Best Cities For Board Gamers
Best Cities for Board Gamers - New Study Reveals Salt Lake City #1
Do you like playing board games? The folks in Salt Lake City sure do. Salt Lake City, Utah takes the #1 spot in the new Best Cities for Board Gamers study by BestPlaces. Austin, Texas and Portland, Oregon follow at #2 and #3.
With mega-selling games like Settlers of Catan and Pandemic being played in living rooms, dorms, and bars across America, board games have seen a huge uptick in popularity over the last few years.
Of the 50 largest metro areas, the Best Cities for Board Gamers are:
The $3 billion global board game market is expected to increase to $8 billion by 2021. The data team at BestPlaces.net calculated each metro area�s Board Gamer Score based on board game interest and sales from the MRI-Simmons Survey of the American Consumer and the Doublebase consumer preference surveys.
Rounding out the top 10 are Minneapolis, Raleigh, NC, Seattle, Denver, Providence, Cincinnati, and Columbus.
While it might seem that our reliance on the internet would cause people to neglect these sometimes bulky cardboard and plastic creations, many board game experts credit online availability, reviews, instruction videos, and user recommendations as a reason for the recent surge in board game popularity. In short, the internet has actually helped the popularity of board games rather than hurt it.
BestPlaces produces a board game that allows players to move around the U.S. completing fun adventures while finding their own best place to live. You can purchase the game here.
Board games are usually played indoors, and it appears there is a correlation between the Best Cities for Board Gamers and areas with colder, rainier, and snowier weather.
In fact, several of the Best Cities for Board Gamers also appear on the Top Hygge Cities study.
The Danish concept of �Hygge� means making the most of these times of year by being cozy and engaging in activities that elevate mood - such as reading books, lighting candles, and playing board games with friends and family. Cities that made the top ten in both lists include Salt Lake City, Seattle, Portland, Minneapolis, and Denver. For more on �Hygge� check out the BestPlaces list of Top Hygge Cities.
Cited article: https://mykindofmeeple.com/why-are-board-games-popular/
Here is the full 50-city ranking of Best Cities for Board Gamers:
Rank | Metro Area | Board Gamer Score | |
1. | Salt Lake City UT | 115.2 | |
2. | Austin-Round Rock | 111.9 | |
3. | Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro OR | 111.1 | |
4 | Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington MN | 110.7 | |
5. | Raleigh NC | 110.6 | |
6. | Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue WA | 110.1 | |
7. | Denver-Aurora-Lakewood CO | 109.9 | |
8. | Providence-Warwick RI | 108.9 | |
9. | Cincinnati OH | 107.7 | |
10. | Columbus OH | 107.5 | |
11. | Boston-Cambridge-Newton MA | 106.6 | |
12. | Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford CT | 106.0 | |
13. | Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale AZ | 105.8 | |
14. | Kansas City MO-KS | 105.7 | |
15. | Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford FL | 105.4 | |
16. | San Diego-Carlsbad CA | 105.3 | |
17. | Milwaukee-Waukesha-West Allis WI | 105.2 | |
18. | Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin TN | 105.2 | |
19. | Sacramento--Roseville--Arden-Arcade CA | 105.0 | |
20. | Washington-Arlington-Alexandria DC-VA-MD-WV | 105.0 | |
21. | Oklahoma City OK | 104.6 | |
22. | Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington TX | 104.2 | |
23. | Louisville/Jefferson County KY-IN | 103.8 | |
24. | Las Vegas-Henderson-Paradise NV | 103.8 | |
25. | Indianapolis-Carmel-Anderson IN | 103.4 | |
26. | Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia NC-SC | 103.3 | |
27. | Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater FL | 102.8 | |
28. | Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell GA | 102.3 | |
29. | Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington PA-NJ-DE-MD | 102.3 | |
30. | Cleveland-Elyria OH | 102.2 | |
31. | Chicago-Naperville-Elgin IL-IN-WI | 102.2 | |
32. | St. Louis MO-IL | 102.1 | |
33. | Jacksonville FL | 101.3 | |
34. | Pittsburgh PA | 100.8 | |
35. | Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach FL | 100.7 | |
36. | Tucson AZ | 100.5 | |
37. | Rochester NY | 100.4 | |
38. | Baltimore-Columbia-Towson MD | 100.3 | |
39. | Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News VA-NC | 99.9 | |
40. | Detroit-Warren-Dearborn MI | 99.8 | |
41. | Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land TX | 99.7 | |
42. | San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward CA | 98.8 | |
43. | Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim CA | 97.9 | |
44. | Richmond VA | 97.5 | |
45. | New Orleans-Metairie LA | 97.4 | |
46. | San Antonio-New Braunfels TX | 97.0 | |
47. | Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario CA | 96.9 | |
48. | San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara CA | 96.0 | |
49. | New York-Newark-Jersey City NY-NJ-PA | 95.4 | |
50. | Memphis TN-MS-AR | 92.0 | |