We are so excited to have John
Pappas here.
He comes to us as the head
librarian at the Elkins Park
free public library in
Cheltenham Township, Minnesota,
and he's joined Bybee bow, who
comes to us from Everett,
Washington, close to our
Webjunction team.
And and she is an author,
photographer, video producer and
founder of Be Bold Games.
And I think we're all set to go.
We all set to go on YouTube?
And I think, John, the only
other thing maybe is to do the
full screen, the little full
screen box in your bottom.
There we go.
Excellent.
Welcome, John!
I'll let you unmute yourself as
well.
Looks like you're still muted,
John.
I am going to go ahead and
unmute you.
OK.
>> All right.
Can you hear me?
>> I can hear you.
>> Great!
Bebo, are you there?
>> I am.
I had myself muted but I am no
longer muted.
>> I know.
So did I.
How are you, Bebo?
It's good to see you?
>> I'm great.
It's good to see you, too.
It's been a couple weeks.
>> I know.
I'm so excited to talk about
board games and libraries.
I just want to throw out there
really quick to please ask
questions in the chat.
Like questions in the chat is
the only serotonin boost I get
all day.
I've been doing curbside for
three months.
Please ask questions.
We have got slides interspersed
just to answer whatever
questions you want to throw at
us.
I think we're ready.
So we are going to talk about
online board gaming in the
library.
If you already have like a board
game group that's meeting that
has ceased meeting, this will be
an easy way to get them sort of
connected again.
If you have not had a board game
night in the library, it's
totally fine to start online
without ever having anything
before.
Like you can go right into it.
I have had monthly or weekly
board game groups and these
events, always the most
energetic, diverse and popular
ones at the library.
They are so much fun.
I was surprised that, well, on
March 11th, we had our last
board game night.
It was packed.
And everybody wanted to
play Pandemic.
We were so young and foolish
back then.
Then the quarantine came.
We were struggling to connect
with each other in a way that
we're used to.
So I started moving all of our
programming to virtual outlets.
I did Zoom book clubs, knitting
groups, open mics and board
gaming.
And board gaming has easily been
the most popular and most
dynamic of that group.
I went through a lot of
different options on online
board gaming.
We are going to just limit it to
three basic steps.
So this is like my spoiler
slide.
Like if you want to get on to
doing something else right now,
I am going to basically sum up
everything I am going to talk
about right now.
Like I am here for you.
I care.
I want you to use your time
well.
There are really only three
things you need to start.
First off is you should have a
meet-up account.
This will be used to set up your
events and to get your initial
community together.
You should get Discord.
This helps you maintain and
nurture your community and
provide a virtual meeting place.
It's also free.
And you should crews Board Game
Arena.
It provides a variety of
accessible games in one place
with a very limited learning
curve.
It is free or there's a small
subscription if you want premium
games included.
So anyway, that's the talk.
Thank you for coming.
We started -- so I want to talk
about Zoom real quick.
I am so Zoomed out.
Zoom is like for very good
looking people on camera staring
a somewhere in the middle
ground.
It's great for scheduling
events.
It's not great for building
community.
And I think most of my
programming, and I think maybe
most of your programming as
well, is community-based.
I just don't want to schedule an
event, I want to start building
and nourish whiching --
nurturing a community.
If you already have Zoom and you
want to schedule like a single
event, go for it.
Like a trivia night or open mic.
But I think people play board
games and go to board game
meetups to socialize.
They're there to be with other
people.
I want my events to be about
building communities.
It's all about people talking
and laughing and sharing stuff
around a table whether like in
real life or virtually.
So I think it's really important
to keep that social aspect of
board games in play.
So that said, I don't like using
Zoom and I don't use it for my
board gaming nights.
It just doesn't do the right
thing for me.
Instead I already spoiled this,
I prefer Discord.
This is a chat app similar to
Skype or Slack.
It's geared towards video game
providers providing them with
ways to connect, coordinate with
each other, and talk while
playing.
It supports video calls, voice
chat, and text.
And it really helps build my
board gaming community.
Everyone, it's the hub of
everything that we do.
Will while Zoom feels a little
like a tool to facilitate an
event, this feels like a place
where people can gather and
converse.
They have a lot of agency
on Discord.
For example, you can set up
different text and voice chat
rooms.
I have voice channels for three
different tables.
So people who are playing
different games can find a voice
channel and meet right there.
It lets you have a much larger
group playing games.
We can have like three or four
different tables, people
conversing, people playing
different stuff.
We also have different text
channels.
My personal favorite is dear
person please take your turn.
We get a lot of asynchronous
play.
So when people are having a game
played over several days, we
found that a lot of our general
chat was turned into people
telling everybody what their
turn was so we just made a
specific channel for.
It's easily my favorite channel.
Since we're building a
community, I think it's
important to have a code of
conduct.
I think Bebo could speak to this
as well.
>> Yes.
>> I have two basic questions.
And these are the ones I use for
my board game meet-up in person
night.
And I carried it over to our
virtual nights.
