Que sait-on des jeux de société « modernes » ?

Abstract

This article introduces issue n° 14 of the journal Sciences du jeu by outlining the state of knowledge on board games in the fields of humanities and social sciences. The text first analyzes statistical data from public surveys spanning 60 years. Starting in the early 1980s, it highlights how one can observe an increase in practices, a diversification of the games offered and a transformation of the public, resulting particularly in a feminization of uses. We next examine research on board games, highlighting two distinct perspectives. A first set of studies looks at board games as an indicator of ongoing social and demographic transformations. More recently, a second research movement makes board games the central object of analysis in order to understand their specific mechanisms in terms of engagement, experience and learning. The article ends with a presentation of the papers of this issue.

Keywords

• board game
• sociology of practices
• evolution of audiences