The assassin wants the king killed and the magician wants the merchant’s gold coins.
It’s all a bit ridiculous, really. But that’s the lure of Citadels, a game that’s been much in demand through Saturday afternoon, as board gamers celebrated International Tabletop Day. Café Home Pitch, the venue for the event organised by Chennai Board Gamers, was packed. People walking in quickly seated themselves at any table that was available and dived into whatever game was being played. The choosy ones went from table to table, watching, listening, understanding, and didn’t mind standing and participating in a game or two.
“Are you a Star Wars fan?” one of the volunteers helpfully asks. “No, but I am a Harry Potter fan,” I reply. “Oh, we have that too, but not today,” he smiles, and instead offers a choice of 40 other games — most of which I hadn’t heard of. Some of them had interesting plots with twists and turns, the others required strategy, and analytical and verbal skills. Word-based games like Codenames were the other popular ones. People waited patiently for the gamers to finish their turn and pass the game on to them. If you thought you were great with words, a few rounds of this can make you rethink your ability.
Between bites of burgers and sips of cappuccino, participants mulled over their moves. It was hard to tell if they were playing or trying to make sense of rocket science. Bearded, grey-haired 50-year-olds animatedly argued with clean-shaven youngsters over a move, and a bunch of girls almost disqualified a friend of theirs for divulging a little more than a clue to his team.
I found myself at a table for six with a bunch of 20-somethings — a professor, an ecologist, two entrepreneurs and a volunteer who’s a lawyer. Each table had volunteers explaining rules and how to play. Luckily, they were just starting a new game. After exchanging a few pleasantries, everybody focused their attention back on Deep Sea Adventure, a Japanese strategy game.
“We got a lot of solo participants. And the others came in groups. Nearly 50 people turned up for the event that started at noon and went on till 8 p.m.,” says Arjun Sukumaran, one of the founders of Chennai Board Gamers. By the end of the event, some of them reluctantly left the place; they seemed rather addicted. And it didn’t matter who the enthusiasts played with; one thing was clear — they were there purely to try as many new games as they could; and win of course.