The two questions are, do you
agree to a gaming space that is
also a safe space?
Where a person or category of
people can feel confident that
they will not be exposed to
discrimination, criticism,
harassment, or any other
emotional or physical harm.
Second question, do you agree to
honor and use an individual's
pronouns?
Really simple.
Straight off the bat.
The answer is yes, yes.
And you are good to go.
If the answer is yes/no or
no/yes or no/no.
It's a good spot to say I don't
think this group is going to be
a good fit.
And move on.
So far it has kept my community
healthy and accessible and
friendly and I have rarely had
any issues.
Bebo, I know this is a big one
for you.
Do you have anything to add to
that?
>> Just in general, a code of
conduct means nothing if you
don't enforce it.
And that even means enforcing it
with people that you like.
And that's really important to
hold everybody to that standard
and hold them accountable.
That doesn't necessarily mean
punishing anybody.
It just means having a
conversation and making sure
that everybody knows going in
that an open dialogue is
critical to maintaining a
healthy community.
>> That is awesome.
So recognizing and addressing
problematic behavior, exactly.
In discord, usual set up your
mod Denver ration settings.
I usually have them pretty low
because I spend a lot of time
actually on the site and
moderating stuff as it happens.
I agree that you should
recognize and address
problematic behavior quickly.
And address it quickly.
Personally, what I tend to do
is, if someone is, I think,
going against behavior policy
is, I mute them and then send
them a direct message explaining
what behavior I'm finding
problematic.
And if it continues, I just go
ahead and ban and block as
needed.
Honestly, it's rarely been
needed.
The only time I've actively had
to ban someone from our Discord
channel is a person who had a
homophobic slur as their screen
name.
It was quickly called identity,
brought to my attention, and I
banned the person from the
group.
>> John?
>> Yes.
>> This is Jennifer.
There have been already a lot of
questions.
So I just, before we move on,
thought maybe we could touch on
a code of conduct and then also
the platform questions.
A great question someone asked,
why where do you put the code of
conduct?
Is it something that has to be
filled out before entering?
When do you connect with them on
code of conduct?
>> That's a grate question.
So for everything goes through
meet-up first.
Meet-up did a pretty good job of
providing the ability to meet
digitally.
So anything that links to
our Discord goes through
meet-up.
I schedule events there.
When you join the meet-up, it
has -- you have the option of
asking questions.
And those are the two questions
I ask.
And when they answer them, I
consider that them agreeing to
our code of conduct '.
>> OK.
Excellent.
There was a question, a couple
questions actually about meet-up
as you began.
In terms of charge for meet-up
sounded like for more than 50
people in your group, someone
posted to chat that it's around
$200 a year or free for smaller
groups.
Can you talk a little bit?
I know you have been using
meet-up for years.
>> I know.
I'm going to go right ahead my
next slide is on meet-up.
Meet-up is, I think it's running
me somewhere between like $125 a
year.
For the size that I have it.
I know their pricing scale has
changed here and there.
It is one of the few things that
I think is well worth money for
programming.
Meet-up does a great job of
pushing your events towards
people in your community that
will be interested in it.
I think it does a lot of the
promotion and marketing for us.
When I start a meet-up group,
after it's been approved, it
will take maybe about a week,
and I will usually get between
50 and 60 people within our
community joined up.
And it will generally grow
pretty steadily from there.
So there is a cost to it but I
think it's worth it.
We also use it for knitting
groups and LGBTQ groups and a
book club.
We had a quarantine book club at
the beginning.
And we use meet-up for all of
those.
>> Excellent.
There were a number of, a lot of
people chimed in and said that
their library has said they
can't use Discord.
So people might need some
talking points on how to
pitch Discord as a helpful tool
for hosting an evening.
>> I think Bebo can speak to
this as well.
I think you can lock down
discord pretty tightly if you
need to.
And I have not -- I have had
more difficulty with security in
Zoom than I have in discord.
>> Yup.
>> That's an alternative as
well.
>> Which one?
>>  Slack is a really good
alternative tokiss cord if
people find discord ton a little
confusing.
It know it can be intimidating
Ilgauskas it is so customizable
but there is a free version
of Slack in that's easier to
manage.
>> Excellent.
>> And if you are having
difficulty with your
administration using discord, I
know sometimes those walls are
difficult to breach.
Board Game Arena where I play
most of our games has its own
has its own video and audio
occupations.
It's not as good as Discord but
it's enough to get buy.
It would limit the scope of your
events.
But you could still have some
pretty good events just using
Board Game Arena.
>> Excellent.
And I know there are already
questions about gaming
platforms.
So I know John is going to cover
all of that.
>> We will get to gaming
platforms.
Real quick with meet-up, I
generally do weekly game nights.
Sometimes I'll do a couple a
week.
I generally feature a game.
I think it's really good to have
like an easy access for people
who may not have played anything
to be able to say, I'm playing 7
Wonders or Sushi Go tonight.
It gives a little direction
rather than just being, hey, we
are going to get-together and
play games.
