With the huge popularity that exists nowadays with video games that can offer great music and graphics along with an interactive storyline, pressure is placed on traditional board games to keep the attention of the players as well as these games with controllers might provide. Games like Guitar Hero, which test not only the hand-eye coordination of players, but their musical skill, will often give players a world to escape into that makes time fly with the level of concentration that they give. Other games, like Dance Dance Revolution, give players something physical to compete with and this keeps all players active, holding their attention.

Board games are starting to get the message and are re-inventing themselves in ways that are designed to get players up and moving around, performing actions. This stops players from merely sitting around a table, using their intellects to win a game. Now, players are forced to use other skills as well in a variety of ways. This stimulation, both mental and physical, is good for anyone trying to enjoy themselves with a friendly competitive game and, as the popularity of these performance-based board games grow, more and more games will surely be moving in this direction.

The American Idol board game is one of these games that will test players in more ways than just a simple race around the board. Based on the hit television show where contestants compete against each other by singing various songs, this show is a competition determined to discover who the best singer out of the group is. The board game works much on the same level, having all of the players race around a board to collect points and move on to the finalist area. When two people reach the finalist area, they will each sing along to a song to determine who is the stronger singer and the winner of the game. While this game isn't overly challenging, it gives players the chance to do something more than race around the board.

Stepping it up, however, the American Idol All-Star Challenge DVD game makes players work a little harder. Made by the same people who make the Scene It game, this game uses a DVD to help players complete the tasks and sing the songs they need to sing in order to compete. This game is all-around more inclusive, having players not only sing, but perform dance routines to earn performance stars, by which the game is judged. While points are not always rewarded on who actually sung the best, the game does allow people to actually get up and do something, making them work for the prize.

Other games also have heavy elements of performance involved. Cranium uses a number of factors during its competition, not simply trivia and knowledge. Players of this game could be forced to either draw or sculpt a clue out of clay or perhaps to make a performance for their team to guess. These performances can work like charades, where they have to silently act out a clue. They can take the form of a celebrity impersonation or even a musical clue, where they have to hum a song to make others guess it!