A New Begining

It has been a long time since I have put pen to paper, and a lot of water has passed under the bridge since I last wrote anything, but the joy I encounter around the world of games is still there and the desire to record it is slowly returning!

Many keen Gamers will have a circle of friends and family around them that I would call ‘Social Gamers’. These people enjoy games when they encounter them but rarely buy any themselves and it is unlikely they would list Board Games as a hobby. However it is these people on the periphery of the avid enthusiasts that are fuelling my enthusiasm to start writing again. In particular this brief post was prompted by:

• Turning up to see friends for a BBQ (with no games) and once the table was cleared it was the friends that raided their son’s small stash of games so we could play a game, or two: Straw, Hick Hack and Hey, That’s My Fish! In over 20 years of friendship this was a first!

But this most recent fuel is in addition to:

• Mentioning modern board games (and our Friday lunchtime group) in passing to a colleague at work and having her come back and ask ‘did you mean board games, I love board games! I used to love playing them as a kid and now I have children of my own……’ The conversation that ensued revealed that she was completely unaware of the word of modern board games and for those that know the film the Matrix it was like she had just taken the ‘red pill’. Her eyes where opened and I don’t think it would be going too far to say she was overjoyed at the feast of games now available to choose from! With her desire to involve her young children then her first purchase is not a gamers choice but an excellent little game none the less, Sherlock. It has proven a great success with her family. Gamers will no doubt be pleased to hear that other purchases are Race for the Galaxy, Pandemic, Comuni, Voluspa and Qwirkle.
  
• Highlighting the London On Board Meetup group to another colleague at work (and member of the lunch time group) and he going off over the bank holiday and spending 5 hours gaming with a group of people he had never met before and having a wonderful time.
  
• Combining a love of modern jive dancing with a love of food and obviously games I have been hosting monthly dinners where different people bring different courses and we intersperse each course with a game. The dance friends have never played any of the games before but the combination of good company, good food and good games is proving great fun.
  
• Following last year’s Essen trip it was the game (The Sheep Race) I didn’t buy that ultimately caught the attention of my Social Gaming friends and when I did buy they also wanted copies to play with their families and friends.
  
• Lastly, introducing games designers to the team at work and seeing it result in a Print and Play game for schools – The Flood (more of that in future posts).

It is also nice to report that the gamers group at Crowborough whilst not very visible at pubs in the area is alive and well meeting at a variety of people’s houses anywhere between Tunbridge Wells, Hailsham and Haywards Heath and has drawn in a number of new members. 
It’s meeting are a bit adhoc but its active and has a huge collection of games between its members. The only sad part (from my point of view) is I had hoped to start a Social Gamers Group and it is ultimately now a group of Gamers!

Reviews will follow slowly and other posts as the inspiration takes me but they are likely to be occasional rather than regular! Happy Gaming!