You will get the digital of
people wandering aimlessly in a
library community room trying to
figure out what they're supposed
to do.
So I usually give really
specific examples of what we are
going to be doing.
So, for example, we are going to
play board games, we are going
to play 7 Wonders at Board Game
Arena and I usually recommend
that they register before hand
and send me their screen name so
that I can get them friended
really quickly.
I've had board game nights
through meet-up that have been
very well attended and I have
some that were like minimally
attended.
I think it will vary.
You will figure out sort of what
your sweet spot is.
A lot of us are doing remote
working right now so I generally
schedule these four when I am
going to be home in the evening
instead of doing curbside at the
library.
Also we have got a pretty good
membership at our board game
meet-up and that's been about
two and a half years of, you
know, curation and events.
I apologize for all of the tabs
I have open on that screen shot.
So meet-up changed a little bit
since everyone was in
quarantine.
They use a link to online
meeting spaces like Discord or
Zoom.
I usually set my link setting to
not expire as far as time but to
expire after a certain number of
uses.
It usually gets enough people
attending that I can handle it
at one time.
So just as a general tip when
you're doing your meet-up
groups.
I usually let it expire after a
number of uses.
And usually I think it's like 10
or 25 depending on what I think
is going to arrive.
I did have a question slide.
Did we have any more questions
about stuff?
>> Let's see.
There was a question about
whether or not your gaming
events are all ages.
And a second question related to
that.
With the digital divide, do you
feel like the senior set needs a
different sort of set of on
boarding as well?
>> Those are such good
questions!
So I generally do adult or teen
programs generally skewed a
little more towards adults.
So I have not done all ages
virtually.
Bebo just mentioned something
about all ages Discord which
sounds amazing so I think we may
try to explore it.
The difficulty for me is really
keeping, figuring out a way to
keep an all ages open community
well moderated and safe.
Especially if we're talking
about having kids involved.
So, no, usually adults or teens.
What was that other question?
>> Well, I---
>> Oh, digital divide.
>> Someone asked about older
adults.
>> We have always got a wide
array of ages at our board game
nights in real life and
digitally.
I have do not find that age is a
good indicator of a person's
ability to adapt and play some
of these games.
I think with guidance, Board
Game Arena has a learning curve
that's easy to approach no
matter the age of the person.
So I have not seen a lot of
that.
I have had a few individuals of
varying ages have a difficult
time with either Board Game
Arena or Discord.
But it's kind of a rare event.
I also will, if a person is
unsure and it's their first time
and meet-up is great because you
can converse and talk in the
comment section of your event.
If a person is completely new, I
will sometimes like Guam them
through it and give them a
little bit more one on one time
to get them set up.
But really I think across the
board, everyone does a pretty
good job.
And we get all ages.
All adult ages.
I'm sorry.
I shouldn't say all ages.
>> So there's definitely folks
that are -- this is all
completely new to them.
So can you just maybe review, it
kind of sounds like you are
talking about, so far you have
talked about two decisions that
need to be made.
One is that you choose meet-up
for -- can you just describe
what meet-up does and then the
Discord?
What Discord does just to make
sure we're on the same page.
>> So meet-up lets me create and
promote events at the library.
So I will create a meet-you have
event.
It can be, we'll just say play
board games.
We will play 7 Wonders at Board
Game Arena.
I can limit the size of people
who can RSVP.
There's a comment section below
the event.
I include links to maybe like a
video too torial.
He have -- tutorial.
I usually use meet-up primarily
to get people in the community
aware that we're doing board
game nights.
So it gets more, it markets our
events much better than we do
with usual library procedures.
Especially since we're closed to
the public and a lot of other
people are.
I don't get a lot of people
coming into the library and
checking out what we're doing.
So meet-up has been really great
at keeping these events sort of
in the public eye.
It's fairly simple.
You just create a date, range of
times, and the number of people
you want.
>> Excellent.
And so then once you've found a
way to market and connect
people, then you would move to
decisions around a platform
where they could gather?
>> Yeah.
So in the meet-up event, I
include a link to the Discord.
You can also use like a Zoom
link or whatever you're using.
And people then will generally,
you know, like half an hour, an
hour before the game night,
start popping in to Discord.
So I'm usually there and ready.
And Discord will show you when
someone arrives.
And I will say hi, you know,
Wes, how's it going.
Nice to meet you.
And sort of get people situated.
Pretty much like hosting an
event in real life.
>> Fantastic.
Yeah, I think there's a few
other questions that we can
circle back to once we talk a
little bit more about the gaming
platforms.
>> All right.
We'll start again, I'm obviously
going to recommend Board Game
Arena but we will start with a
lot of these other ones that
have pros and cons.
For example, Steam, while the
platform is free, the games are
not.
And I have had a difficult time
getting people who want to play
acquire, the same game or having
the money in order to pay for
the game.
And to play.
Also difficult to moderate.
You want most of your library
programs to be accessible.
So great games.
Great interface.
It looks amazing.
But I rarely use it.
Tabletop stimulator, you can get
this off of Steam.
