In no other universe would one be able to buy a house in Park Avenue, own a railroad company, win the lottery and then, proceed to lose it all at the next roll of the dice. And it’s a fantasy world indeed where you can lead some of the world’s leading detectives on a wild goose chase around Kensington Gardens, Waterloo Station and the Fulton Fish Market. But that’s the great thing about Monopoly, The Game of Life and Scotland Yard — they let us live our lives vicariously; so what if it’s with the help of plastic tokens and a large gaming board?

It’s usually the wet weather that brings out the board game enthusiast in all of us. Stuck indoors, one of the few pleasures from our childhood which carry over into the adult world is that of board games. Almost everyone has a favourite board game and some fond memories of bonding and fighting over games like Scrabble, Pictionary and Business. TV personality and self-confessed board game addict Roshan Abbas recalls rainy days spent indoors, squabbling with friends like Maria Goretti, Arshad Warsi, Mini Mathur and Cyrus Sahukar over a game of Boggle. “It’s a great excuse to get people together, especially on gloomy, overcast days. And playing games like Pass the Bomb, which has husbands and wives questioning each other always have such unexpected and hilarious results.” Abbas’s friend and fellow gamer Goretti, confesses that she loves Taboo so much that she’s even taken it to parties. “Taboo and Trivial Pursuit are eternal party favourites with us. Playing is not just a pleasure in itself; it ensures that everyone gets involved and is thus a great conversation starter as well.”

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