Getting into the Game

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Steel and Stone Gaming Guild members share strategies during a meeting last Friday at EnJoi! Bake shop and Cafe in Channahon on U.S. 6. The group will play any sort of games – from Monopoly and Risk to Magic the Gathering and Race for the Galaxy. The group will be meeting tonight, as well as next Friday, from 4 p.m. to 11 p.m. at EnJoi!. (Photo provided)

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CHANNAHON – You could call them the original gamers.

Years before videogames such as Wii Fit and Rockband took over living rooms across America, game night was an occasion where family and friends played cards and board games.

Carol Davidson and Marc Bennett have been gamers most of their lives and say the interest in board games has grown again so they formed Steel & Stone Gaming Guild.

“This is a hobby people really enjoy, but some just don’t have enough people to do it with,” Davidson said.

The guild currently has about six members and was meeting at Davidson’s home for the last two years. But with interest growing they’ve decided to meet from 4 to 11 p.m. every Friday at EnJoi! Bake Shop and Café, 24735 W. Eames St. Unit 1 and 2 in Channahon.

The group held an informational meeting June 19 that attracted a few newcomers. The group played Race for the Galaxy and Mahaha until they closed the café and then moved to Davidson’s home where they played through the night.

The guild is open to anyone from hardcore gamers to people just looking for something new to do. The organizers have plenty of games to choose from, but also invite people to bring board games, videogames, cards or other games they enjoy playing.

“There’s no limit to what we can do,” Davidson said.

Guild members will teach newcomers how to play any of the games and hope to learn how to play some new ones themselves. Videogames are also welcome, but people have to bring their own systems.

“We are not our parents generation of Bridge, but that doesn’t mean we wouldn’t learn to play Bridge. We’re willing to play any game out there,” Davidson said.

Some popular games the guild already plays include Dungeons & Dragons, Risk, Monopoly, Button Men, and card games.

“Every time you think you know everything on the market you learn you don’t,” Davidson said.

The current members range from 23 to 35, but the guild is open to all ages. Anyone under the age of 14-years-old must be accompanied by an adult.

“It’s a great social club,” Davidson said.

Every Friday the guild will have door prizes and in the future hope to hold tournaments. At the informational meeting the guild got some requests for a Chess tournament and is hoping to do this soon, if they can get enough participants, Davidson said. The guild would like to have a new tournament every month.

There are many new games out there, but a lot of the older games that were popular in the 1990s are making a come back, said Davidson’s husband, Chuck. These games are becoming popular with the kids again and are attracting players that used to play it years ago.

“When I was in high school if I was going to game I was going to have to teach someone how to play. Now its ‘I’ve played that’ or ‘I’ve heard of that.’ It’s really growing,” Bennett said.
 
Forming a guild
 
Davidson and Bennett formed the club because they used to gather at a game store called Challenge Games, but the store moved out of state and the friends lost their outlet.

“In our heyday we used to have anywhere from 14 to 60 people who would come play,” Bennett said.
Bennett became a gamer at 9-years-old, he said, when he became a Dungeon & Dragons player. From there he became interested in all kinds of games.

“I learned my geography through Risk and other war games,” he said.

The group will meet again Friday at EnJoi! and everyone is invited. A person’s first meeting is always free. After your first meeting it is $5 per meeting, which includes one door prize ticket. To become a member it is $10 a year with a reduced door fee to $2, which includes two door prize tickets and discounts on tournament and event charges. A yearly membership is $60 per year, which includes free meetings, three door prize tickets, one free event and discounts on the rest. The dues go toward game and door prize costs.

“We’re trying to aim at being an inexpensive pastime. With today’s economy people are looking for something to do that is close to home and that they can do with their family,” Davidson said.

There will always be multiple games ready to play, a deck of cards on hand and extra space for people to bring whatever they want to play or do in case they’re just looking for some company while they do their hobby.

“We have some people who just come to put models together,” Davidson said.

The goal is to offer a friendly, safe environment.

“I’d love to walk in one day and see four different games going on and decide what I want to do,” Davidson said.

For more information call Carol Davidson at (815) 467-9902 or email steelandstone@ymail.com.

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