The Alluring and Secret World of Strategy Games BY LISA RABASCA ROEPE / 59 / Mark Pincus among its aficionados. Indeed, the Washington Post called it “a necessary social skill among entrepreneurs and venture capitalists.” Hoffman and Pincus will play Catan—which involves deploying any means necessary to acquire material wealth, and therefore social capital—with potential hires to assess their ability to make quick decisions and manage resources. “You’re able to take what you do from nine to five, where you’re thinking about the order of operations and how to set yourself up for success, and apply it in a playful way,” says Shelby Ring, chief executive Game of Ruby Riot Creatives, a destination wedding vid- , the founder of DailyPest, a eography company in Charleston, South Carolina. Andrew Cunningham Ring plays Catan with coworkers and vendors, A breakdown of the three most pest-control service based in State College, Pennsylvania, often wears saying, “It lets me see how they run their business, Room popular strategy games. Because a pin on the lapel of his jacket. The accessory represents a 20-sided die how their minds work, and how they troubleshoot.” you never know when a potential While interest in strategic board games has and glints as a beacon to others in the know. When Cunningham showed up to an employer might break one out in an risen steadily over the last five years, it got an interview. important business meeting several years ago to pitch his company’s services to added boost as people searched for entertainment while sheltering in place, Nara says. Catan saw a large real estate group, he was wearing the pin. A senior member of the board sales shoot up 144 percent in the first five months pointed it out. “For a split second, I thought it was a mistake to wear,” Cunningham of 2020. Then, of course, there was the morbid Dungeons & Dragons Set in a medieval fantasy world, the vexing says. As it turned out, the exec was a fellow gamer, and DailyPest now holds allure of another ominously named strategy game. Pandemic, created in 2004 after the SARS dungeon master assigns players duties and enticements (sound familiar, managers?). Players contracts to service eight shopping malls. epidemic, is premised on working together as a conceive their own characters, then collaborate to group to prevent viral outbreaks from proliferating tackle the dungeon master’s plot twists. into global pandemics. Pandemic and D&D, unlike Polyhedral dice will be familiar to anyone who For his part, Cunningham, 33, learned to play Catan, are cooperative efforts, where failure or plays Dungeons & Dragons, one of a handful of as a teenager. “What appeals to me about the game success happens as a team. The antagonist is what Pandemic enormously popular strategy games, which also is part nostalgia—but also the strategic nature and unfolds on the board, not the other players. Humans unite in the battle to prevent outbreaks include Catan and Pandemic. While the lockdown creative outlet it offers,” he says. Still, he kept his So why play a game of strategy when the vicis- from metastasizing into global pandemics, testing era of COVID boosted their mass appeal, top interest in fantastical worlds on the DL early in situdes of running a company provide plenty of their guile in a variety of occupational posts— minds like comedian Stephen Colbert and writer his career, unsure whether it would diminish his plotting, networking, and dice rolling? Flynn medic, scientist, contingency planner, etc. Ta-Nehisi Coates were already longtime enthusi- credibility. Now, though, he prominently displays Zaiger, chief executive of Online Optimism, a asts. Estimates say some 13.7 million escape the a D&D calendar in his office and plays with other New Orleans digital marketing and design agency, Catan confines of reality through these adult pursuits in heads of companies. says it’s because leadership doesn’t come with a Players, a.k.a. settlers, employ a variety of tactics make-believe. “They’re mentally challenging,” says Cunningham isn’t the only one waving a flag. rulebook. And sometimes, “when you’re an execu- and bargaining skills to amass resources and build Bill Nara, director of the Chess and Strategy Game Catan, one of the best-selling games of all time, tive, you don’t necessarily know what the right step the physical infrastructure of new settlements. Association. “The conclusions aren’t predeter- counts Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, is to win. With a board game, there can often be a Win by amassing the most resources and building mined, and there are many paths to success.” LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman, and Zynga CEO clear, satisfying path to victory,” he says. 1 the largest army. / 60 / / 61 /.