Another way to look at board games and sports in general is as an alternative to war - settling disputes in a non-violent way and building social cohesion in the process. In board games there are no real losers and in war there are no real winners. So a win at all costs strategy may not be necessary.

Ever played Diplomacy? (correspondence board game) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diplomacy_(game)

It's like Risk but you submit each round's actions in advance and they are resolved simultaneously, rather than turn-by-turn. All of the action is off the board, not on it. Coalition-building, intelligence gathering and managing trust—even when betrayal is inevitable.

I learned a lot from that game.

I slowly learned when i started playing catan, that by playing against another player, you are virtually guaranteed to lose. You can only win if you cooperate with others. A valuable life lesson.