Undas. That quiet window of reflection when we pause, visit the graves of those who came before us, and inevitably start thinking about the passage of time. Sitting there during the break, my mind wandered away from the usual holiday routines and drifted toward a very specific question: What kind of life do I actually want to have when I grow old?
Like many people, my friends and I have joked about this over our regular gaming sessions. While talking with my D&D group—Lanz, Niccolo, Dan, Angela, Paul, Cholo, Nikka, and Ian—we laughed about how older generations nowadays usually gather around Bingo halls. But we looked at each other and said, "When we are old and gray, we are going to be sitting around tables playing Dungeons & Dragons, board games, and Magic: The Gathering." That is a comforting thought. It paints a picture of golden years spent laughing, rolling dice, and staying mentally sharp together.
That personal reflection happened to collide with an episode of Simon Sinek's podcast featuring gerontologist Dr. Kerry Burnight, who studies how we age. Listening to their conversation about the quality of our later years completely shifted how I view community, friendship, and yes, even board games.
The Longevity Trap Versus the Joy Span
Lately, it feels like the world is completely obsessed with longevity. Everywhere you look, people are talking about cold plunges, expensive supplements, VO2 max tracking, and biohacking. Longevity has turned into a full-on industry, complete with a competitive scoreboard. People want to look younger, live longer, and outlast everyone else.
The irony is that many of these longevity maxers do not look particularly happy. They are stressed, constantly measuring metrics, and treating aging like a strategy euro game they have to win.
Dr. Burnight brings up a brilliant counter-perspective. If we are going to put all this work into living a long time, what are those extra years actually for? She breaks down our lives into three distinct spans:
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Lifespan: How many years we live.
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Health span: How long our bodies and minds stay healthy and functional.
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Joy span: Whether we are actually enjoying the life we have.
Too often, society treats aging as a decline. We buy into the narrative that getting older means becoming irrelevant, isolated, or grumpy. But Dr. Burnight points out that studies show people who embrace growing older, rather than dreading it, actually live an average of 7.5 years longer. More importantly, they enjoy those years immensely more.
She introduces four daily practices that keep our later years vibrant: growing, connecting, adapting, and giving. When you look at those four pillars, you realize something wonderful: a regular board game night checks every single box.
Why Adulthood Makes Friendship Hard (And How Board Games Fix It)
Let us be real: making friends as an adult is tough. :(
When we were kids or students, friendship was easy. We were shoved into a classroom together every single day, forced to experience the exact same challenges, tests, and triumphs. Proximity did the heavy lifting.
As working adults, the landscape changes drastically. Between the rising cost of living, exhausting commutes, and the simple wear and tear of daily responsibilities, scheduling a simple weekend hangout feels like planning a summit meeting. To make matters worse, it is so easy to fall into the trap of "protecting your peace", a modern buzzword that sometimes translates to isolating yourself from the wonderful, messy reality of human connection.
This is where a board game community becomes an absolute game-changer.
When you join a regular board gaming group, you create a built-in structure for making and keeping friends. You do not have to endure awkward small talk about the weather because you are all focused on a shared challenge. Because most modern board games introduce fresh mechanics, components, and rules, there is always a novel element keeping everyone engaged.
In our Mandaluyong board game group, we make it a point to start every session with a quick kamustahan and an icebreaker question before diving into the game. Those little rituals act like seeds. Over time, they blossom into a resilient community: a group of people you know you can lean on, and a place you can turn to when you are older.
Gentle Play and the Rise of Mahjong
One of the best things about board gaming is how accessible and gentle it is. You do not need to run marathons or lift heavy weights to enjoy a great tabletop session. Unless you are playing high-energy party games like Taco Cat Goat Cheese Pizza or Throw Throw Burrito, most tabletop experiences are completely welcoming to older adults. Your lolos and lolas can sit down at the table and play right alongside you.
We are already seeing a massive cultural shift in how newer generations gather. Take Mahjong, for example. There is a huge surge in its popularity right now, and for good reason. Mahjong strikes the perfect balance: it is strategic enough to keep your mind sharp, but relaxed enough that you can comfortably chat, share stories, and gossip with your friends.
Growing up, I watched my titas spend hours gathered around Mahjong tiles. But the truth is, Mahjong is just a vehicle, and that vehicle can easily be replaced by any great modern board game.
Just recently at our Shangri-La store, I watched a group of older women playing Harmonies. Most of them already knew how to play, but one of them (Tita Becky) was entirely new to the table. Watching the rest of the group patiently guide Tita Becky through her first turns was pure magic. It was warm, supportive, and deeply human. Seeing them connect over placement tiles made me instantly picture my own titas diving into games like that.
Purpose > Happiness
Back to the podcast insights: Dr. Burnight and Simon Sinek touch on a crucial truth about what makes life fulfilling. Joy and happiness are wonderful, but they are usually the downstream effects of having a deeper purpose and making a difference in the world.
Happiness should never be the final end game. In fact, some of our most meaningful moments happen when we are doing hard, purposeful work and feeling zero immediate joy. Building a community, showing up for friends when life gets difficult, and learning new rules together takes effort. Friendship requires the "verb of friending", choosing each other actively, week after week.
When older adults play board games, they are exercising their minds, practicing cooperative problem-solving, and staying socially active. They are engaging in Dr. Burnight's pillars: they are growing by learning new mechanics, connecting over the table, adapting to changing board states, and giving their time and attention to the people sitting next to them.
3 Fantastic Board Games to Play With Your Grandparents
If you are looking to start a tabletop tradition with your grandparents or older titos and titas, here are three gentle, engaging, and highly strategic board games that hit the sweet spot between easy learning curves and meaningful choices.
Harmonies lets players draft vibrant tactile tokens to construct scenic landscapes and animal habitats, balancing deep spatial puzzle strategy with a relaxing, conversational atmosphere.
Ticket to Ride is a beloved gateway title where players collect matching train car cards to claim railway routes across the map, offering straightforward rules paired with high-tension tactical decisions.
Splendor features heavy, satisfying gem chips that players collect to acquire development cards and attract nobles, creating an intuitive engine-building race to 15 prestige points without complicated text rules.
Building Your Own Table for the Future
When we get older, we want a life filled with laughter, great stories, and deep human bonds. We do not want to be isolated. We want a community that sees us, values us, and welcomes us to the table.
Board games give us a powerful framework to build that future right now. Whether you are teaching your grandparents how to play a relaxing tile-placement game, gathering your friends for a weekly campaign, or sharing a table with new acquaintances at your local hobby shop, you are investing in your joy span.
So, let us change the script on aging. Let us trade in the idea of passive waiting for active, joyful community building. Grab a box, call up your favorite people, and let us grow with age: one game night at a time.
About Gaming Library
Gaming Library aims to be the go-to resource for board games, providing not only titles that can be enjoyed by families, but also to be enjoyed by friends both newcomers and veterans alike. By pulling from different resources from all over the world, we at Gaming Library curate an impressive collection of games for consumers to choose from, suitable for anybody from casual players to hardcore hobbyists. In doing so, we hope to provide the best means to foster activities that strengthen family ties and friendships, while teaching relevant skills and practical critical thinking that can be applied to your everyday life.
