“Yeah sure.”
I wonder how many decisions have been made with that utterance, “yeah sure.” Because of its simultaneous passivity and explicit affirming license, it may open the door to anything from revolutions to meal choices to college tabletop gaming clubs.
This “yeah sure” was a matter of the latter. Ever since a bored Joshua Roberts, now a senior psychology major, received the aforementioned generic affirmation from his roommate in the fall of 2019, he would work to make the tabletop game club an environment in which anyone could meet new faces while having fun.
“We didn’t have enough people who were readily available to play routinely. I said ‘Okay. Let’s go see if there is a club for it,’ and lo and behold, there wasn’t,” said Roberts. “After two semesters of hard work getting that set up, here we are.”
It was initially a struggle to keep the club going. Membership was meager, promotion was sparse and new faces were few. In Bowld 247, a small cadre of five practiced their close and connective fun for a full year.
“In the beginning, it was very slow. We had maybe five people show up for the first two semesters. But between the latter half of last year and this semester so far, we’ve exploded into a solid 10 minimum up to 15 total. We also host a separate D&D group, which brings in another 10. We’ve gone from maybe five people in a room to maybe 30 overall,” said Roberts.
It was an accurate estimation. When I joined the club’s second meeting, 12 others showed. The crowd was both exactly what I expected and contrastingly personal. Board games have an interesting effect on people, especially deception-based ones like what we played that evening. Some players quiet down. Some crack all the jokes. Some always strictly adhere to the rules, and some are always totally lost. The very specific draw of simulated cerebral conflict played out upon a surface of bright primary colors splits into surprising variations of character, all of which can approach the tabletop equally.
“If you like board games, and you want to meet new people, and you just want to have fun, then this is the place for you. It doesn’t matter if you are the most awkward person or the most extroverted person—we have both. Come on down and have some fun,” Roberts said.
Most people who I talked to were new to the club. Several were freshmen who heard about it through the grapevine, one had attended the first meeting and enjoyed it. One wasn’t a Union student but had driven his friend to the event. They were all new faces to me. Because of the laidback and informal nature of the gathering, it was a refreshingly organic introduction to all parties. I found myself learning people’s names an hour after having accused them of committing despicable acts in fiction.
One of the biggest things we really wished people understood is the fact that the tabletop club is all about meeting people,” said Roberts. “Everybody who comes in, for the most part, doesn’t really know each other beforehand. It allows some unique new friendships, especially for the freshmen. They’re able to come in and meet new people that they otherwise wouldn’t.”
Rachel Smith, co-leader of the club along with Roberts and Bailey Smith, ended the evening with an exhortation for future attendance. Anyone can come. The founders will always be there, the games will always be there, the food will always be there and, most importantly, new faces will always be there.
The tabletop game club meets every Friday from 7-9 p.m. in Bowld 247.
