What to Play?
In my opinion the first item on your agenda you’ll want to address is just what are you hoping to play with your gang? If you’re into Euro games you want to make sure that’s very clear when you begin to get the word out about your group. The same applies if you’re looking to play only Advanced Squad Leader, or D&D, or Scrabble, or anything else; you don’t want to mislead people into thinking that they’ll be playing Clue when you’re setting out to get more people to play Twilight Imperium. You’ll want to try to be a firm believer in truth in advertising and, if I can toss out a phrase that I’ve become intimately familiar with in my sales career, always under promise and over deliver! If you’re a miniature wargamer, a grognard, a family or party gamer, or open to anything and everything take a minute to point that out.
Focus on what you like to play but always keep an open mind to playing something new or different. That’s not to say that you should invest a lot of time and effort trying to convert people, who play games that are in no way similar to your interests, to the cause. That falls into the argument of “how to convert non-gamers” and that’s a completely different subject that I’m not prepared to tackle at the moment. Yet, if you want to have a successful gaming gang, you have to be willing to broaden your horizons because people like to play their own games too! If you only play Carcassonne then you might be best served creating a Carcassonne group… Or a Euro Game group. If you want to be all inclusive then be all inclusive! If you want to have a narrow focus then your best bet will be to keep a narrow focus. Pretty easy there wouldn’t you say? But if you are looking for specific niche gamers make sure people know that right up front.
Stick to Your Guns!
Having just written that you want to keep an open mind I will also point out that you want to stay firm regarding what you’re looking to play. My experience has shown me that whenever you start to invest time, effort, and (at times) money into getting a gang together you’re going to have an individual, here or there, who are going to attempt to glom on in an attempt to steer your fledgling group into a radically different direction. I’m not kidding! This is going to happen, especially if you’re the type of person who thinks outside the box when it comes to your approach.
I hate being put in the position where I have to say, “Um… We’re here to play boardgames, not Bunco…”
If you have no interest in Magic: The Gathering, don’t allow anyone to drag your get together down that path. I’m not saying people shouldn’t be allowed to play M:TG when you have your gaming meet ups (or that Magic isn’t a good game) but if that’s not the focus of what you’re putting together, don’t let someone else make it into a Magic group. I’m not ripping on gamers at all but you’d be very surprised on how many will grasp at any opportunity to jump your train, in order to reroute it to their purposes – getting people to play their niche game! Maybe they don’t have the same commitment (or social skills) that you possess, so they want to play to your audience you’re growing. Do your best to keep things chugging along in the direction you’d like to. And for those looking to change what games you’re playing? Be polite but also remind them that if they were so gung ho about their own interests or hobbies then they could have gone to the same kind of effort, like you’ve invested, in promoting what they like.
I’m sure you’d rather have a good core of six-ten people who dig the same kinds of games that you do as opposed to 20-30 who don’t! Once again, it’s being honest with yourself as to what your gaming tastes are. If there are people who want to learn more about your sort of games or enjoy them as well they will show up!
So make sure you know what you’re looking to play and prepare to start playing! You’ll probably be pleasantly surprised that you aren’t the only person in town who digs playing “XYZ” game. At the same time keep an open mind to giving your fellow gang members a chance to introduce their favorite games to the group as well – without straying too far off why you wanted to get people together in the first place. Not only will you be a great host but you’ll also get to try out a lot of games you might not have had a chance to before.
Coming up next time?
Getting the Word Out!
I’m keeping an eye on this series. Building up the game-playing community is always on my mind.
I’ll talk at more length on Monday’s podcast and then post some more thoughts later next week.