I know the rules to over 500 different boardgames.
After leaving teaching 7 years ago, I started my boardgames business – I take a selection of boardgames along to weddings, parties, pubs, team building, festivals and corporate socials and then I teach and recommend games to people. The initial aim was to get more people playing boardgames together. It soon became apparent that boardgames are a great tool for tackling social isolation.
Reading the rules is the most boring bit of playing games so I decided that I should learn all the rules, that way people can play straightaway. It also means no time is wasted arguing over how games are played or what the rules mean. I’ve described my brain as a dilapidated mind-palace. Only the boardgames room is still intact!
I grew up playing boardgames with my much older siblings (there’s a twelve year gap between me and my nearest sister). It was a way to spend time with them despite the age gap: a fun activity we could share. In the 80s we had about 5 games in the cupboard Connect 4, Guess Who, Kan-U-Go, Boggle and Escape from Atlantis. It was enough. Whereas now there are so many more titles available – I like to collect unusual ones that I think people might not know.
When we went on holiday we always took a pack of cards. We used to play card games in the caravan – gambling for pennies. If we played outside the caravan Mum made us take a box of counters she’d bought so that people wouldn’t think we were gambling. I still have that box of shiny red counters.
I did an event at an old people’s home and one of the staff pointed out two women who ‘never join in. They’ve got dementia. They just sit – they’re fine.’ I took them Connect 4 and set it up in front of them, they picked up the counters and took turns slotting them in. When it was full, they emptied it and took turns again. Neither of them spoke, they just played. It’s moments like that which convince me of the power of boardgames.
I realised that it wasn’t just me who had fond childhood memories of playing boardgames together. Part of my collection is retro and vintage games and people love reminiscing – they had the exact same copy or they always played it at their grandma’s.
Far from being a dying hobby, the boardgames industry is growing year on year. The global boardgames market estimated to be worth between $12 and $13 billion. The pandemic played its part in encouraging us to put down our phones and reconnect and that’s what boardgames enable us to do.
I get a lot of people coming on their own to my events. The prospect of going to an event on your own can be daunting. Because you are sharing an activity you have a ready-made topic of conversation, the requirement for eye contact is significantly reduced because it’s fine to listen and play while looking down at your hand of cards or the board. I’m always delighted when people come on their own to my events because I know how much it takes.
I absolutely love teaching people boardgames and listening to the laughter, the heated discussions, and seeing people connecting over a game. I’m so lucky to have been able to turn my hobby and my geeky ability to learn lots of rules into my job!