Scrabble: A Night on the Tiles

Made for Play: Board Games and Modern Industry

January 2013 •English

Jettingen Germany is home to Ludo Fact, one of the world's largest manufacturers of board and card games. This documentary shows how a board game makes the leap from an idea to your table. You'll see every aspect of the manufacturing process: the technology and machines, the many detailed steps, and the hundreds of people that are involved in the production of a single game. Mostly, we hope the film gives you a greater appreciation of the time, effort and investment that goes into every quality board game that makes it to the marketplace and your home. The business of fun requires a lot of hard work!

Ruthless: Monopoly's Secret History

February 2023 •English

America’s favorite board game, Monopoly, is a love letter to unbridled capitalism and the impulses that make our free-market society tick. Contrary to the folksy legend spread by Parker Brothers, Monopoly’s origin involves a radical feminist and a community of Quakers in Atlantic City. If not for the determination of an economics professor and impassioned anti-monopolist, the real story behind the creation of the game might never have come to light.

Scrabylon

January 2003 •English

Scrabylon is an award-winning, critically-acclaimed documentary on the cut throat world of tournament SCRABBLE®.

Word Wars

May 2004 •English

The classic board game, Scrabble, has been popular for decades. In addition, there are fanatics who devote heart and soul to this game to the expense of everything else. This film profiles a group of these enthusiasts as they converge for a Scrabble convention where the word game is almost a bloodsport.

Who Did It? The Story Behind the Clue VCR Mystery Game

November 2013 •English

A documentary about the makings of two Parker Brothers VHS games - 'Clue VCR Mystery Game' and 'Clue II: Murder in Disguise'.

Friendly Local Game Store

April 2022 •English

The unlikely story of the world’s largest game store – The Sentry Box – located in Calgary. Communities are not just bound by borders – they are often comprised of people with shared passions. A friendly local game store (FLGS) is a unique place where people can connect with each other, create memories, and build community. Celebrating over 40 years of operation, the Sentry Box in Calgary, Alberta has grown to become the world’s largest game store. It has achieved this incredible milestone by being an inviting and welcoming space for people of all backgrounds to enjoy table top games, such as Dungeons and Dragons. The documentary from CUFF alumnus and Calgarian Garry Snow shares the unique history of the Sentry Box by interviewing the owner, long-time customers, current and former employees, and local industry influencers who have all been connected by the friendly local game store.

Über Goober

June 2004 •English

Über Goober focuses on the often-misunderstood, sometimes-controversial, and always-kind-of-geeky world of Gamers. Director Steve Metze examines several different groups including historical miniature gamers, role-players, and those known simply as "LARPers." The film also explores opposition from religious groups, negative media portrayals, and some of the meanest 'man-on-the-street' interviews ever committed to video. Meet the Gamers, learn their exotic language, see their bizarre rituals, gasp at their semi-authentic costumes, and thrill to the painting techniques on their miniatures!

The Game Designers

October 2019 •English

Board games are exploding in popularity. With scores of players, huge conventions, countless media outlets, and thousands of games coming out each year, the board game industry is truly a global phenomenon. But who makes all of the games that fuel this industry? And how are all of these games designed, developed, and eventually released to the public? The answer is found in The Game Designers!

Under the Boardwalk: The Monopoly Story

October 2010 •English

Under the Boardwalk: The Monopoly Story shows how the classic board game has become a worldwide cultural phenomenon and follows the colorful players who come together to compete for the coveted title of Monopoly World Champion.

Space Lions: The Story of Twilight Imperium

September 2017 •English

Popular review site Shut Up & Sit Down follows the creative heads of Fantasy Flight Games as they develop a new edition of their flagship game Twilight Imperium.

Game Over: Kasparov and the Machine

September 2003 •English

Garry Kasparov is possibly the greatest chess player who has ever lived. In 1997, he played a match against the greatest chess computer: IBM's Deep Blue. He lost. This film depicts the drama that happened away from the chess board from Kasparov's perspective. It explores the psychological aspects of the game and the paranoia surrounding IBM's ultimate chess machine.

The Next Great American Game

January 2015 •English

Randall Hoyt is an aspiring game designer on the road to publishing his first board game. His wry observations about life, gaming and his own struggles with being bipolar drive this story about what it takes to get a board game published.

The Great Chess Movie

September 1982 •French

In this Gilles Carle feature documentary on the game of chess, the international chess match is cast as a classic Western shoot-out. Three chess greats dominate the film: Russia's Anatoly Karpov; Viktor Korchnoi, a Russian defector; and American Bobby Fischer. Chess aficionados Camille Coudari and Fernando Arrabal analyze the personalities and strategies of the players and comment on the interplay of politics and chess.

Monopoly - Spiel ohne Erbarmen

August 2024 •German

Scrapple

January 2004 •English

Amy and Rick are playing a nice game of scrabble. Rick however, has an overwhelming feeling of superiority. Losing is out of the question.

Farador

April 2023 •French

Charles, Louis, and Guillaume are three friends who live together as roommates in the same house, where they spend all of their free time still playing the same Farador campaign they began as teenagers; their other friend Paul has recently moved out of the house and abandoned the game to live with his girlfriend. When Charles's sister Kim, who has recently broken up with her longtime Belgian boyfriend Tom after realizing that she might be a lesbian, moves into Paul's vacated room, her presence, and her determination to push her brother to finally take the plunge on his unrealized ambition to write and publish an erotic fantasy novel, upset the group dynamics and force them to make one last push to finally reach the Castle of Farador and end the game.

Pacific Smoking Club

December 2021 •English

A group of friends take a trip to a cabin to help their friend Alex process a recent breakup.

Zathura: A Space Adventure

November 2005 •English

After their father is called into work, two young boys, Walter and Danny, are left in the care of their teenage sister, Lisa, and told they must stay inside. Walter and Danny, who anticipate a boring day, are shocked when they begin playing Zathura, a space-themed board game, which they realize has mystical powers when their house is shot into space. With the help of an astronaut, the boys attempt to return home.

Jumanji

December 1995 •English

When siblings Judy and Peter discover an enchanted board game that opens the door to a magical world, they unwittingly invite Alan -- an adult who's been trapped inside the game for 26 years -- into their living room. Alan's only hope for freedom is to finish the game, which proves risky as all three find themselves running from giant rhinoceroses, evil monkeys and other terrifying creatures.

Icebreaker

Invalid date •English

Four strangers struggle to figure out why they matched on Icebreaker, a friend-finding app.