Board meetings: Gamer groups make friends over competition

Published June 21, 2012 in the Commercial Appeal

At a time when it seems like everyone is staring at a computer, phone or digital gaming device, it may be comforting to know there are people in Memphis who like to get together in person and play board games.

Sheila Noone, who is originally from the Northeast, came to Memphis about 31/2 years ago to take a job in public relations with Varsity. She had been working in publishing in New York for most of her adult life with a short stay in L.A., and says Memphis was a huge change at first. "I was having trouble making friends and weekends dragged. I needed a place to meet some people that wasn't centered around going to a bar alone," she says.

Noone started the Memphis Scrabble & Board Game group on Meetup.com about six months after she moved here. "It seemed like a great solution, and a way to make literate, fun friends whose lives didn't revolve around SEC football," she says, noting she has nothing against SEC football.

Her first couple of games started out slowly. One person showed up for the first, then three for the second. However, at the group's peak, 20 people gathered on a Sunday afternoon.

The group started just playing Scrabble; then it opened up to other board games. "The rule is you can bring any game to a meeting, and if people want to play it, we go with the new game;

otherwise, it's Scrabble," she says. Scrabble is an easy game for most, and Noone says she keeps three boards in her trunk at all times.

On Meetup.com, there are 120 members of the group, though Noone says about 15 are active now. The group has had more than 100 games in three years. It's an open group on Meetup.com. Anyone can join online and attend the games.

Noone's experiment worked. Most of her friends today are people she met at the group or friends of people she met at the group. "Game players are really interesting people," she says. "Most are well read and like a little challenge. It can attract a nerdy crowd, but also people new to Memphis from all over."

Caitlin Woodward, who is a software developer, also started a board gaming group a year and a half ago that meets on Thursday nights at Republic Coffee on Walnut Grove. It started out as just her and a few friends hanging out with each other over a couple of board games once a week after work. Over the months, they started to gather others who wanted to play games. "I mean, who doesn't like to play games?" Woodward says.

Woodward's Midtown Game Night centers on modern or designer board games. "These are different than the Monopoly or Sorry! that people normally think of. The modern board games tend to have more interaction, neat themes and allow players to make more interesting decisions that allow actual strategies," she explains.

The trend of designer board games started in 1995 with the release of a European board game called Settlers of Catan. "What was interesting about this game was that the designer put his name on the box cover, like an author would put his name on a book," Woodward says.

Settlers of Catan was a big hit, and the modern board game industry grew increasingly popular. Today, there are thousands of games and many prolific designers. Within these modern board games, there are still subsets like family games, party games and war games.

At Midtown Game Night, participants play all kinds of modern board games. People show up with various games they might be interested in playing. "We'll usually play a quick, light party game or two that will support a lot of people while we eat something and wait for everyone to show up. Then, depending on the number of players, we split up into groups based on game interest on what people want to play," Woodward explains.

The group is always willing to teach people how to play the selected game and then play games until everyone gets tired or until Republic Coffee closes.

"Board games are great because you get to be social while playing them, with real people. Your friends, your family, or you can even play with strangers and make new friends," says Woodward.

There are board games for everyone, and Woodward's group loves introducing the hobby to new people. "Most people simply don't realize that all these modern board games exist and how fun they are. And it's almost another game to us, trying to figure out what games someone is going to like. All it takes is the right first game or two, and they are hooked," she says, noting the events are completely family friendly.

Scout Anglin is also a member of the Midtown Boardgamers group, which hosts Midtown Game Night, but she attends other game nights in town. "I go to Comic Cellar (in Raleigh) to play on Saturday nights, where the owner lets us bring games and play in the store. I also try to make it to Tuesday nights at the UofM to play with other people on campus," she says.

Choosing a favorite game is difficult for Anglin. She enjoys Battlestar Galactica because of the social aspect of the game. "It's a hidden-traitor game, where the human players are trying to reach Kobol while the Cylons are trying to sabotage that goal. It's much like the show, where you really never know who the Cylons are until they reveal themselves," she says. The game can last from three to five hours.

Space Alert, which Anglin describes as super intense, is another favorite. It comes with a soundtrack with space missions. The goal is to get through a barrage of alien and other encounters in space in real time.

"You plan out your moves based on what happens on the soundtrack," she says. "When the soundtrack is over, you then play back your moves and see what happens." There's lots of yelling and moving around while planning, and Anglin notes that it's always interesting because things rarely happen as planned.

"It's an adventure, and it's all crammed into about 20 minutes," she says.

Ticket to Ride was one of the first board games that sparked Anglin's interest.

"It's kind of a gateway game for good modern board games," she explains. The object is to build routes across country (there are several different maps) to try to gather points. Players draw tickets that are their routes, then draw train cards that correspond to certain routes on the board. Once a player gathers the appropriate color and number of cards, he or she can lay down tiny trains on the routes and connect them. "It sounds kind of boring, but it's really fun. It takes about an hour to play and is good for a wide range of ages. I've probably played it more than any other game I own."

Anglin encourages anyone interested in board games to show up at Republic Coffee at 6 p.m. on Thursdays.

"It's totally free, and we have plenty of games to choose from," she says. "Come willing to learn and ask questions. I've hardly been to a game night where I haven't learned a new game."

Woodward set up the Memphis Boardgamers, an umbrella group on Facebook, to keep locals updated on events. She posts all of the local board game events around town: every Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, every other Friday, the first and third Saturday afternoons, and every Saturday evening.

"Yes, there are a lot of board game events, but none of us attend them all," she says. "They're scattered around various parts of town, and different people show up to different ones."

The Memphis Boardgamers group stays pretty active. Woodward likes to post photos from events, and there are board game-related discussions, as the group loves to talk about the hobby.

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More information:

meetup.com/Memphis-Scrabble-Club

facebook.com/groups/memphis.boardgamers