The games people play (and we're talking board and card games here) come in all shapes and sizes.

Some depend largely on luck; others require strategy and skill. Some last a few minutes; others can take hours. Some have only a few simple pieces; others can wow you with their design and graphics.

The fun thing about today's games is that there is something for everyone, says Greg Jones, manager of Game Night Games in Sugar House, and a self-styled "games geek" who recently attended the annual boardgamegeek.com convention.

"Pick any theme, and you can likely find a game with that theme, whether it's Egyptian history or trains or dragons."

Approximately 400 new games come out every year, he says. Some go on to be classics; others go out of print quickly. But it's safe to say that board games are far from being eclipsed by their electronic cousins.

Casey Sartain, at The Tutoring Toy in Foothill Village, agrees. "Board games are especially popular at the holidays. They bring families together. Nowadays, everyone's rush, rush, rush, run, run, run. Games give you a chance to sit down, relax."

Games can be educational; they can build social skills. Games can also help youngsters build self-esteem. "You find a game where an 8-year-old has as good a chance to win as his 40-year-old dad, and that's great," says Sartain.

But mostly, they say, games are just fun.

And it is always exciting to see what the next big thing will be, says Jones. "You think that every theme has been done, and something new comes along."

The biggest buzz in the industry right now, he adds, is for a game called BattleLore. Not in the stores yet, it is being billed as "a game that bridges several genres, combining various elements and aspects of cards, miniatures, role-playing and board games, without being easily pigeonholed in any category." The game recreates "massive clashes between medieval armies" and is "deep and engaging" while also playing out in about an hour.

"We've had more pre-orders for BattleLore than any other game," says Jones.

Sartain has heard the most buzz about a game called Khet, which also will be in before Christmas. It features a game board with built-in lasers. You move pieces with mirrored surfaces around the board, and then fire the lasers, which reflect off the mirrored surfaces. If they hit non-mirrored surfaces, those pieces are removed.

But, just because games are new, that doesn't necessarily make them better than older games, say both men.

Jones' personal all-time favorite is called Tikal, which won the Spiel de Jahres (a German award considered the game-world's Oscar) in 1999. In this game, each player is the director of an expedition intent on exploring secret paths that lead to the temples and treasures of Tikal.