Not alone here, but I’d say that living through a global pandemic is hard on your mental health. Extremely hard.

I set this blog up last year, and a corresponding podcast - If You Ain’t Farming You Ain’t Gaming, only for the weight of the pandemic to crash down on me, and so I clung on with my fingernails, but so far I’m hanging on.

Having people care about me and look after my wellbeing helped keep me above water, however without board games, I think myself and my wife would have had a much tougher time keeping our sanity.

During the spring and summer periods, and the lockdown that happened, we could get out of the house for walks and cycle rides, being very lucky that it doesn’t take long to get out of the city and into the proper countryside. Can’t do that in autumn (Fall!) or winter.

Again, I’m lucky I can work from home. I have a dedicated home office, so unlike many office workers using laptops in the kitchen or bedroom, I can work comfortably. However, my home office is also where I used to relax after work. It has my gaming PC, my consoles, and a big TV. Nearly a year of solid hard graft in this room almost ruined it for relaxation, as it became associated with work - it was no longer my space.

Board games, played in the dining room, or living room, got me out the home office. I’ve certainly played fewer video games than a usual year - I don’t think I’ve turned my Xbox on in six months. I played board games 250 times, and that isn’t counting online board games via BGA et al.

So I’d like to thank modern board games for keeping my wife and me as well as we can be during a pandemic. Back to work soon, so I have to keep hanging on a little longer. Hope is rising, and to all my readers, stay safe and keep on playing board games!