What is a tabletop game?

Last year, I went to a gaming convention in Lake Geneva, WI, called GaryCon. After my return, I was greeted with a host of questions:

 🎲 What is a gaming convention?
 🎲 What do you do at a gaming convention?
 🎲 Why go all the way to Wisconsin to play games?
 🎲 And what is Dungeons & Dragons, after all?

All very reasonable questions.

Well, I’m headed back to GaryCon again this year. So I thought it might be worthwhile to answer some of these questions here—on a gaming blog that I used to keep up much more regularly. So here’s what you can expect:

3/23: “What are tabletop games?”
3/24: “What are tabletop roleplaying games?”
3/25: “What is a gaming convention?”
3/26: “What is GaryCon?”
3/27: “What did I play at GaryCon?”

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So, What is a Tabletop Game?

Believe it or not, you’ve played them before. It’s any game that can be played on the top…of a table!

Chess and checkers are tabletop games.

Monopoly, Clue, and Connect 4 are tabletop games.

Poker and bridge are tabletop games.

Any game that can be played on a tabletop is a tabletop game. By that definition, even flicking a paper football counts as a tabletop game. But then, I’m not flying to Wisconsin to flick paper footballs!

Less Mainstream Tabletop Games

There are a number of tabletop games that tend to be less “mainstream”:

 🎲 Roleplaying games, like Dungeons & Dragons  

 🎲 Miniature games: tabletop simulations of historical or fantasy battles played with painted miniatures (think World War 2 squad warfare, Star Wars ship battles, or Napoleonic warfare)  

 🎲 Collectible card games, like Pokémon, Magic: The Gathering, and Flesh & Blood

It is these types of games that tend to be played most at GaryCon. And, frankly, these are the kinds of games that I personally play most often.

My History with Tabletop Games

I grew up playing board and card games with my family—standard family stuff. When I went to seminary, my horizons expanded to more complex board games, like Settlers of Catan and Pandemic. Little did I know, those are actually the simple ones.

Upon moving to Louisiana, I was invited to play Dungeons & Dragons with a friend I met through the church. Given the concern of evangelicals (and mothers) in the 1980s, I was skeptical. But after doing some exploring for myself, I felt comfortable trying it out. Within a year, I was running the weekly game at the local game store in Covington.

At present, I have a weekly game night that rotates between a Marvel superheroes card game and a roleplaying game (currently a pirate-themed one). It’s a weekly time to hang out with my friends, blow off some steam, and play a game. Think of it as the modern man’s weekly bowling league—just far nerdier, and you don’t have to leave the house!

Tabletop games have become a regular part of my life and my family’s life. It’s not uncommon to find me and the family playing a board game or roleplaying game together. And if you’ve visited our church, you may have even played one of these with me at one of our game night events. Tabletop games are a great reason to gather with friends and family for relaxation and recreation.

But you are probably still a little hazy on this whole Dungeons & Dragons thing. So what is that all about? More on that tomorrow…

For part two, click here.