And so your friend says, nothing better to break up these long Mid-Michigan winters than a good board game, eh? You start backing away, wondering where your friend got a Canadian accent, while taking quick, anxious glances at your watch. Uh...yeah, you say, boy I didn't realize it was getting this late...
It's not that you hate board games. You used to play Monopoly back in the day. And Candyland when you were a little kid. But, come on, board games? Who does that anymore?
Welcome to the club, or in this case, the Grand Rapids Area Board Gamers (GRAB). It's board gaming -- all grown up.
Game On
David Vander Ark is a player.
Well, actually, he's a gamer, playing new types of board games, ones in which sociability is a major factor and winning isn't always defined by chance or the last person standing.
Vander Ark, 49, is soft-spoken nurse and teacher who quickly points out that he likes all types of games -- yes, even Monopoly -- but that he and a number of friends have grown increasingly fond of a genre of games known as Euro games.
Euro games, or Euros, are marked by several elements that differ from the board games most people may know -- such as Monopoly, Risk, Sorry and the like. Design plays a major role, including game pieces, many of which are fairly intricate. So do mechanics -- how the game is played, turns divided, and points accumulated.
"It comes down to a number of different elements," Vander Ark explains. "Instead of a single strategy, there are usually multiple options available. The themes are different, and so are the game components. There are a lot of high-quality, tactile pieces."
The rules variations also build in nuances that make each game different from the last.
"You can play some of these games 40-50 times or more and not get tired of them," Vander Ark says.
We Can All Just Get Along
Vander Ark owns an estimated 500 games and is a founding member of the GRAB, a group with about 110 members on its mailing list and one that hosts special game events during the year.
He is reluctant to discuss is own gaming passions. Like many boardgamers, he is more interested in what the group is doing and in finding new players. The game events do
this to some extent, but many are also gained through internet sites such as Board Game Geek (BGG). GRAB is a listed on BGG as a member of the larger Geek Guild of West Michigan along with other groups and announcements.
The internet triggered early enthusiasm for Euros in the late 1990s and continues to play a major role, Vander Ark adds. Word of mouth about new games travels fast and has resulted in European manufacturers moving quickly to get their games stateside. Not that long ago, it took as long as two years for a new game to get distributed in the U.S.
The value of the Euro increases
David Posthumus, 26, a long-time boardgamer, began hosting weekly game nights at his Grand Rapids home beginning in high school. On a given night there might be as few as four or five or as many as fifteen gathered around the table. Game choices are determined through a loose democracy, tempered by the experience level and size of the audience. The games often last into the early hours of the next morning.
Posthumus enjoys the nuanced play of the Euro games.
"Basically, the Euros are logic focused," he explains. "You score points. It's more abstract and the theme is usually tacked on. Ameritrash games (a non-pejorative term for conventional Western games) take a theme and build core mechanics around it. They are also more random -- you're moving pieces, you have dice rolls...
"What I really like about hobby games are the topics and themes," he continues. " Tales of Arabian Nights, Twilight Struggle, Power Grid, El Grande...they take you into their own world. I sometimes enjoy the manuals as much as the game."
In fact, the detail and scope of some of the games may be too close to reality for some. Pandemic, for example, is a game in which biological viruses are set loose creating life-threatening crises.
"One of my friends doesn't like to play it," Posthumus says. "It makes him uncomfortable."
Boardgaming Killed the Video Star
Posthumus grew up in an era when video games were increasing in sophistication and popularity. Names such as Nintendo, Sega, and Playstation dominated game play. It would seem unlikely that one could move from that environment into boardgaming.
But that's just what John Kalinowski did.
Kalinowski, 26, is a student at Aquinas College and part of a group -- AQ Meeples -- that meets periodically in homes or on campus to play board games. something he once couldn't have imagined himself doing.
"When I was younger I played a lot of video games to a point where it was probably unhealthy," Kalinowski says. "I just couldn't do it anymore."
Kalinowski started meeting new people and discovered board games along the way.
"I started going to game nights. I liked the social aspect of it," Kalinowski says. "But while I was associating, I could still be critically engaged in a game. It was a very different experience.
I don't even like video games anymore," he adds.
Part of Kalinowski's experience, as it is for Vander Ark and Posthumus, are games in which players do not directly compete with each other.
"A lot the games are less direct," Kalinowski says. "What you do on your turn may not even affect anyone else."
See What's In Store
New board games now come almost as fast as video games, according to Vander Ark, and it is difficult to keep up. Names such as Agricola, Dominion, Puerto Rico, Ticket to Ride, Carcassonne are becoming widely known and widely played. But newer games pop up daily and there are now more sources for getting them.
Sites such as Amazon.com, fairplaygames.com, and boardsandbits.com offer quick turnaround on game purchases. There are also local store that carry them -- Rider's Hobby Shop sells a few select games, Schuler Books & Music and Barnes & Noble carry many of the more popular editions, and White Cap Comics also has a good selection. What all are finding, perhaps for the first time, is that boardgaming is becoming profitable.
At least that is the case for Jeff Rietveld, 33, who has turned his love of boardgaming into a business, Out of the Box Games and Puzzles in Zeeland.
"I'm not sure the economy is hurting me at all," Rietveld offers. "People are staying home more, doing more things together. Our business model is based on people buying these games."
Rietveld sells other types games -- including card games, party games, and a number of increasingly popular children's board and card games. The store also regularly hosts game nights for both individuals and families.
And along with White Cap Comics, his business has gained FLGS -- or Friendly Local Game Store -- status and a listing in the West Michigan BGG section.
Chairmen of the Boards
Everyone has their favorites. Board Game Geek offers forums and individual space for people to list their top games. And, thanks to the internet, there are more games to list every day.
The consensus is that the new games are here to stay and that the audience will continue to grow. But that doesn't mean older games will disappear.
"Don't knock Monopoly," warns Vander Ark, who includes the classic two-person game, cribbage, among his favorites. Whatever the game, however, he sees the investment as worthwhile:
"Think about it...you go to dinner and movie and you may have the pleasing feeling for awhile that comes from a good meal and you may or may not enjoy the movie. For the same money, you can buy a game that you can play and enjoy many times over."
Anyone for Ticket to Ride?
G.F. Korreck is a free-lance writer, editor, and voice talent living in West Michigan.
Photos:
Jeff Rietveld owner of Out of the Box (3)
Out of the Box Games and Puzzles (3)
Photographs by Josh Tyron -All Rights Reserved