As a young adult looking back on a certain time period, I am reminded of what I loved most. Whether it be family vacations, road trips, sports, or hobbies, remembering my past usually leads me down a path of what brought me significant joy. When I think of my upbringing as the oldest sibling of three girls, I remember how often we played board games. These board games taught me important skills that I continue to use to this day including interpersonal skills, money management, healthy competitiveness, and strategy. Specifically, my favorite board games to play included Monopoly, Trouble, CandyLand, Connect4, Operation, and Twister. Although at first glance, these games don’t appear to be useful in the development and maturation of a child, I truly believe that without them, I wouldn’t have become as aware and social as I became due to my amusement when it came to playing with my siblings, friends, and my parents.

As technology became increasingly prevalent in both society and game design, my joy for games quickly transitioned from traditional board games to video games. For Christmas each year, I would beg and plead that Santa bring me a PS4, but never received one. You don’t need that, my parents would remark. So, my siblings and I attempted to convince them to buy us a Spongebob Squarepants Plug n’ Play TV game. With a simple connection via a port in our television, we would take turns completing individual player games which required minimal skill and concentration. Even then, we enjoyed our time taking turns playing to see who would get a better score so much so that we would sit in front of the TV for hours on end every weekend. Although at first glance it does not seem I would benefit from playing a simplistic Nickelodeon game via our television, some of my fondest memories stem from the time we shared, huddled next to one another, staring intently at the screen, waiting for our turn to beat one another. It truly allowed me to bond with my younger siblings whilst also allowing me to exercise creative strategy, patience, and accepting failure.

As I entered my teenage years, I was gifted a cell phone in exchange for good grades and good behavior. I was ecstatic as at the time, a cell phone was a rarity. Of course, the first thing I did was begin to download applications, games, and utilize my camera to truly make the most of my new technological device. The first game application I added to my phone was Angry Birds, followed by Temple Run, and then eventually, Candy Crush. All of these games were purely individual, so I could play on my own time at my own pace. Although I truly enjoyed these games, I yearned for the same feeling I once had when I played hands-on board games and interactive games with my siblings. Don’t get me wrong the addictive, can’t put it down mentality of mobile games was there, but I craved the same nostalgia I felt when I thought of the other games I would play as a young girl.

As stated in the book, “How To Play Video Games,” “mobile games achieve such ubiquity in part thanks to their gameplay and software accessibility…interaction with the game can occur throughout the day whether the player be at work, school, home, or on a commute” (219). The ease and accessibility of these mobile games promoted their use as I utilized each moment of ‘downtime’ to further myself in the games I had downloaded. But, the nostalgia and feeling I once had playing games with my siblings was not there.

Although these games required skill, repeated use, concentration, and self-competitiveness, I always look back on the games I used to play with my siblings as both special and meaningful. They hold a significantly fonder part of my memory due to their mark on my childhood and the precious time I spent utilizing these games as a social conjunction between one another.