Friday, November 07, 2008
My Boardgaming Triad
Just two short years ago some of us local boardgamers had a regular Friday night game. We frequently had a Saturday game, and occasionally a Monday night game. Alas, the guy with the centrally-located, prime-gaming, bachelor-pad moved. Lately, he has also been spending every free hour working on his Masters degree. Another frequent player has developed some health problems and is not able to play as much as in the past. Another moved to Seattle (although he just moved back YAY). Even though this boardgaming downturn has caused me to find more prospective boardgamers, I am down to the occasional, monthly game.
For the last couple years my boardgaming has revolved around three events. In November I attend a big boardgame convention in Dallas. BoardgamegeekCon is 4 days of boardgaming bliss and is the highlight of my year. I generally play for 21+ hours every day of the con, often forgetting to eat. Attendees are the friendliest group of people you would ever want to meet. No smelly gamers, no poor losers... nothing that you might expect from a national boardgame convention. I am to the point that I go, not so much to play games, but to renew acquaintances and make new acquaintances.
In March I drive down to Anchorage for the three days of the Brimfrost game convention. It is primarily a miniatures convention, but the boardgame contingent has been steadily growing over the years. None of the boardgamers have funk issues, but... funk can be an issue in an enclosed space with some of the other attendees. I try to make it down to Anchorage one or two other times every year and to play games with the same guys. Again, a great group of guys who I enjoy being around.
Fourth of July weekend is the third event on my boardgame calendar. Some of us Fairbanks gamers and some Anchorage gamers meet in the middle for a family friendly weekend of camping and gaming. Again, 20+ hours of gaming everyday under the midnight sun is the norm. I am especially stoked for this next Fourth of July as we have rented an entire lodge for the event, and I am eager to see how that goes.
The best part is that these three events are evenly spaced throughout the year. Every 4 months I have something to look forward to. I do still wish we had a centrally located place for a weekly local game. We tried to have a weekly game at the local game store, but we are old farts. I appreciate the Comic Shop for hosting our little group, but the Comic Shop environment was just not as conducive to the social gaming experience that you can have at a bachelor pad, plus we had to have the games put away and be out by 10:00.
And that's all I have to say about that.
For the last couple years my boardgaming has revolved around three events. In November I attend a big boardgame convention in Dallas. BoardgamegeekCon is 4 days of boardgaming bliss and is the highlight of my year. I generally play for 21+ hours every day of the con, often forgetting to eat. Attendees are the friendliest group of people you would ever want to meet. No smelly gamers, no poor losers... nothing that you might expect from a national boardgame convention. I am to the point that I go, not so much to play games, but to renew acquaintances and make new acquaintances.
In March I drive down to Anchorage for the three days of the Brimfrost game convention. It is primarily a miniatures convention, but the boardgame contingent has been steadily growing over the years. None of the boardgamers have funk issues, but... funk can be an issue in an enclosed space with some of the other attendees. I try to make it down to Anchorage one or two other times every year and to play games with the same guys. Again, a great group of guys who I enjoy being around.
Fourth of July weekend is the third event on my boardgame calendar. Some of us Fairbanks gamers and some Anchorage gamers meet in the middle for a family friendly weekend of camping and gaming. Again, 20+ hours of gaming everyday under the midnight sun is the norm. I am especially stoked for this next Fourth of July as we have rented an entire lodge for the event, and I am eager to see how that goes.
The best part is that these three events are evenly spaced throughout the year. Every 4 months I have something to look forward to. I do still wish we had a centrally located place for a weekly local game. We tried to have a weekly game at the local game store, but we are old farts. I appreciate the Comic Shop for hosting our little group, but the Comic Shop environment was just not as conducive to the social gaming experience that you can have at a bachelor pad, plus we had to have the games put away and be out by 10:00.
And that's all I have to say about that.
# posted by Coldfoot @ 11:57 PM 