Good selection of games.
Some are even free.
There's a lot.
It simulates the gaming table.
You can pick up stuff and move
it around.
It's basically like a physics
engine.
There's a huge learning curve
with the functionality on
Tabletop simulator.
You can't just pick it up and
go.
You have to learn how to
manipulate things.
Tabletopia, same thing.
It's also a simulator.
It runts on a virtual table.
All the pieces and everything is
there.
A lot of the games are free.
There's a huge learning curve.
I spent an hour just learn, how
to flip over cards.
It's so -- so clunky to use.
>> It's all about like knowing
the hot keys and there's no easy
way to learn them.
It's very frustrating to learn
on, and also at any given time,
any one of the players can just
flip the table.
Because again it's a physics
simulator.
>> People are really excited
about that whole table flipping
thing and it makes me nervous.
>> Yeah!
Because you can do it
accidentally, too.
>> So I've had a difficult time
with these different engines
because there is such a learning
curve and there's so much time
that needs to be dedicated to
teach people how to just
navigate the stuff.
So outside of testing the waters
with them, I moved quickly on to
Yucata and Boitejeux.
I think I said that right.
The interface looks so
antiquated but I swear that
makes it so much easier to use.
Like I generally don't have
people that have a difficult
time picking up exactly what
they have to do with these
games.
It's not like a Tabletop
simulator.
Everything is on rails.
You can't make mistakes.
It does all the scoring for you.
That isn't the case with
Tabletop simulator or 
Tabletopia.
It has some decent games.
Some really good beginner game.
It has Al ham bra and DIXIT and
Concordia is easily my favorite
game.
Maybe not the best one to begin
with.
These you register.
You can start tables.
It's very similar to starting
something up on Board Game 
Arena.
It's sort of skewed towards
asynchronous play.
So if you want more, in order to
play real time, you have to
constantly sort of refresh your
browser and that can be a little
bit frustrating.
But both are really good
options.
There are also some clones that
are really good.
And I generally don't recommend
clones except for the fact that
you can't copy write game
mechanics.
So as long as the artwork, text,
icons, rules, and like places
and lower aren't, are stripped
away, you can basically play the
exact same game.
And I think this is Mattel
online.
And colonist.IO.
And you can play.
>> Gary: , splendor.
A lot of really good games that
all sort have this general look
where they strip everything away
and make it really, you know,
simplify it all.
These are really good options if
you want people to play like
KAtan.
There are official sites like
dominion and code names.
These are really easy to teach
and get people started on.
They tend to have a lot of
replay value.
So you can potentially have a
co-minion or code names night
every week and people the not
get tired of it at all.
These come out really quickly.
So Board Game Arena is the one
that I generally use for most of
my gaming events.
You can set up a real time or
turn based games.
Zosyn cron Ness or asynchronous.
Retimes games all players are
online at the same time.
You generally have a few minutes
to take your turn.
You can audio chat during these
games.
Either through Discord, which I
prefer, or through Board Game
Arena.
But you have to have one person
who is a premium member.
Basically one person who pays
the subpsychiatrickion fee in
order to use that service.
>> And it's --
>> Yeah.
Something like that.
It's not that expensive.
It's totally worth it.
Honestly to get Kingdomino and 7
Wonders which are really great
games.
I think if you have difficult
with your libraries getting an
OK to use a Discord channel, I
think just using the Board Game
Arena chat and video options are
to more than adequate for what
you need them for.
>> Can I jump in and ask a
couple questions before we look
at the specific games?
>> Sure.
>> There was a question about
how many people, either can play
at a time or that you encourage
to play at a time?
>> That depends entirely on the
game.
I think some games can play as
many as, you know, 10 to 12
people.
And I think those games, you can
easily moderate one of those.
They tend to be a little bit
simpler.
I think the good meaty spot is
four or five people playing one
game.
And I think that if you are
doing this solo, maybe four to
five people is all you want to
start off with.
I find that as you start
playing, you start getting like
these like people who get really
invested in the community and in
playing.
And they will start like
teaching games and sort of
taking like a little bit more of
an active role.
And once you get a few of these
people interested, it's a lot
easier to get multiple tables up
at one time.
But I definitely think it's best
to start maybe slow with like
one table, four or five people
playing a simpler game.
>> So I think that is important
to remember, too.
People were asking about how
much you promote.
And knowing that if you are just
getting started, you maybe don't
need to think about how many
different channels you are using
to market the gaming.
It could be if you have a couple
people that are sort of your
pilot participants.
So keep that in mind if you are
just getting the started.
>> I think a great thing to do
is take meet-up and just limit
it to the amount of people
you're comfortable with.
And do all your marketing
through just do the meet-up.
I think that will give you
enough people, especially at the
beginning.
>> Excellent.
Great point.
Someone did ask if you could say
the small premium that you
mentioned again and that amount.
>> Oh, it's $24 a year.
>> OK.
Perfect.
>> And that unlocks the premium
games, the video and audio chat.
>> The big thing is Kingdomino.
>> We should talk about
Kingdomino.
