Gillian writes...

It's no surprise that the IMDB of the boardgaming world is called Board Game Geek. The double meaning encapsulates two defining aspects to the hobby - that getting seriously into games involves dedication, passion and obsession, and that to the wider world, board gaming has the coolness cachet of Derek Jameson.

Derek Jameson shown top middle.

Telling workmates, friends and strangers that you are 'into boardgames' will provoke one of two reactions - they tell you that they really liked Connect Four as a child and then swiftly ask you what your views are on that local sports team, or they start reflexively thinking 'MONTY PYTHON DUNGEONS AND DRAGONS BUFFY ARGH ARGH BACK AWAY BACK AWAY' and tease you about it. I work in a pretty trendy industry and so telling people I was going to a 'games night' didn't seem that out of the ordinary - in the land of discussions on celebrity surgery, foodieness and tales of Ibizan exploits, I already seem a bit geeky. I spend lunchtimes sewing or reading about obscure things on Metafilter. I collect Asian fashion dolls, even if I always say it's for photography purposes. I've been binging on outsider music for the past few months and laugh in the face of anyone who tells me that 'you won't have heard of the music I like.' (Alan accuses me of being willfully obscure - to which I counter that the last mp3 I downloaded was by Passion Pit.) I read New Stitches on the bus instead of Cosmo or Closer. I am the go-to girl for the odd questions that come up during the course of work, because I like to stuff my brain with knowledge.

Yet, that's geekiness according to the mainstream. I spent a lot of my university years hanging out with proper, bona-fide geeks - people who tucked their T-shirt into jeans and made jokes about programming languages - as they were far better company than people woarghing on about how much they'd drunk and took the night before. Now, when you walk with the geeks it can be a shock to realise that you are merely a simulcrum of nerdiness. Your glasses are the kind of 'geek glasses' that only hipsters wear - real geeks wear the ones with a bar across the top like my dad's. You listen to artistes other than Queen and Meatloaf. You can't get on with fantasy fiction, and hear every line of The Life of Brian before you see a single frame. None of this, however, matters because the characteristic of geeks everywhere is that they are genuinely passionate about something, and there's very little more attractive or charismatic than that. 'Ironically' pretending to like things? Detachment? Don't waste my time, it's a short life.

The image of boardgaming remains offputtingly geeky to some. Alan and I have been trying to get friends interested in playing so that we can try out games which involve more than two players, but even in a world where local pubs have Monopoly on the counter and Scrabble has taken over Facebook, people are not keen. So trying out new games for us means going to a local gaming night. I was a bit sceptical of this at first - would it be fun? Would it be full of people who take games too seriously, making it no fun at all for beginners? Should I worry about the Magic: The Gathering poster? Will it be reminiscent of a social event in rural Saudi Arabia - no alcohol, no modern music, no women, lots of beards and a pervading smell of camels? As it happened, it was no different from spending the evening down the pub. I made Alan promise me there would be no Python-quoting, and thankfully, this happened prior to my arrival (I don't mind what Pythoneers do in the privacy of their own homes as long as they don't flaunt their lifestyle). It was great fun. We played new games, tried many out that we wouldn't normally have, and got to know people.

So, if you're unsure whether boardgaming is for you, then I recommend finding your nearest specialist store and seeing if they have gaming events. The high cost of games can also be off-putting for beginners, but a games night will give you chance to try some out and work out whether they are worth the investment - and with two cinema tickets costing as much as a game in some parts of the country, your investment can work out as a lot of fun for your money. Just don't be afraid of walking with the geeks.

Loading mentions Retweet