US Game Libraries? Do they exist?
I heard a story on NPR yesterday where a 22 year old mentioned playing board games with his family for the last 10 years. Sometimes a new family friend would be introduced and it allowed him to develop a more balanced perspective in dealing with different viewpoints and opinions.
A show guest mentioned the positive physical effects that dealing with real people while gaming has, including simple things like high fives and fist pumps. *splode* =)
As board game folks, you already know the benefits of games and I suspect that’s why tabletop games are a larger part of many Western European cultures than here in the US.
That got my little cogs turnin’ and wondering what I could do to help.
Mint Tin Games, which will now Kickstart in September, are fairly inexpensive to make and don’t rely on huge orders to fulfill. I can make them one at a time and don’t need to order 2,000 of each. Of course, it becomes more economical to produce 100 at a time but you get my point.
From what I gather on Twitter, ludological libraries are a big deal in France and that concept is new to me. BUT in the US, a Google search led me to the International Games Day @ your library and not much else. =(
I’d love to donate a few dozen Mint Tin Games to active US libraries and maybe I’m just not searching with the right terminology.
While there’s some positive PR from this for me, it realistically isn’t much but falls in line with other things I’ve done in the past.
Such as our free Sim-on-a-Stick with 40,000 downloads (not even an ad on its website) and me having been a volunteer firefighter and paramedic long, long ago. I believe giving back to the community is important and if a handful of games helps a tiny bit – I’m all for it!
If you know of game libraries, please let me know here or on Twitter. Thanks! =)
Fun Game Design Meetup & Kids Rule
This week was fun – 5000 mini meeples on the dining room table, ordered 18 and a half pounds of mini cards for game reviewer copies (funny to think of them like that, but the shipping cost brought that to light – luckily, an online coupon covered the $100 FedEx fee!).
The highlight was our local Seacoast Game Designers Meetup, run by Kevin (thanks Kevin!), when two students (16 & 18) showed up to play games at Diversions – the host of the meetups.
Kevin invited them over and they played Mint Tin Pirates and Mint Tin Aliens. No guidance, just the tiny instructions. It was awesome to see their approach. They played one game of each helping each other with their cards face up and following the instructions, and then played for real.
Zoe and Ben were so awesome and I consider them my first two game reviewers. =)
I really enjoyed Mint Tin Aliens – can be played anytime,
anywhere, and with anyone! – Zoe A.
Mint Tin Pirates is quirky & inventive. – Ben S.
I lovingly call them kids in the post title and they’re wonderful people whose thoughts are just as important as anyone’s. Maybe even more so! I tend to think of my inner child creating these games and getting their honest opinions rocks (even totes mcgoats and cho sugoi!). ๑>ᴗ<๑
Have a great weekend everybody! =)
