Well, it's happening again, but now it's you! Game nights are all the rage in living rooms across America.

"I grew up playing board games," said Christine Eastmead, who lives in Honolulu's Red Hill military housing with her husband, Jeremy. Their evenings are often spent challenging each other to a game of "Monopoly" or the new version of "Battleship."

"It's a way to get away from doing everything like household chores," she said. "And it's fun."

Sales of board games aimed at adults are up 4.5 percent this year, even though total toy sales are down 3 percent, says David Riley of the NPD Group, a New York marketing research firm. Some retailers have reported that sales of board games were up as much as 10 percent even before the high-volume holiday season began.

Why? Reyne Rice, a trend specialist for the Toy Industry Association, says it's Americans' desire to hunker down in the comfort of their own living room, away from an uncertain world.

On a recent trip to Michigan, Rice even found herself at an all-girl night of "Bunco," a dice-throwing game. "It was great fun, to the point of being silly."

The economy plays a part in the trend, too. With a family movie night or a meal out easily topping $100, inviting a few friends over for games is an economical alternative.

There are even Web sites where you can find game nights by state — www.homepokergames.com, for instance.

"And more people are having themes — 'Monopoly' or 'Trivial Pursuit,' " says Patty Sachs, a veteran party planner in Jacksonville and owner of PartyPlansPlus.com, a free party advice site. "You don't invite people over to just look at one another. You say, 'Hey! We're having game night!' "

Says Richard Tait, founder of "Cranium," which has spawned game nights from the United States to Finland to Australia: "The desire for human beings to reconnect and laugh at each other" is driving the trend. "They're looking to reach out."

Sharon Forinash of Erie, Colo., and her family fell into game night a year ago when her daughter's boyfriend brought over the game "Guesstures" one weekend.

"Now we have people over a couple of times a month. It's gotten to be a fairly regular Sunday evening thing," Forinash says. "We all just end up laughing and having a good time."

But game nights aren't just held in the home. Many companies are seeing the potential of mixing games with business. "Cranium" made its debut at Starbucks in 1998, and since then hundreds of game nights have been held in shops across the Mainland. Hawai'i Starbucks don't sponsor games, marketing director Sherri Rigg said, but patrons have been known to bring their own boards in to start up a game.

Beth Dempsey Lasnick, a mother of two in Stamford, Conn., has been following the game trend since spring. She holds her at-home game nights on Fridays. They center mostly around "Scrabble."

"It's about spending quality time with your kids," she says, joining the common refrain. "It's different from watching TV or being on the computer."

Her 11-year-old son, Ryan, also is obsessed with Texas Hold 'em, and he plays the poker game at home with friends for nickels or candy, something she does not discourage. After all, he's home and he's using his brain.

"He grew up with cards," she says. "He grew up with 'Pokemon.' It's just an evolution."