The table is set.
Cards are shuffled and hands dealt. Two players sitting across from each other sneak glances over their cards in anticipation of their opponent’s first move. The silence is deafening and beads of sweat roll like the dice that determine who will go first. The tension builds as the first card hits the table.
Despite the atmosphere, reminiscent of high-stakes poker games, these cards aren't that of your average spades and diamonds.
From strategic card-playing to tactical fighting with miniature figures, tabletop games provide a wide and diverse form of entertainment to fit the needs of many types of people and players. The tabletop community in Bryan College Station, especially, is a
passionate and unique amalgamation of people and groups, according to senior sales representative at Clockwork Games and Events Jacob Sudds.
“Our tabletop communities range from your very casual to your very competitive, the vast majority of people existing in the middle,” Sudds says. “You get to see a lot of different people from a lot of different areas pretty consistently due to the transient nature of B/CS, but everyone is super welcoming and excited about their games.”
Magic the Gathering
The tabletop card game Magic the Gathering has gained massive popularity since its release in 1993. It is one of many tabletop games that has cultivated an avid and dedicated community in B/CS, according to Sudds.
“People identify with their game of choice,” Sudds says. “With Magic the Gathering, you have your different mana, your different guilds, your different formats … taking pride in what guild you belong to is equivalent to identifying with what military branch you served in.”
If these different identifiers sound complicated, that’s because they definitely can be. Sudds compares the strategy and complexity of Magic the Gathering to that of a mix of chess and poker, since both strategy and bluffing play major roles in winning a game of Magic. Players must use strategy, wit and, sometimes, politics and negotiations to out-play their opponents, Sudds says.
“Each card does different things, much like pieces on a chess board and you have to maneuver your pieces around your opponent’s pieces in order to get into a strategically-favorable position," Sudds says.
Where Magic the Gathering takes a turn for the complex is in the amount of cards, or “chess pieces,” players have access to. “In a game
of chess, you have six unique chess pieces with their own abilities,” Sudds says. “Now, imagine if there were thousands of different chess pieces, each with their own different abilities, and things become a bit more difficult.”
As well as being a game of strategy and politics, Magic the Gathering has also become a place of kinship and belonging, according to avid Magic the Gathering player and Clockwork co-owner William “Billy” Herdman. Magic the Gathering is about more than just the gameplay, Herdman says. It’s also about the brilliant artwork and intricate storytelling told both on the cards and in the lore of each set.
“In my opinion, Magic the Gathering is exactly what it says,” Herdman says. “I have made thousands of friends and spent tens of thousands of hours enjoying the companionship cemented together by our love of the game play, the trading, the strategy, the art, and the lore.”
Warhammer 40K
Warhammer 40K is a tabletop war game centered around the strategic positioning and movement of miniature figures with dice rolls that determine hits and damage and complete other actions, Sudds says.
“Think of it as playing D&D with no role-playing, just combat,” Sudds says. The Warhammer community tends to be a little older, and most
of them have families and jobs so they play most often on the weekends, Sudds says. “Warhammer is also an expensive hobby so most people who play have a bit more of an established income,” he says.
The game is set in the far future, where “mighty armies clash on countless war-torn worlds and humanity stands alone, beset on all sides by the threats of the heretic, the mutant, and the alien,” according to warhammer40000.com.
Like Magic the Gathering, players can identify with different factions and groups that help shape the strategy of individual players.
Dungeons & Dragons
Popularized by the hit Netflix Original series, Stranger Things, Dungeons & Dragons — commonly referred to as D&D — is a tabletop role-playing game that involves storytelling and strategic dice-rolling to create stories about, well, dungeons and dragons. It provides a more creative outlet than Magic the Gathering or Warhammer but still involves strategy and socialization.
“The local D&D community is eager and happy to help new players and support existing players that are in search of groups,” veteran D&D player Brianna Bastin says. “New players often struggle with a way to get more involved for a variety of reasons like social anxiety, lack of knowledge, and the like, but the B/CS D&D community puts in effort to alleviate some of that so that more people can enjoy the game.”
Bastin has been an avid D&D player since her father taught her how to play at 8 years old. Bastin says her father has played the game since before she was born and taught his children once they were old enough to roll dice.
“I definitely fell in love with a world that was run by my own imagination and fueled my love of dragons,” Bastin says. “Since I started off so young, it has been present in a surprising number of my decisions and shaping what I enjoy as I gravitated toward fantasy shows, movies, and books.”
According to Bastin, D&D is similar to reading a fantasy book where your actions and decisions help shape the story. Missteps and poor decision-planning have their consequences, and with a skilled dungeon master (DM) at the helm, D&D can become an immersive and fantastical experience, Bastin says.
”Instead of the plot and characters laid out, the outcome and the
journey there are almost entirely shaped by your decisions,” Bastin says. “Besides, who hasn't had fantasies of slaying dragons and finding gold in chests?”
No matter the game, the tabletop community can have a great impact on the community at large, according to Sudds. Gaming, in general, has many benefits on an individual level, which Herdman can attest to.
“On a personal level, Magic [the Gathering] has made me a better person by exposing me to so many different people and cultures,” Herdman says. “It has improved my social skills and the complexities of the game have improved my analytical and critical thinking skills.”
For information on local events and play groups, visit clockworkgaming.com.