Also I totally recommend if you
really want to learn, it's
really hard to sort of talk
about what Board Game Arena
looks like and how it operates.
It's really worth it just going
on there.
You don't have to subscribe or
anything.
I'm on the play now, the screen
shot shows play now.
You can pick any of those games
and it will show how many tables
are available.
You can almost jump in cold and
learn how to play as you go.
And it gives agood feel on how
everything operates.
I always recommend people play
the games before they teach them
in real life and it's totally
the same way here except it's
much, much easier and it doesn't
cost you to buy a game and then
try to play it and see if it
works for your group.
>> Excellent.
Let's keep going and we'll just
make sure and save some time at
the end for questions.
People are going to be excited
about the games themselves.
>> Bebo, are you ready to talk
about games with me?
>> I am always ready to talk
about games.
>> Yes!
All right.
We'll start with Kingdomino.
And I will give it to you.
You are the board game expert.
>> OK.
So I love Kingdomino because
this is a game that you can play
with kids.
I would say even as young as
like five or six.
My daughter definitely started
playing this game pretty young.
The core of the game is that
there are a bunch of tiles on
the board and you are going to
take one of your workers and you
are going to pick one of those
tiles and place it on to your
player board.
And you'll see here and you
notice John has this up.
The separate colors are separate
regions.
Once all the tiles are gone the
players are good going to score
up their total based on the
tiles they have taken on their
game.
You will see in the center there
there's five forest, dark green
tiles on that center board.
What that means is at the end of
the game you are going to
multi-fly the number of crowns
on the tiles plus the number of
those spaces on the board.
For example, that one has two
crowns visible and five files.
That will score the player 10
points.
It's really simple.
It hips kids with math
especially.
But if you are an adult, I found
that the two-player version is a
ton of fun because it gets
really competent and I have and
aggressive.
There are times john and I will
be playing this online and I
will shake my fist at the sky
and be so frustrated because
he's a hate drafter.
>> Kingdomino 2 player is so, so
good.
It's absolutely the game to play
if you are just introducing
someone to playing board games.
I always, like if someone is
new, it is my number one game to
be like great!
You can teach it as you go.
It's really simple.
You're just placing one of your
little king pawns on to the
domino you want.
And then just placing it on your
board.
It's super simple.
Yeah, that two player version is
so -- I play so easy with people
their first time.
I just sit back and be like, go
ahead, take those.
You got this.
And they'll win and they'll feel
so good.
Yes, you're hooked!
Kingdomino.
Kingdomino is so good.
This is the best game.
You'll play it all the time.
>> I'm obsessed with it.
>> I love you are obsessed with
this game.
>> Yeah.
It's just so simple and elegant.
And I was very surprised when I
played it for the first time and
was just like, oh, wait, this
looks so easy.
But it's just incredible.
>> Bebo, I'm just going to jump
in really quick.
It sounds like the volume is
considerably different between
you and John.
So if you could turn yourself
up, that would be great.
>> OK.
Is this better?
>> That's a lot better.
Thank you.
>> OK.
Sorry.
Yeah.
My microphone fell a little bit
off my shirt.
>> All right.
We got Sushi Go.
>> This game is great.
So Sushi Go is the
quintessential game for teaching
people how to play a drafting
game.
And the reason why is that the
beginning of the game you are
going to get a handful of cards.
And on each of the cards, it's
going to say how to score points
for them.
Some of them will give you more
points if you have more of the
same card.
Some of them will give you more
points if you play another card
on top of it.
So on and so forth.
It's very, very simple math,
addition and subtraction and
multiplication.
It teaches those mechanics to
young kids but it's engaging
enough to keep everybody
involved.
It's not a kids' game.
It is a very fun all-ages game
that is a hoot.
I just, every time I play this
game, I end up halving and just
having a great time.
And it's a great game to play
while you're having casual
conversation with the people
around the table.
>> It's also super easy to
teach.
You're basically just collecting
similar cards of similar colors
in order to score points.
And I love that you say, as you
see, the cards, the pink cards
all the way to the right?
You save the pudding.
They score points at the end of
the game.
So you're saving dessert for
last.
Throughout the game you are just
collecting as much pudding as
you can for the end of the game
which I think is so cute.
Everything looks adorable with
this game.
I love playing it.
I always lose.
>> Yes, you do.
That's true.
>> I know.
Carcassonne.
>> O. my gosh.
Carcassonne is an absolute
classic.
This is a game where you're
simply going to draw a tile and
place it on the board and then
you are going to have a number
of peoples.
You will score points for roads
and castles that you've placed
your meoples into and fields you
are laid your meople down into
as well.
The score is really simple.
It's super easy to learn and
teach.
And it's one of those games, and
this is one of the main reasons
why I love it, where as you are
playing the game, you can teach
how to play the game and the
players while you're playing are
not going to feel like you
tricked them into not scoring
enough points.
It's that simple.
So it's really easy to sit on
the table and teach as you go
without having to have a long
rules explanation.
