FOR THE LOVE OF MEEPLES

The weekend is here and that means at least one night of playing my favorite board games with friends. For those of you who have not yet jumped on the bandwagon, board games are going through a great revival. Folks are abandoning their keyboards (for a couple of hours at least) to enjoy some social interaction with friends. Families are sitting on the floor again and actually interacting with each other instead of just staring at a screen.

I am proud to say that I am a board game geek. That said, there is no doubt in my mind that board gaming has reached the tipping point where players will soon be in the mainstay. No I am not talking about your garden variety monopoly or scrabble.

Over a year ago a couple of friends, the Snelgroves, who have children the same age as ours, invited us over for dinner. Lynette was eager to teach us a game that their oldest son had gotten for Christmas. I have to be honest, at first I was a little apprehensive, a kids game! Kristine and I learned the rules of Carcassone and we have not turned back. It has brought out the competitive side of my wife and restored my old love for board games left behind in the glory days of my time at MUN. Those weekends of Risk, Diplomacy, Axis and Allies with Tom, Ken, Scott, Garry and the rest of the gangs from the society corridor in the old Thompson Student Center.

Carcassone is like a soft drug, your entry level variety. However once hooked you start craving more. Last Christmas Santa brought me a bunch of new games courtesy of our game adviser in Waterloo.

In the the Nineties the great German board game designers starting gaining some notoriety with a different kind of board game. These german board games or “designer games” were strategic games that were more engaging than the traditional party game. They changed the way games were played by adopting many of the mechanisms used in computer gaming. Some of these new games did not even have boards in a traditional sense and the scoring and dice mechanics changed.

Board games became socially acceptable pasttimes in Europe, especially Germany. This wasn’t a phenomenon that was segregated to a certain age group, whole families played games, as did teenagers and adults. In Europe, board games began to bring in similar revenues as movies and computer games.

It took some time but these new games slowly made their way across the pond into fringe markets in North America. Mostly it seems at university campuses, graduate houses and obscure comic stores. People began to learn games from friends. Word of mouth advertising that left new converts thinking “Why had I not heard of this before?"

Which is what has happened to us. From my seven year old Aidan to my mom and dad (you know it is fun and not overly complicated when your fisherman father forgoes poker to play Ticket To Ride). I am constantly pushing German style games and trying to win over converts. People at first are very sheepish (inside joke) when you mention playing a game. There is some strange stigma attached. Once they play they are hooked. The magic happens when you sit down and play a game, you realize what all the fuss is about. Game are easy to learn but deep enough to keep an intelligent person’s attention. Sure we still listen to a few tunes and drink lots of wine, martinis and rum.

Gaming is fun and a very social way to spend a Friday night, Saturday night or Sunday afternoon. Did I caution you that they are addictive?

If you're interested, here a couple of t links.

Board Game Geek
Ticket To Ride
Carcasonne
The Settlers Of Catan

I feel there is a sufficiently large part of the population who are looking for more intelligent entertainment, especially when that entertainment can be shared with their friends and families.

There are at least three decent game shops in St. John’s. I have purchased from all three and urge folks to consider doing the same. Games are a little more expensive here than on-line but it is nice to support local business.