See what I did there?  :)

Yes, with these newfangled video games, with their shiny graphics, motion-controls, and epic stories, it’s easy to forget how it all started: board games.  Or, as I prefer to call it, tabletop gaming; said term includes board games, card games, and role-playing games.  These “analog” games may look boring and unattractive against Rock Band and Halo 3, but there’s a reason why Monopoly, Risk, Connect Four, and countless other board games have been around forever; why Dungeons and Dragons is in its fourth edition; why ancient kings worked out battle strategies over chess.  They have all the benefits of video games–mental stimulation, narrative interaction, and endless recreational value–with absolutely zero technological limitations and a high degree of social interaction–higher even than video games, because you must interact with others to play tabletop games.  Did I also mention they’re cheaper?

Here are some classic tabletop games and how to use them at your library.

Dungeons and Dragons

Here it is: the father of all things geek and gaming.  Relevant not only because of its pop culture significance but also because of its unlimited possibilities for blending gaming and narrative, Dungeons and Dragons is at the core of many successful library gaming programs.  Not only is it a fun game that lets players stretch their imaginative muscles, it serves as an effective blank canvas to work any number of literacy skills.  Want to help teens learn how to use an electronic database?  Incorporate that into a quest!  Do you have a group of teens that love to write creatively?  Let them keep journals in-character, detailing their adventures.   There is just so much to say about D&D, I’m going to have to write a post dedicated to it alone.  Stay tuned!

Settlers of Catan

One of the first German-style board games to achieve popularity outside of Europe, Settlers of Catan derives its game play mechanics from economics and diplomacy.  Players are attempting to colonize an island, and through dice rolls, special game play abilities, and open negotiation with other players, they collect resources, build cities and roads, and raise armies.  While players are competing to win, it’s not the kind of hardcore competitive game to which veterans of Monopoly and Risk are accustomed.  Settlers of Catan depends on the players working together as much as it depends on them working against each other.  With numerous expansions available, it’s easy to build an ongoing library program off of this game alone.  It’s a great game for players of all ages and experience levels, because it creates an even, friendly atmosphere.  And please: don’t let my brief description fool you.  It’s an inherently simple game that grows more and more complex as it goes on.

The beautiful thing about this game is that it gives players an illustration of economic and social development they can’t get from a history book; it’s easy to talk about civilizations having to get along with each other for the betterment of all, even as each individual civilization strives to be on top, but to see those principles in action, even on a very small scale, really drives the point home.

Pictureka

The game that helped launch ALA’s first-ever National Gaming Day, Pictureka is one of the biggest hits here at Wayne County Public Library.  Players gather around a 3 X 3 grid of boards, filled with whimsical drawings of objects and characters.  They are tasked with hunting down specific pictures, with a variety of conditions determined by dice rolls and cards.  The first player to find a predetermined number of pictures wins.

Pictureka is very flexible.  It can be adapted for team play or to make games longer or shorter.  With a some poster board, index cards, and markers, one could even make their own version of the game, or you can adapt the game play principles into a library scavenger hunt (something I plan to do soon).  The programming possibilities expand beyond the actual board game for this title, and it can easily entail information literacy.

Magic: the Gathering

You’re likely familiar with the customizable (sometimes referred to as collectible) card games Pokemon and Yu-Gi-Oh.  This is the game that started it all.  Magic: the Gathering was the first game blend the hobby of trading cards with the hobby of gaming, and it’s still going strong.

If you’re not familiar with how a CCG works, here’s how.  Players often buy a starter set, which has enough to play a game.  This starter set can be expanded on buy purchasing booster packs.  Each game has its own set of rules on how to construct a deck for game play.

While this game looks about as the opposite of democratic as you can get (players who have access to the best selection of cards, usually those who can afford to buy lots of booster packs), there’s still a heap of potential for library programming here.  Simply opening your doors and posting a sign that says “Magic: the Gathering Club, Wednesdays, 6-8″ is a start.  Avid players will show up, and may even bring their friends out.  You might be able to buy some starter packs, possibly some boosters as well, to use as attendance incentives (if you have a budget for gaming equipment, this is a great way to use it–especially if you’re in that end-of-the-fiscal-year crunch).  The game essentially casts players as dueling wizards, so don’t be afraid to throw in some costume or fiction contests while you’re at it.

…and then there’s everything else!

I could (and just might, one day) write a book on board games in libraries.  There is just so much potential there, and librarians run the risk of missing out on it if they focus too heavily on video games.  There’s a wealth of board games out there, and they’re all versatile (“house rules,” anyone) and encourage social interaction.  Be sure to check out Board Games with Scott if you want to educate yourself on the many, many great games out there.  Scott Nicholson is an ALA Gaming Expert panelist, Director of the Library Game Lab at Syracuse University School of Information Studies, and an all-around nice guy whom I’ve had the pleasure of coming across a couple of times in my professional travels.  To call him a tabletop gaming expert is a gross understatement; to say “if he can’t teach it, you don’t need to know it” is more accurate.  And as always, you can’t do gaming without being a gamer yourself, so PLAY!

I’m a veteran video gamer myself, having cut my teeth on Super Mario Bros. and Street Fighter II, but I’ll readily admit that nothing beats a marathon session of Dungeons and Dragons where the players are using their imaginations to help shape the narrative of the game in a way that no video game could allow; it’s equally hard to beat helping a smiling child learn how to play In A Pickle–even if he is making up the rules as he goes along.