>> And I just want to mention
like really quick, that when I
say something is on rates, the
Carcassonne is a really good
example because they will always
tell you.
You are basically on your turn
placing one tile somewhere on
the table.
And it will tell you where you
can and where you can't.
So it will on let you place it
where you can place your tile.
Some like Tabletopia or those
simulators, you can place it
wherever you want and it's up to
the people playing to sort of
moderate whether or not that's a
good move.
This will go ahead and tell what
you moves are open to you.
So, yeah, you can just zit there
and you don't have to know any
of the rules and just figure it
out as with you go.
This is always one of the first
ones I teach to a group because
there's almost always one or two
people who are at least familiar
with it.
And I couldn't get a good screen
shot of it because it was a
little glitchy for some reason.
I think a lot of people were
playing it.
Stone Age.
>> Oh, my gosh.
>> Stone Age is actually one of
of my very favorite games.
This is great because it helps
introduce players to the idea of
a worker placement game.
On your turn you are going to
take one of your workers and
place them in one.
Those spots on the board and
those are either going to kind
of let you gamble and roll the
dice and receive rewards as a
result.
They will allow you to draft
cards that will give you various
resources and benefits
throughout the game as well as
the end game scoring points.
And there's even a spot where
you can breed your two people
and create more little Stone Age
workers for you to have more
actions on future turns.
It's really easy to teach.
It's really easy to learn.
But it is more of a
medium-weight game compared to
the other games we've been
talking about.
So make sure that you look up
the how to play video or read
the rule book carefully before
jumping into this one.
It's much easier to be an ka
Verna.
>> This is usually the first
like quote-unquote strategy game
I'll introduce players to.
So like the third or fourth
event with one group of people
generally Stone Age will come
out.
Because in the end, you can just
say, you will win this game if
you build huts or buy cards.
And that's it.
>> Yes.
>> If they focus on those two
things they are guaranteed to do
OK.
I am constantly make fun that
there's a Whoopi hut in order to
get additional workers.
>> It's so funny, though.
>> I love it.
O. Saboteur.
Have you played Saboteur?
>> I worked on a how to play
video for it.
And I have played it.
It's not my favorite.
>> It is not mine either.
It is not my sort of game but I
have never played a game where
people got more animated or
excited.
The goal is simple.
Your goal is to get to one of
those three face down cards
because one of them has gold.
And you're a miner and you want
to get the gold.
There is one person who is a
Saboteur.
And you don't know who that is.
And that person is going to try
to keep you from getting to that
gold.
And they're going to do it by
sometimes lying, placing not the
best cards, or flat out
attacking your equipment and
breaking like lanterns and
keeping you from being able to
take any actions.
Saboteur, it's such a mean game.
It's a great game if you have
teens that are playing that
wanted an excuse to be mean to
each other.
You can also play a lot of
people at once.
So if people are really, if
they're OK, like I mean for a
game like this, I generally have
to explain first, like listen,
this is a game where you are
going to be doing mean things to
other people.
Like that is a part of the game.
So if a mean things happens to
you it's not personal.
It's just a thing that's
happening because that's the way
the game was designed.
But it's not my favorite game.
But I have seen people enjoy it
so much.
And I feel like every time I
play --
>> Sorry.
It's definite Lee a lot of fun
for people who like games likes
resistance, hidden identity
style games.
>> Yes.
Six Nimmt!
>> This one is all you.
>> Great!
6 Nimmt! is easily the silliest
game I have seen.
You have a hand of cards.
And you are going to place, pick
one to play.
And it's gonna go next to the
nearest number there.
So that nine card is going to go
right next to that four card.
And you start with 65 points.
And every time your card gets
placed on one of those bull
spots, you add up all those
little triangles in that row and
you lose those points.
The game ends when someone hits
zero.
I kind of love the fact that you
are just watching like one
person just tank the entire game
and then once they hit zero the
game ends and the person with
the most points remaining wins.
I like it because it's silly.
It's like nearly all luck.
But you can play a large group
of people.
And no one is going to take it
seriously.
It is such a fun like slab dash
card game to play.
This is one of the ones I just
learned recently and I went in
cold without learning any of the
rules and started playing it.
I had such a good time and  I
have no idea what was fun.
I have no idea what 6 Nimmt!
means.
7 Wonders, this is definitely
you.
>> This is one of my all-time
favorite games.
This is a perfect step up from
Sushi Go.
In this case instead of drafting
sushi, you will be drafting
resources in order to build up
your civilization.
And what that means is on your
player board you are going to
have three monuments that you
could be building.
And you are going to need the
resources to build them.
At the end of the game you are
going to score points for the
various cards you drafted which
will include plain victory
points that you have drafterred.
There will be cards that are
called guild cards and they will
bill you points.
There's also the sciences which
will have an exponential effect
based on different sets that you
have of them as well as multiple
of the same kinds of cards.
This game is one of my all-time
favorites because of the fact
that even though you're drafting
cards and it seems really
simple, it's one of those things
where if you look to the player
on your right and you look to
the player on your left and you
see that they're going after
something, you can take that
card that they need and stick it
right under your player board to
build that monument and it's up
to you to decide whether you
want to taunt them because you
took the card they needed.
