When was the last time you played Monopoly? Clue? Risk? I mean a true board game, not a digital board game, not a video game. Odds are, it has been quite awhile. People in the modern world are obsessed with technology used for entertainment. You could not sit at a lunch table full of high school students without hearing about a new Snapchat update, the latest video game, or Twitter fight. I am normally one of those high schoolers, but recently, I have become a huge fan of a blast from the past; board games. It all started the weekend before Christmas, when it snowed almost a foot. A group of friends and I decided to play The Game of Life. After this, we played Clue, Balderdash, and many more. It became an addiction for me. All I wanted to do for weeks was play board games. This is coming from a kid who loves technology. I have an iPhone, a Xbox one, a Xbox 360, and a very comfy man cave. However, it is so refreshing to play board games that I haven’t played since I was little. Board games should not go out of style after the age of eight. They can be a great way to have fun with friends because it takes strategy. It also removes you from a technology-ruled world. Board games are a great way to have fun with friends. They offer so many opportunities because they are not confined to a code like phones or video games are, You can make your own rules! Getting to choose our own rules makes it all the more fun. For example, last time I played Monopoly, my friends and I turned it more into a game of who could embezzle more money from our incompetent banker. It just turned into a laughing stock of a game where everyone (except the banker) had a good time. Unlike a lot of mindless electronic games of our time, many board games take a lot of strategy. Whether it is a complicated game like Clue or Monopoly, or a lighthearted game like Balderdash or Cards Against Humanity, players have to learn to manipulate the game and the other players to get an edge. Many board games are very thought provoking, and playing them is a good way to exercise your mind. Finally, it takes technology away for a while. Many of you are like me and spend a LOT of time in front of a screen. According to Forbes, a majority of all teens and tweens spend more than nine hours a day in front of a screen. Board games can help solve this problem. Put your phones away and take out the board games. Now if I inspired even one of you to go out and play a board game, this was all worth it. Go have fun with your friends, learn a thing or two, use your mind, put those sacred screens away, and play a board game.