Getting board of social media

Playing traditional games can provide a welcome break from all that doom-scrolling on your phone

- SUSAN LEE

THE other evening, buoyed up with bonhomie and the last of the Christmas cake, I played a board game with friends. Twice.

and I don't play board games. I just about tolerated Buckaroo Operation when the kids were little and I can vaguely recall an afternoon of Twister when they were teens but other than that, no.

We have never been a games family and I am certainly not a gaming adult, preferring the much less silly option of chatting and drinking wine.

But after a robust round of LINKEE followed by a run at Mexican Train (I won neither but it's the taking part that matters, apparently), I am a convert.

The reason? It kept my fingers and my eyes and my brain away from my phone.