of sales and market-
ing for a company called Greater
than Games.
“We’ve had a container of
our most popular game sitting in
China since May,” she tells TIME.
“We’re in this weird situation
where there’s high demand for our
products because of the increase in
people playing games during the6
Board-game sales have gone up during the pandemic.
But a shipping crisis could hurt the game industry.pandemic. But we just can’t get the
product over here.”STATE OF PLAY
The value of the global games and
puzzles market increased by nearly
$1 billion in 2020, according to one
research company. Hasbro is the
company behind such classic games
as Monopoly and Clue. It reported a
game-sales jump of more than 20%
last year.
Anne-Marie De Witt is the CEO
at Fireside Games. Its most popular
product is Castle Panic. Last year,
sales of that game jumped by around
20%. Then the shipping crisis hit.
“We started hearing about ship-
ping prices rising and rising,” says De
Witt. Before the pandemic, she says,
it cost about $5,000 to ship games in
a 20-foot container. Now, she’s heard
about companies paying $40,
for a container of the same size.
At Greater than Games, the most
popular product is called SpiritIsland. The company has raised the
price of this game by around $10 to
cover rising shipping costs. People
have been willing to pay more for it.
But Clayton is not so sure they’ll pay
more for smaller games. “It’s going
to be a tougher sell to convince
people that a game that feels like it
should be $20 is really worth $30,”
she says.
“It’s a business decision—and
not even one that we want to be
making,” Clayton says about the
price increases. “It seems like a big,
far-off thing when you say ‘global
shipping crisis.’ But all industries
are being affected by this in some
way, shape, or form.”
— By Megan McCluskey for TIME,
adapted by TFK editors“I got it: 3 x 7 - 1 = 20!” This is what I called out while playing a card game called
Proof! I had grabbed four of the nine cards lying on the couch. Each card has a num-
ber on it. The first person to spot a math relationship wins the cards. Proof! is one
of my family’s favorite boredom busters during COVID stay-home days.
The pandemic hit many families hard. Suddenly, we became stuck in our houses.
Families like mine had to cure their newfound boredom. So they turned to games like
Proof! and The World Game. These interactive games are both fun and educational.
My family loves Proof! because the game is simple yet interesting, and it sharpens our
math knowledge. Playing card and board games also creates joyful family memories,
even if these are of fierce battles for victory. —By TFK Kid Reporter Ethan Zhanglifelinenoun: something essential
for the preservation of life
skyrocketverb: to increase sud-
denly and quicklyTIME FOR KIDS October 29, 2021