As the press would have the whole country to believe, the economy is in the shitter. (I don’t believe it anymore, but that’s for another day) What people tend to do when they fear spending too much money, is they stay home and entertain themselves. This is why console markets, MMOs and now board games are big on peoples lists these days.

  Ever since I was a kid I have always loved to play board games. Being an only child I subjected my poor mother to countless nights of having to play games with me. Whether it was the strategy or just gaming in general it’s just fun to me to play. In the last ten to fifteen years the broadening of Euro style games over to the US has become more and more popular. Games like the Settlers of Catan have grown to such high popularity that today they are even sold in your local TARGET!

  On a local level a few more games shops have been popping up inthe community. While they still cater to the miniatures players for warhammer and historical battles, and the Magic:The Gathering community, board game nights are always a regular night and are becoming hugely popular. It’s a great way to get gamers into the store and also to gamers to meet each other. In the last 2 months I have been semi-regularly getting to a weekly board game night at a great newer store called The Gamer’s Armory.  The good thing about nights like this are, they are free, and the people who go regularly are amazingly freindly and have a great collection of games. Also, the store itself has a great selection of games for use to play on their tables as well.

  I used to only be able to play games when I visited my parents for holidays and we would have some other extended family in town (good old mom putting up with the GJ some more!). So lately since I have been playing at the store, I have been introduced to some more games I might not have seen before, as well as met some people who have given me some great ideas for games. The other great resource that is out there is Boardgamegeek. The net’s foremost board game authority (IMHO). You can search for basically any game and get some info, forums, and articles/expansions for them. Also the community there has forums on all things such as handheld device gaming, geek lists (for all sorts of things from good intro-games, good kids games, good wife-husband games etc) so check it out!

Next great thing to check out is a site and podcast The Dice Tower. Tom Vassell’s site has some great lists as well as a ton of videos on game reviews. The great thing about these is he generally explains how to play some games so if you just get a game or thinking of getting one take a gander at his reviews and it could help a ton. And don’t forget everyone’s favorite video site youtube.com. Just do a search for said game and I bet you will find some great reviews for them.

So in the coming days/weeks I will give some info on some of the games I have either bought recently (Small World, Blokus, Dominion) or played at these nights (Dominant Species, For Sale, Ra).  I will do my best to give my own thoughts a small review per-se and whom I think will like the game and if it’s a good family etc, game.

I can’t stress enough to everyone, game game game! Board gaming is not only fun for everyone but a great way to spend some QT with the family and the significant other. So for now Keep on rolling those dice, and playing those cards!

GJ out.

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