A trip to the underworld

So recently I started venturing outside of my comfort zone.  My friend Sarah gave me a little nudge, I just had to take the first (and second...) steps. 

Today was step three. 

To make a long explanation short, I joined a board-gamers group.  Now, that sounds innocent and fun and pretty simple, right?  Well my friends, let me tell you...there is an entire underworld of people you could not even begin to imagine exist. 

Everyone has heard of gamers, right?  Video gamers, etc, who spend most of their free time immersed in video games and dicussions of video games etc.  They go to conventions and expos and hang out with other gamers.  Apparently, there is a whole other world.  Of BOARD gamers.  Who knew?

And no, they're not sitting around playing Monopoly or LIFE.  They're playing 3 hour strategy games.  And they're playing to win.

I went into all of this not knowing what to expect.  Which is good, because I would have been wrong.

I played insanely complicated board games with about 15 other people for 7 hours.  (We were divided into smaller groups).  There was just absolutely no preparing for this. 

These were my first two games:

It was a testament to all the people I was with that they did not question why I am taking pictures of game boxes with my phone.  Apparently, among them, what set me apart is my lack of board-game history, not my need to take pictures of everything I do. 

I wish I could put into words everything I heard and observed today.  These were nice people, completely accepting and patient with me, willing to explain the ins and outs of the games.  We even sat for about a half hour at one point and they educated me a little on their underworld.

But, all in all, these people are probably considered geeks to everyone else.  The one person I sat  beside, who tended to rock back and forth in his chair (!), talked about how he took the championship at one of these games (the name escapes me).  Someone else asked, "at the con in Seattle?" (Apparently "con" is a word attached or left alone to mean convention.  For example, at the comic-con = comic convention, you will find comic enthusiasts. I'm a little sad that I know this). 

"No", the person beside me replied.  "At the (something)-con in Columbus."

Yes, he meant Columbus, Ohio.  Which interestingly enough, segued into conversation about how board-gamers in Columbus seem to be fairly organized etc.  Everyone at my table agreed to this.  Except, of course, for me, who was still stuck on the word "Columbus". 

The only thing I could compare it to in any certainty would be the documentary my brothers just forced me to watch - The King of Kong.  If you've seen it, you might know what I'm talking about.  Well, the King of Kong, minus the sweet mullets. 

After hearing the words "No, the con in Columbus", the words "I should get back, my girlfriend is going to be worried about me" I would have originally voted the least-likely to hear out of this same person's mouth.

Thats how this whole day was.  One surprise after another.

Oh, and you should know.  I took 4th (out of 5) at Endeavor, but 2nd (out of 5) at Steam.  I didn't completely embarass myself after all.

And you can bet I'm going to be there next time. 

"Life's too short for chess." ~ Henry James Byron