Walking into Minotaur’s games night will dissolve all your illusions of board games as child’s play. With no Candyland or Chutes and Ladders boards to be seen, groups of adults and teens gather around tables, engrossed in strategic card games, three-dimensional building sets or maps plotted with armies for world domination.
The games nights are open to families as well and simpler games such as Apples to Apples are one of the gamers’ favourites. But with shelves filled with complex and sophisticated games, one thing’s for sure: these board games aren’t just for kids.
In fact, John Dupont, one of the men engrossed in a game of History of the World for the second night running, laughed at the idea that some people still think of board games as childish pursuits.
“There’s an awful lot of intelligent games out there: party games, strategic games, abstract games,” he said.
Dupont and the other men spread around the table were wrapped up in a game in which players strategically plot to conquer the world.
“You go through epochs and you get an empire,” he said. “The object is to be the greatest empire in the world.”
Many games like this one have never reached the games sections at superstores, but the game market is filled with these lesser-known, sophisticated games and Minotaur’s Patrick McInally said games night is a way of exposing people to them.
“Games night is about getting the public in and giving them a venue to try out these new games. Most people are only familiar with the games they played as kids.”
But when those people first come into Minotaur, McInally said they often express surprise that so many board games are actually made for teens and adults.
“Most people think that once you reach a certain age you have to be serious all the time,” he said.
But according to McInally, board games are one of the few things that people of all ages can really enjoy together.
“Gaming is one of those things that breaks down all the borders. The people that hate games are very few,” he said.
“The very best games are accessible to just about everybody.”
The store’s best-selling game is Settlers of Catan.
“It’s basically everything you like about Monopoly and nothing you don’t like,” McInally said.
This game is part of the larger trend in gaming towards what McInally called Euro-style games.
“The hallmark of Euro-games are the games are always different from game to game.”
This could mean the players take on different roles, have a different game play or set up a different board each time they play.
Another key advantage of these games is no one’s ever eliminated.
“That kills the game for a lot of people,” said McInally. “[In Euro-games] you’re usually involved at all times. You’re always engaged, not sitting around waiting for your turn.”
Settlers of Catan has gained a huge following in the past few years and has seen national tournaments established for really devoted players. In fact, McInally himself came in second in last year’s Settlers of Catan Canadian National Tournament held in Hamilton.
The grand prize was a trip to . McInally took home a T-shirt. But he said the tournament’s more about getting together to play in a fun atmosphere.
“Most people understand it is a game,” he said adding that, amongst the attending gamers, there are both laid-back people and those who take it very seriously.
According to McInally, everyone has their own reason for playing and their own preference of games to play.
“Typically people who like war games are Type A [personalities].”
Meanwhile, McInally said Euro gamers tend to play for the more analytical aspect.
“It depends what type of mental stimulation you like,” he said. “I’m a role player.”
Role players are typically more social, but of course these stereotypes don’t apply to all gamers.
Chris Canning, PhD ’08, plays adventure games that combine luck and skill.
“You sit down for a good two hours … and it turns into more of a critical effort,” he said.
Canning said he’s really stuck on Settlers of Catan right now.
“It’s the skill, but it’s also the social aspect.”
Canning holds his own games nights with friends for the relaxed social atmosphere.
“We cook potluck dinners together, make drinks and stay home.”
For Canning, playing a board game provides an alternative social activity to going to the bar. It’s an activity that a lot of students don’t think of, he said.
“It’s not a geeky thing to do,” he said. “There’s no shame in loving board games.”
Kingston gamer Katrina Sauve has her own gaming preferences.
“I tend to avoid games that are entirely logic and no luck and games that are about words,” she said. “I like to move around, build things, move things.”
Sauve said if you come to games night you won’t be playing Scrabble or The Game of Life.
“It’s people that want to play new games,” she said. “There are [games] becoming new classics.”
Sauve has become a regular at games night in the past few months and said board games are one of the few forms of entertainment where you can have fun sitting down and doing an activity with complete strangers.
“For me it’s a huge way to socialize,” she said. “It’s just a way to have absurd amounts of fun.”
Calvin Chan, M.Pl. ’07, said he comes out to games night because you get exposed to more than just the regular Scrabble and Monopoly.
“People don’t realize people of all ages now are playing board games,” he said.
“You get such a wide variety of games available now. It’s just a matter of getting over that mentality that board games are just for a certain type of people.
“If it’s a rainy day, grab some snacks, grab some friends, grab some beer and play.”
——————
Minotaur games night is every Wednesday from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. and Sunday from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. at 165 Princess St.
All final editorial decisions are made by the Editor(s) in Chief and/or the Managing Editor. Authors should not be ed, targeted, or harassed under any circumstances. If you have any grievances with this article, please direct your comments to [email protected].