The business, located on Second Street, has just about anything a child might desire, and with the prices of popular items ranging anywhere from a few quarters to hundreds of dollars, shoppers like Karen and Shiflett can chose among many options.

While high-priced electronics and must-have stylish dolls have been the most popular items in recent years, Kids’ Ketch owner Teresa Ford said a new trend is becoming evident in toy sales.

“Right now, the toy industry in general is down, because there aren’t any really hot, big items storming the market,” said Ford. “The sale of board games, on the other hand, has been really good.”

Stocking old favorites like Monopoly, Scrabble and Life, the toy store has been able to keep profits rolling in despite slower sales numbers.

Ford said she has heard similar reports from other toy stores as well: Simple family games have been flying off the shelves.

In fact, with the overall toy industry suffering a loss of 3 percent in sales since last year, according to the national researcher the NPD Group Inc., the sale of traditional board games has risen as much as 6 percent.

There are plenty of reasons why the simple games have remained popular during the slow time, said Ford, who said that most of all, families are looking for value.

“In general, people don’t like to go over the $30 point when they come into the store,” she said. “Board games normally fall in the $15 to $25 range, so people aren’t hesitant to pick one up for the family.”

Accompanying the low price tag, new and old board games can rarely break or become worn out over the years, said Ford. Instead, a family can get almost indefinite usage out of an old classic like Monopoly, or a new favorite like Apples to Apples.

Family game nights can therefore be an extremely inexpensive form of entertainment, she said, which has led many in the Cape Region to reach for playing pieces and dice for a night indoors instead of the car keys to go to other entertainment venues.

The trend has not only applied to families. Ford said many adults have been buying board games to enjoy with friends. The range of games on the market today includes an extremely high number of fast-paced interaction games, which adults and children can enjoy.

“The best games are the ones where everybody gets involved,” said Ford. “When there is a lot of talking and interaction, people can really get in to the games.”

Among the most popular at the store, word games in small packages like Bananagrams - a crossword completion game- continue to see high sales, said Ford. “What I have seen is that people will play a game at a friend’s house, enjoy it, and then come to us looking for it,” she said. “Some of best sellers lately have been Rummikub, puzzle games like Quiddler, and we have even seen Mahjong resurging.”

Until the next fad like Beanie Babies comes along, Ford said, board games are likely to continue to be among the most popular items in the store. With many of the games available for prices as low as $8, said Ford, families are – for now - sticking to what they know they can trust.