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New board game night activities organized at the Library

By Dan Archer Gamers set their consoles aside to gather at the Kay Cristo Room and play board games on January 25. Dillon Wilderman organized the event with people of all ages attending.
board game night

By Dan Archer

Gamers set their consoles aside to gather at the Kay Cristo Room and play board games on January 25. Dillon Wilderman organized the event with people of all ages attending.

Previously, Wilderman and his wife visited board game cafes in Regina. Board game cafes have actually become a booming trend as of late. There are gaming cafes in almost every major Canadian city from Victoria to Toronto. The Wildermans both decided it would be great to bring people together in Assiniboia to play these analogue games which haven’t been shelved for the digital era.

“We’d visited a few cafes and decided why not give it a shot?” So, the Wildermans talked with the staff at the library, who agreed to let the couple run their board game nights in the Kay Kristo Room on Fridays after the library’s closing hours.

Wilderman is hosting another board game get-together at the Kay Kristo Room tonight, February 1 from 7 to 9 p.m. More board game nights will happen in the future if the event continues to grow in popularity. Everyone is welcome to play the games available at the Kay Cristo Room, or they can bring their own.

Wilderman’s family are board game enthusiasts. Many of the games played during the first event belonged to him, including chess and the hobbyist designer games.

Widlerman explained his enthusiasm for board games in comparison to poplar computer-based diversions such as Warcraft and Minecraft. “Board games are more interactive. My son and I play video games at home, but it’s always nice to bring out these games.” Wilderman and his family prefer board games over computer games because there’s increased eye contact and a personal intimacy develops with other players.  

In 2019, board games are attaining sophistication as they progress beyond the card and dice-based diversions many of us remember as children, such as Risk or Monopoly. In December 2018, William Herkewitz wrote an article describing some of these modern hobbyist games in Popular Mechanics. In Dinosaur Island, three players compete to construct a lucrative dino park in reference to Jurassic Park. Players take turns in attempting to genetically reengineer dinosaurs. Players also hire research and marketing experts – they also construct park enclosures, shops and restaurants.

There are games with more historical roots, such as Rising Sun – a game set in medieval Japan, beginning with a tea ceremony and ending with battles held all over the board.