>> I love this game because have
military and you can only attack
your two neighbors.
It plays up to seven people so
you can get a good amount of
people playing this game.
But it's really only your two
neighbors you have to worry
about.
I have almost every game played,
someone many say, oh, no, I'm
sitting next to John.
They start racking up military.
It is a game that has a learning
curve.
Your first game will be slow
because there is icons and
there's like different rules and
it does take some explaining.
But once you get this down after
a couple of games, they're fast,
they're quick.
Up play in less than a half
hour.
This is such a great game.
I wish they would put more of
the expansions on this but they
haven't.
They just have the base.
It's so much fun.
Potion explosion.
>> Oh!
This is one of of my favorite
games ever!
>> Isn't it?
>> Potion explosion!
It's so much fun.
It's so silly.
I also recommend the app
version.
Which you can also just play on
your phone with your friends as
well.
And it's really easy to use and
to play.
Potion explosion is a game where
you pull a marble from this
marble dispenser that you see
here, and if two marbles of the
same color touch each other as a
result of you pulling that
marble out then they explode and
you get them, too.
You will use those ingredients
to fill up your potion bottles
which you can also see there.
You will get points forever each
of those points.
They will also give you a
special ability.
And if you flip that bottle
upside down it implies you have
drunk the potion, will have you
already filled in all the
ingredients.
Then you can use its special
ability just once so you will be
using that to get more
ingredients.
And it's really cute, really
fun.
The various ingredients are
called things like fairy dust
and like --
>> Unicorn tears.
>> Super -- LaMichael silly
gross things.
And it very much feels like
you're making potions in a
Wizards classroom.
>> This game is one that my
kids, nine and 12, love to play.
It I think it has a lot of
appeal across different ages.
It's really simple.
It's just like one of those
little app games where you take
one and any time they hit you
get more stuff.
You get a handful of marbles and
you get to score them all over
and earn points.
I think it only plays two or a
few people.
I have today's towards games
where you can get a lot of
people playing at once.
This one is very easy and fun
and intuitive.
Hanabi.
>> , my goodness.
So Hanabi is one of favorite
two-player games provided that
you don't want to like the
person you are playing with
afterwards.
[Laughter]
Sorry.
So this game is pretty fun.
But you have a hand of cards and
you can't see what they are.
And you also have a limited
number of hints that you can
give.
When you get a hint, you choose
to either tell the other players
whose hands you can see, either
a number in their hand in which
case you can point to those
cards and say you have these two
cards that are fives, or a
color.
And the goal of the game is to
complete your board here, which
is made up of five different
colored decks.
And you have to play the cards
in order.
If you don't play the cards in
the correct order and you decide
to play a card and you can't
play it, then, you've basically
misplayed this fireworks show
and accidentally set off a fire
work out of time.
And the cards are labeled one
through five.
There are more 1s and only 5 in
each color so you need to be
careful about making sure that
the players are not starting
their 5 card.
So on your turn you can take one
of three actions.
Play a card from your hand.
You can give a-point to one of
the other players.
Or you can discard a card in
order to get a clue back H you
run out of clues you can't give
them anymore which meanings
everybody there has to play
cards from their hand which is a
very dangerous thing to do.
Once the deck runs out or once
you have lost, you will be given
a final score and based on what
that score is, you will have
given a certain quality of
fireworks show to the audience.
>> I think I want to mention
that, I want to bemoney the fact
there are not enough cooperative
games on Board Game Arena.
>> Yes!
>> Hanabi is a game where you
are all working together.
Any cooperative game is so easy.
It's so easy to teach.
Because there's no competition.
Everyone is working together.
So if you have to figure out
rules as you go it's really easy
to sort of E. plain stuff.
And -- explain stuff.
I absolutely adore this game.
I wish there were more games
like it on Board Game Arena.
I would play like flash point
fire rescue or other cooperative
games until the end of time
fives given the option.
But Hanabi is a really, really
fun cooperative card game.
The screen shot is a little
weird because I was spectatiing
a game when I took the screen
shot.
So I was unable to see -- when
you play this game, you are able
to see everyone else's hand.
And your hand, you can't see.
So it's very weird.
Until people sort of give you
clues about what you have.
Last one, Incan Gold.
>> That's all you.
>> Great.
I figured because this totally
doesn't feel like a game that
you would enjoy.
Incan Gold is a press your luck
game.
I like it because you can play a
whole lot of people.
Your goal is to go deep into
this temple to get as many gems
as possible before hazards
happen.
And hazards are fire -- it's a
card that has like fire, a rock
slide, there's like a monster,
giant spider.
And when two of the same hazard
happens, you get scared out your
wits, you drop owl your treasure
and you run out of the temple.
But your goal should be to get
as far as you can in there, and
eventually on return you say,
you have two options.
You can either go in further or
head back to Balch are camp.
