Two years after an inaugural gathering, Fleetwood Neighbourhood Board Gamers is gaining momentum as a group, founded on Facebook by Holly Quinn back in May 2023.
"There were two of us," she reported. "Well, 2.5 because another guy came but we didn't recognize each other and he left."
Now the group of gamers meets at Green Timbers Pub every second Thursday, 6 p.m. start.
"There are board game groups that meet regularly all over Metro Vancouver," Quinn said. "What sets our group apart, and what I really love about it, is that most of our regulars were not gamers when they joined. They were people of diverse ages and backgrounds who were looking for connection and to try something new. We've built a little community, and we're always growing."
Quinn has been playing hobby board games for close to 20 years, and has a pretty extensive collection. She didn't play often, though, because her gaming friends were spread out geographically and schedules were difficult to align.
Inspired by the popularity of online "Buy Nothing" groups, she launched Fleetwood Neighbourhood Board Gamers.
One challenge has been finding suitable meeting space. Most restaurants require a minimum spend for a private room, and even library and community centre room rentals are too expensive when you're not sure if you'll have five people or 15, Quinn notes.
Green Timbers Pub has been a good venue for board-gaming, she says.
"They let us have plenty of space, and don't mind if some of us are only drinking pop. We used to get a few weird looks from other customers — I mean, a bunch of grownups cheering on wooden camels on a little racetrack with cardboard pop-up palm trees is a bit unusual. But now we're seeing other customers show up with games, and they're not even with us."
Ahead of gatherings, Quinn welcomes game requests and suggestions from group members, in democratic fashion.
A mid-April event saw people play the multi-level Holi: Festival of Colors game, which involves coloured tokens and scoring that depends on where they land.
"Generally, the people that know more about games, they'll bring something with them or suggest something," Quinn said. "Otherwise I sort of pick for the group based on what we've done before and what people have liked and also understood.
"We have a lot of people who play games only with our group, that's the only time they play, and sometimes they don't know what other games are out there. We try to introduce some new games."
Quinn says the Pandemic series is her favourite right now.
"Most hardcore gamers probably wouldn't play it, but I love that it's co-operative," she raved. "I love all co-operative games, and I like how Matt Leacock, the designer of that game, is really good at building tension and involving theme in his game design. Pandemic is basically about trying to save the planet from a global pandemic, which is a little too close to home over the last few years, but he's written several others that are distinct in story and themes, and you feel like you're in the middle of whatever story he's trying to present in a game."
