“Board games best for school-age kids”
One thing I’ve learned while exploring the Google newspaper archives is that you can’t always find what you’re looking for . . . until you accidentally find what you want. I’ve run a few different searches for articles and ads about the Stratego game (Amazon.com search*), but it was while exploring a completely different rabbit hole that I found this 1981 newspaper article in which Consumer Reports suggests that games are a great gift for kids.
“An ideal present for young school-age children should have several qualities. Its playing pieces should not be the same color as the living room rug. It should be cheap (less than $10), quiet, use no batteries and never wear out.”
While I’m sure that some would agree with these 30+-year-old statements, the specific needs of today probably don’t align perfectly with 1981’s requirements. Still, as someone who makes a living working on board and card games I have to completely agree with the article’s next paragraph:
“Such gifts exist. They’re board games, and Consumer Reports played Santa’s helper to find out which ones kids like best.”
The article then goes on to list several games that are likely still the ones that would be named if kids were asked today about board and card games. Actually, that makes me wish that someone would go out and run this same survey again. Would today’s results mirror those of 1981, or would kids select a different batch of board and card games?
Related articles
- 1997 Stratego Advertisement from Boys’ Life (battlegrip.com)
- I Need to Find the Stratego Battle Cards Game (battlegrip.com)
- You Need to Watch the Patch Products Stratego Sci-Fi Commercial (battlegrip.com)