If you say head back to camp you
walk up and pick up all those
little gems and stuff as you go.
But if someone also decides to
walk back to camp you have to
split between and leave the
remainder.
So sometimes like if you think
you are the only one going and
three other people go, you may
actually walk back with only one
or two gems.
You go into the temple five
times and after the fifth time
the person with the most gems
wins.
Also they are hidden.
It's one of those games where
you don't really know how
everybody else is doing.
I like it because it's simple.
I like it because it plays a lot
of people.
I am also really, really bad at
it.
So that's Incan Gold.
And I think that's the last one.
We made it to the end, Bebo.
>> We did!
Woohoo!
>> Excellent.
We have a little bit of time to
talk about questions.
Definitely again people are sort
of like, oh, wait, I'm confused.
I need to get started.
John has done another Webinar
about getting started and he has
a series on the games
themselves.
If you could just talk a little
bit more, John, I know it's
because you have been doing this
so long.
Maybe shifting to thinking about
someone that's just trying to
get started and to get their
leadership on board.
Some folks were asking for not
so much tips about the games to
choose but how do you sell the
idea of virtual game events as a
regular thing for
administration?
>> I multiple, I think it's -- I
think at this point in time
anything that you can do online
is an easy sell.
>> Absolutely.
>> One thing -- I'm trying --
one thing I think we really lost
when we went into quarantine,
and a lot of our community space
v. shut down, is the ability
from diverse backgrounds and
ages and ethnicities to get
together and really just enjoy
socializing and playing and
being in a space together.
I've noticed I think for the
most part that people who are
playing games aren't playing to
win.
They're not playing because
they're hobbyists.
They're playing because they
enjoy the interaction with the
people around them.
>> And they need socialization
especially right now.
>> Yes!
I have had so many people in
this board gaming group who have
bonded so much with each other.
Like at this point in time
they're pretty much just like
talking about their life and
showing baby pictures.
And then playing like a game of
Hanabi or starting like big
bloom haven.
I have got a game called gloom
haven.
Maybe you will.
Some will.
It's insanely complicated and
there's so much.
And a small group has started
playing and every once in a
while they grab one of the
tables and start playing.
We don't have a physical space
in a lot of libraries right now.
I think Discord can be a
physical place for people to get
together and play.
I mean, it meets all the things
that libraries need to do.
>> So that leads to the, someone
said, can you talk a little bit
about how Discord serves as a
social space.
So people can access it outside
of game night?
>> Yes.
It is going 24/7.
So while when I'm doing a game
night, we will use Discord to
get together and do stuff.
But when I am not doing game
night, any of the people that
are on it the way I have it set
up, you can have it set up that
this does not hand.
People who have joined can pop
in.
They can ask to anyone is
interested in playing.
They can see who else is online.
They can get-together.
So it feels like a community
meeting place.
And a library is a community
meeting place.
It's just a meth community
meeting place, all the physical
elements are shut down.
I always wanted my patrons to
have agency.
I wanted them not to come to
events.
I want them to be part of
events, schedule their own
events.
I want them to make the library
a place where they are getting
together to play.
I will be honest with you.
Play as adults is so underrated.
I think just being able to have
that space for people to get
together.
Discord is why I like Discord
over Zoom is the fact it can
operate as that space.
You just have to be responsible
enough to moderate it.
Right now, I have got about
between 40 and 50 people on my
Discord at one time.
And it is easy enough for me to
moderate.
And it grows a little bit every
time I have a board game night.
But it is always running.
It feels a little bit more and I
hate saying this it feels more
like a Facebook group than
anything else.
If you take everything that's
horrible about Facebook away,
you kind of have what a Discord
looks like.
Except when you go into some
other 2 Discords.
>> Fantastic.
Someone just said they use
Discord to trade turnips.
[Laughter]
>> Let's go to the next slide I
I want to make sure people have
your contact information.
>> I am going to Bray it back up
to the top.
>> And just so folks know, we
will be sending you to a short
survey as you leave.
And that will be a way for you
to provide feedback on this
session and help us guide our
ongoing programming.
And here you see both John and
Bebo's contact information.
So feel free to reach out with
additional questions to them.
But we'll also ask them to take
a look at chat and if they have
additional thoughts to share
with you all, we'll post that
information on the event page as
well.
>> Yeah.
Absolutely.
Email me questions.
I love getting people started on
gaming in the library.
>> Someone just said can we join
your gaming group?
>> No joke?
Yes!
If you email me, I will send you
a link.
And I will play those games with
you.
We will get you started.
I will talk to your boss!
>> Excellent!
Great.
We've got an advocacy person in
house here with John.
So, well, thank you so much to
both of you for your awesome
passion and experience around
this topic.
And thanks to our captioner.
I will send you all an email
later today once the recording
is posted.
And for those of you here in the
WebEx room a certificate for
attend, remember all of
Webjunction learning is free and
you can access certificates for
your learning in the Webjunction
catalog at any time.
So thank you all for being here.
And everyone have a great rest
of your week.
>> Bye!
>> Bye!