The number of Baby Boomers playing games has increased by 32 percent since 2018, according to a fresh report by the Global Web Index (GWI). Specifically, researchers found the puzzle/platform genre to be a favorite among this age group, with 27 percent of gamer Boomers playing these games.
24 percent play shooters and 22 percent play adventure/open-world games, the report noted.
Interestingly, researchers found that 32 percent of Gen Xers and Baby Boomers who are active online play video games every day. By comparison, 37 percent of Gen Zers and Millennials play video games on a daily basis.
Additionally, almost one in four grandparents and parents said they consider playing games, both traditional and online, to be a great way to spend family time.
Why Are More Baby Boomers Playing Games?
There are a number of contributing factors to the increase in the number of Baby Boomers playing video games. Firstly, the COVID-19 pandemic and the resultant lockdowns have resulted in an increase in gaming across all generations and demographics, due to people being stuck at home.
Another reason for the increase in gaming among Boomers, in particular, is a number of games being released with the primary goal of helping families bond and spend time together.
OK Boomer
If you’re a Baby Boomer and are looking for a more traditional, non-video game to play with your family, OK Boomer is just the game you’re looking for. It’s a trivia game designed to give all family members a level playing field, with its decks split into 5 different generations, namely: Gen Z, Millennial, Gen X, Baby Boomer, & The Silent Generation. To win, a player needs to correctly answer a question from each of the 5 decks.
Furthermore, there are 3 different game modes to keep things fresh and ensure no one gets bored after a few rounds. OK Boomer was developed by the Spisaks from Central, Pennsylvania – a family who love to play board games together and decided to create this game to bridge the generational gap in more traditional trivia games.
Specifically, they decided to make the game after they were unsatisfied with classic trivia games when the family was together in Christmas 2019. They then began working on the content for the game, built a working prototype and launched a successful Kickstarter campaign to fund the launch of the game.
A Quick Summary
- The number of Baby Boomers playing games has increased by 32 percent since 2018.
- The puzzle/platform genre is a favorite among this generation, with 27 percent of gamer Boomers playing these games.
- 32 percent of Gen Xers and Baby Boomers who use the internet play video games every day – just a few percent less than the percentage of Gen Zers and Millennials who play video games on a daily basis.
- There are many reasons for the increase in the number of Boomers playing games, including the COVID-19 pandemic and the release of games aimed at older players.
- OK Boomer is a great game for Boomers to play with their families.
- It is a trivia game with a twist: it features five different decks for each generation and aims to level the playing field by having questions that younger players are likely to know the answers to.
- It costs $34.99 and was created by a family from Central, Pennsylvania who wanted to create a better trivia game for family members to play together.