Give and Take

Our beautiful little part of the world of board gaming is growing day bay day. More and more people congregate and get a glimpse of this fun hobby. The very premise of give and take emanates in every aspect of the hobby. From the mechanics, community and industry.

To enjoy the hobby one must give:

  1. Raine playing Nations Dice GameTime: There literally thousands of great board games available to play at this very instant. A light-to-medium game normally runs for an hour. The heavy ones can even go to up to 3 to 6 hrs. Whether one games in one of the new and hip board game cafes popping-up all over the metro, or simply game with office-mates, friends or family on game-night, one must make time to play.
  2. Knowledge: Learning these thousands of games are a daunting task. Not to worry we can all share the journey. Part of the fun of board gaming is teaching or being taught something new. Seeing the different gears and levers to pull, characters to work with, the excitement of trying out a game for the first time is always a rush.
  3. Budget: One has to spend to get quality experiences. These boxes of cardboard and wooden bits are valued not only for their components but the idea behind the scenes. Modern board game designers start often with an experience or lesson in mind, something they wish to impart to those who will delve into their game. Like a secret message only to be unlocked once a game has gone full circle.
  4. Patience: Waiting for ones turn, waiting for players to arrive, waiting for someone stuck in analysis paralysis with the plethora of options in front of them, to the diverse characters and attitudes, this hobby needs an extended patience to say the least.
  5. Effort: To grow the community one needs to do their part in sharing and inviting people into the fold. A growing community means a healthy industry. A strong economy leads to more events, investors, support and conventions! Everybody here in the Philippines dreams of epic sized board game conventions like, GenCon and Essen, and someday with the help YOU, we will have one too!

Our takeaways:

  1. Q&VInstagramNBConnections: Getting a chance to play with a new group gives you more chances to connect to more people. On of our contributors recently visited Cebu and visited playgroups there. He extends the warm welcome they gave him to an open invitation to our game group at Manila. In the same conversation, he learned about two more playgroups forming, open for gamers to visit and join. I still have that dream of cataloging all the game groups in the Philippines. So if YOU want your game group posted here, drop us a message in our FB page and we’ll get you sorted out.
  2. Friends: Gaming with people is a great way to find friends. The open nature of the hobby welcomes all sorts of individuals looking for a haven to express their own sense of geek. Not much need for small-talk as one starts engaging into a conversation that’s relevant to the game.
  3. Skills: There are many skills learned from board games, mostly positive, at the very least are office pertinent skills. Kids to adults practice their arithmetic, logic and reasoning from the simplest to the most complex games. There are games too of silly fun, teaching the valuable skill of enjoying the moment.
  4. Stories: Every game night is a new story, new experience and another memory to laugh about over drinks. It is not just the stories in the games themselves but the stories of the people one plays with. From struggles to successes, anecdotes being piled up for years to come.
  5. Respite: Our society is full of stress. Whether one is a student mulling over exams week, office people dreading Mondays like clockwork, we are all taking a toll from this results driven world. Board gaming makes wonderful pockets of time where one can step out of their busy mind and relish those instances the game mechanics click.

Playgroup Tuesdays

Until next time, remember to always make your gaming count.