EYEL1NER
Member
I looked around and saw that there was no TableTop Day thread, so I figured I'd create a quick one and give those who were unaware of when it is (or even that it exists) a heads up.
WHAT IS INTERNATIONAL TABLETOP DAY?
International TableTop Day is a day created to celebrate tabletop gaming, support the stores people game at, and spend time playing games with your friends or meeting new people who play board games. It was created by the Geek & Sundry Youtube Channel/Production Company (which hosts the Wil Weaton-fronted board game series Tabletop) in 2013. Game stores around the world host events on TableTop Day and invite seasoned gamers and noobs alike to come in partake in some board gaming. Geek & Sundry livestreams games throughout the day, but they also assist with promoting events on their website and distribute kits to retailers which contain promotional items to be given away, won in tournaments, etc (kits usually contain things like promo cards, exclusive playmats, TableTop-exclusive versions of games, and more). Online game stores typically have big sales (Amazon's was on Monday, with their idea being that your newly-purchased games would have arrived in time for you to play them in TT Day).
WHO PARTICIPATES IN TABLETOP DAY?
The TableTop Day site hosts a list of game stores and game groups who have registered their events. You can find the search tool at the top of the page here: https://www.tabletopday.com. Just an FYI: There doesn't seem to be a way to extend the search out by a wider amount of miles than whatever the default is, so if you don't have any game stores close to you but want to find the nearest event in say, the next city over, you may need to search that city. I chose my zip code and it couldn't find the event that I am going to attend at a game store an hour away in Columbia.
Here is the TableTop Day site: https://www.tabletopday.com
They have an FAQ, their own better worded "What is TableTop Day" statement, and more there.
I've only been to one TT Day event and that was back in 2014, four months after I had gotten into board games. I went to a game store for the first time, the same one I will go to tomorrow, with the intention to look around, see what was going on, and maybe buy something. I am not the most social person, not very outgoing at all (board games have gotten me out of my shell a bit, mainly only when playing or talking about games though). I saw that some people arrived early and were about to start playing Smash Up with the intention of winning a prize relating to the game. I had played it a few times before and liked it quite a bit. I hovered around for a few minutes watching them set up before someone said "Would you like to grab a chain and join in?" I said "Sure." 15 hours later I was leaving the store, having played over a dozen games and met some really friendly/cool people. I didn't even realize until I was leaving at 3AM that I hadn't eaten that day! I didn't realize I was hungry because I was having so much fun. I played a few games that went on to become favorites of mine; one I was introduced to that day is tied for my favorite of all-time, the worker placement game Alien Frontiers. I've been part of a local Star Wars: X-Wing Miniatures game group since May and just started playing the Star Wars: Armada miniatures game, and will be taking all of my minis with me and playing matches of both of those games all day.
So my TT Day experience is pretty limited but I've been to more than a few games stores since then and have joined a game group this year that meets weekly. If you don't know how to play any games, or think you might want to get into the hobby but don't know where to start, or are intimidated and think 'I don't know anything about it and I won't know anyone there,' don't worry about it! People want to play games at these things and "other people to play with" are a requirement for most games. If you look even the slightest bit interested, someone will volunteer to teach you the game so you can play it together. There may also be people there who showed up with the sole intention of demoing games to people and not even really playing themselves; I know the event I'm going to will have someone demoing games all day, as well as someone who will be demoing some RPGs, and the Columbia GO Club will be there teaching Go to people as well. If you don't have any plans for tomorrow, why don't you look up a store or group in your area, check out the it FB page real quick, and then go have a good time playing some board games?
If you can't make it out tomorrow but are still interested in tabletop gaming, check out the community thread we have here: New Board Gaming |OT2| On Tables, Off Topic . There is also a Warhammer 40K thread, a generic miniatures gaming thread, several DnD/RPG threads, n X-Wing thread on Gaming Side, and more. Feel free to pop into any of them. The Board Gaming thread is pretty great about giving recommendations for all kinds of play counts, play styles, interests, etc. If anyone from BoardGameGAF thinks I've forgotten something important or missed something, please bring it to my attention and I'll update this post.
