Words by Chad Wilkinson
Popular Australian games range from Bärenpark to its local answer to Monopoly: Squatter
Join us again as we hop onboard the plane of investigative board game tourism, soaring north-west from the shores of New Zealand to Australia. Before this vast country’s colonisation, the indigenous Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander inhabitants of Australia engaged in numerous agility, dexterity and strength games. Despite the physicality of these games, the inclusive and often non-competitive nature of many of them shares similarities with modern co-operative games. Furthermore, the emphasis on group engagement over elimination in games such as the hacky sack-like mer kai and spinning top game bunbuja is a design aspect seen in the majority of games released today.