Dubai: Games teach our children vital life skills, says Ian Livingstone.

He should know. He turned a hobby into a business, oversaw one of the biggest franchises in video game history, and earned honours from the UK’s Queen Elizabeth II and a commission from the UK government to revamp the way British children learn computing.

He remains a devoted tabletop gamer, with a collection of more than 1,000 boardgames at home — his “wonderful collection of games, which I’d never give up”.

“What I like about games is that it empowers people to do stuff they don’t ordinarily do in real life. Games are such a fantastic social event, like-minded people sitting around a table playing boardgames — it doesn’t come much better than that.

“Of course, with online gaming now you can do the same thing. It’s empowering people. Linear entertainment like films, the director controls the action; in a game the player controls the action.”

Games themselves teach valuable skills, he said. “Just think what’s happening cognitively when you’re playing a game — problem-solving, intuitive learning, the social elements, the trial and error, the community, the creativity, the management, the simulation. These are genuine life skills.”

Livingstone’s passion for games started as a child. He was in the school chess club and enjoyed traditional boardgames like Monopoly. From there, he moved to board wargames from companies like SPI and Avalon Hill, and then got into miniature wargaming.

“It all came together, I think, in role-playing games. When we first got our hands on Dungeons & Dragons it was like dreams came true. This was a box that didn’t look like very much, and the rules were pretty much unintelligible, but it lit up your imagination like no other game.

“In role-playing, in theatre on the fly, to explore these worlds is to me the best.”

He turned the passion into a business when he co-founded Games Workshop as a mail order games supplier. He and business partner Steve Jackson created the Fighting Fantasy game books, he designed board games like Judge Dredd and computer games like Battlecars.

After nearly 20 years, he and his partners sold Games Workshop and Livingstone devoted his business life to computer games — most notably, the Tomb Raider franchise with Eidos Interactive.

“I just followed a dream. You’ve got to give it a shot and not be afraid of failure, and enjoy what you do in life, and if it fails at least you gave it a try. If you follow your heart, it’s not even hardship.”