My World: Oh how games have changed...

We now seem to be hooked to our phones and tablets worried about paying for extra lives so we can continue in our quest.

Let me put it this way, when I was a kid and I was playing board games with my grandma on a Sunday afternoon, I didn’t have to pay for extra lives, I didn’t have to pay to unlock a level and I certainly didn’t have to pay after a free trial had finished.

Imagine the scene as me and other family members sat around my grandma’s dining table playing Ker-Plunk, when after 60 days had expired the game vanished into thin air.

Once you bought the game, that was it, years of enjoyment ensued.

But that’s exactly how it has changed. The charge doesn’t come in actually buying the game; the companies are very good at giving you a taste for free, then hitting you with the charges.

But with internet savvy youngsters growing up into young adults, this will be the norm.

Do any families sit around and play board games anymore, or is it now classed as old-fashioned?

Some of my best childhood memories relate to Christmas time Twister (not strictly a board game, I know) with the family and fierce competitiveness with my older brother around a Monopoly board.

We used to have a game called Labyrinth, which was loosely based on the film starring David Bowie, and that filled hours of our time.

There was the Game of Life too, that took me some getting used to but once I was there I couldn’t stop playing it.

It was interactive, it was sociable and it was great entertainment. I’m not saying that the Candy Crush’s of this world aren’t entertaining; I’m simply asking are they as enjoyable as board games?

What was your favourite board game growing up? Do you pay to play the app style game on your mobile phone?

Let me know what you think by commenting on this story, or by tweeting @josephcawthorn