WHAT IS INTERNATIONAL TABLETOP DAY?
International TableTop Day is a day created to celebrate tabletop gaming, support the stores people game at, and spend time playing games with your friends or meeting new people who play board games. It was created by the Geek & Sundry Youtube Channel/Production Company (which hosts the Wil Weaton-fronted board game series Tabletop) in 2013. Game stores around the world host events on TableTop Day and invite seasoned gamers and noobs alike to come in partake in some board gaming. Geek & Sundry livestreams games throughout the day, but they also assist with promoting events on their website and distribute kits to retailers which contain promotional items to be given away, won in tournaments, etc (kits usually contain things like promo cards, exclusive playmats, TableTop-exclusive versions of games, and more). Online game stores typically have big sales (Amazon's was on Monday, with their idea being that your newly-purchased games would have arrived in time for you to play them in TT Day).
WHO PARTICIPATES IN TABLETOP DAY?
The TableTop Day site hosts a list of game stores and game groups who have registered their events. You can find the search tool at the top of the page here: https://www.tabletopday.com. Just an FYI: There doesn't seem to be a way to extend the search out by a wider amount of miles than whatever the default is, so if you don't have any game stores close to you but want to find the nearest event in say, the next city over, you may need to search that city. I chose my zip code and it couldn't find the event that I am going to attend at a game store an hour away in Columbia.
Here is the TableTop Day site: https://www.tabletopday.com
They have an FAQ, their own better worded "What is TableTop Day" statement, and more there.
I've only been to one TT Day event and that was back in 2014, four months after I had gotten into board games. I went to a game store for the first time, the same one I will go to tomorrow, with the intention to look around, see what was going on, and maybe buy something. I am not the most social person, not very outgoing at all (board games have gotten me out of my shell a bit, mainly only when playing or talking about games though). I saw that some people arrived early and were about to start playing Smash Up with the intention of winning a prize relating to the game. I had played it a few times before and liked it quite a bit. I hovered around for a few minutes watching them set up before someone said "Would you like to grab a chain and join in?" I said "Sure." 15 hours later I was leaving the store, having played over a dozen games and met some really friendly/cool people. I didn't even realize until I was leaving at 3AM that I hadn't eaten that day! I didn't realize I was hungry because I was having so much fun. I played a few games that went on to become favorites of mine; one I was introduced to that day is tied for my favorite of all-time, the worker placement game Alien Frontiers. I've been part of a local Star Wars: X-Wing Miniatures game group since May and just started playing the Star Wars: Armada miniatures game, and will be taking all of my minis with me and playing matches of both of those games all day.
So my TT Day experience is pretty limited but I've been to more than a few games stores since then and have joined a game group this year that meets weekly. If you don't know how to play any games, or think you might want to get into the hobby but don't know where to start, or are intimidated and think 'I don't know anything about it and I won't know anyone there,' don't worry about it! People want to play games at these things and "other people to play with" are a requirement for most games. If you look even the slightest bit interested, someone will volunteer to teach you the game so you can play it together. There may also be people there who showed up with the sole intention of demoing games to people and not even really playing themselves; I know the event I'm going to will have someone demoing games all day, as well as someone who will be demoing some RPGs, and the Columbia GO Club will be there teaching Go to people as well. If you don't have any plans for tomorrow, why don't you look up a store or group in your area, check out the it FB page real quick, and then go have a good time playing some board games?
If you can't make it out tomorrow but are still interested in tabletop gaming, check out the community thread we have here: New Board Gaming |OT2| On Tables, Off Topic . There is also a Warhammer 40K thread, a generic miniatures gaming thread, several DnD/RPG threads, n X-Wing thread on Gaming Side, and more. Feel free to pop into any of them. The Board Gaming thread is pretty great about giving recommendations for all kinds of play counts, play styles, interests, etc. If anyone from BoardGameGAF thinks I've forgotten something important or missed something, please bring it to my attention and I'll update this post.
