Thatcham Board Game Club seeking new players

A club in Thatcham is inviting new members to come along to try some of the many board games on offer in a friendly social environment.

One of the club’s founders, Simon Roberts explained: “It’s about moving away from standard Scrabble and Monopoly and introducing [people] to this whole world of amazing board games that’s out there. There is so much variety and choice; there are so many clever people out there creating these wonderfully beautiful and intricate games that the hobby has just expanded and exploded. There are so many alternatives to the usual Cluedo and Monopoly. We bring a whole range of games to our club.”

The club has a mixture of “light” games which can be played in 15 to 30 minutes through to games which require a lot of thought, strategy and co-operation. There are games which are competitive, games which are collaborative, games which require lots of deep thought and games which require a lot of luck.

“For me, the best games are the games that involve you interacting with other players so games like Catan which involves bartering or Bohnanza which is all about growing beanstalks and involves creating trades,” said Simon.

Simon believes that there is a certain mix of qualities in a game that make them good: “The sign of a great board game is a game that brings people together and makes them communicate but also has a bit of strategy, a bit of thought and a bit of planning in it,” he added.

Anyone can come along to the club from the age of 11 upwards. Simon describes the club as “very gentle and welcoming” and they try to introduce people to games and teach some of the more complex ones. The club even has a snack bar selling drinks, sweets and snacks.

They meet at the Moorside or Frank Hutchins Hall usually on Saturday evenings from 7:30 PM where people can expect a warm welcome.

The next sessions are:

May 23rd at Moorside Community Hall

June 27th at Moorside Community Hall

July 25th at Moorside Community Hall

The Thatcham Board Game club can be contacted on their club Facebook page