...stay hungry, stay young, stay foolish, stay curious, and above all, stay humble because just when you think you got all the answers, is the moment when some bitter twist of fate in the universe will remind you that you very much don't....

by Will Brasher

Well, it's finally happened...

But lets not get ahead of ourselves, lets start at the beginning.

I now have a Kallax... Steve popped it over yesterday afternoon, he is one of the owners of Chance & Counters and he has been 'babysitting' Birmingham but is now expecting an actual baby with his partner (Bex) and has decided to move back to Bristol and start their family there. He will be missed but be back to visit regularly, decided to donate furniture to those in need so I snaped up a Kallax. Instead of loading it with boardgames I decided to use it for my boardgame accessories, another hodge-podge of things from containers to timers, tokens, shufflers, trays, chips, coins... anything you may want to ehance your game... all in easy reach next to my gaming table. That'll do nicely.

Sensibly I got to work early, had my free meal before I began and got to work tidying the wall, as you do, waiting for the Social Gamers to appear... we are still not heavily promoting it so I always expect the worst that nobody will turn up or that only one person will...

A little wander around to get a feel on what's going on and I spy the couple from my last shift who had moved in to a local flat without the space to have a gaming table... playing their copy of Pandemic Legacy: Season 1, as they advised they probably would, awesome. Had a catch up and a chat, this job is tough. Another couple who I met on the previous shift were also back to play more games and chill, had a chat with them on the table outside about life and where they are going, only a few days left in Brum for them but absolute pleasure talking to them.

So before the social event began I had an hour so got a bit of recommending in..

Newcomers to the hobby wanting a fun, quick challenge, they only had an hour to spare, Librium all the way, I advised they could always try something else as it's quick but they spent the whole hour playing this. Obvs.

A lady and her son came in and were looking for some gaming, they played some they knew so I thought they might like ICECOOL. A game of 'it' with flicking penguins? Why the heck not! Spot on, the little lad loved it as did his Mum, lots of fun!

Another couple swung by before a booking at 8 at Ghetto Golf around the corner, had a chat with them, mentioned Social Mondays (as you do) and they were very tempted to sack off the booking ad stay, seduced them with Hive, wonderful small two player stratgey game again they just kept playing! They did leave at 8 for their booking but they advised they would be back.

6pm rolls around, it's quiet. A couple approach, they are here for Social Gaming! Pop them over to the area dedicated to it and had a good chat with them, Sam and Michelle were their names. I explained it can be a bit slow and we might get some other takers in the next half hour so showed them Lost Cities and left them to it. Michelle had a super infectious laugh and was clearly enjoying herself as it echoed around the cafe through out the evening.

Kept my wandering and talking, met a lovely couple of young ladies who picked out New York 1901 and learnt it from scratch. We discussed gaming and I told them my story of being a Guru, turns out they were visiting before one of them joining Birmingham Uni in September and she is looking forward to coming back and spending a lot more time in the cafe. I left them to it but kept an eye on them and engaged them with witty banter and conversation through out the evening... Good impressions go a long way and if they like it they will bring their friends along who hopefully will also enjoy it and an inclusive community will be built and I can charge ahead with my event planning with a good base of people who would want to play along... looking forward to that time!

So, here's the crunch. Nobody else turned up for Social Gaming... this is when it happened...

I had to join the couple and get paid to play games with them. I mean, someone had to step up and who else was it going to be?

Pinnacle of my working life so far. Pinch me, I'm dreaming. I'm still shaking my head as I type this, it seems so unreal.

I thought being paid to teach, recommend and talk boardgames was amazing but this was something else. I kept thinking this has to be stealing from the company? I am literally getting money for actually engaging in my hobby!

They were awesome, Sam is visiting and Michelle has always wanted to come along to a Monday but wanted to go with someone in case it was rubbish. She only recently moved here too, at one point in the conversation they started talking about buses and so I showed them the best bus app to download and talked them through the easiest way to use it. That's the personal touch (after this I strangely had the same conversation with the two ladies from earlier too, perhaps I should start a local service?).

They loved Lost Cities and wanted a trading, historic, competitive game. I gave them 7 options and 7 Wonders was chosen. Quick interactive teach and we were ready to play. Showed them the power of Science early and ended up getting half my points from Science cards. Michelle went Military and stomped all over us, Sam mixed it up nicely starting with Trade and ending up going heavy in to Guilds and dabbling in most of the other areas. Close game too I got 50, Michelle 49 and Sam 52, we had to cut it slightly short due to time constraints but only missed off a few rounds. Great banter across the game from the pair of them, they'll be back.

Toward the end of the evening the two ladies I mentioned earlier popped over and introduced themselves stating they would join Social Mondays regularly come September when Uni starts, Michelle had a quick chat with them and bonded, nice. Just what I would have hoped.

Shift end comes up and I let Sam and Michelle go, stating how awesome it was to meet them and enjoy myself playing and teaching and chatting. Wander over to the bar to say how can I help in the close and they were like, nah, have a pint, it's fine. Perfect end to a perfect evening? Potentially!

Met another group who had been about all evening, turns out one of them is the painter who took a couple of our games and gave them an awesome paintjob over lockdown, what a nice guy! I'll have to show you them at some point, perhaps when they get a play, they are on the heavier side so it may be a while.

Quick couple over at NQ64 after with Jordan (Bar not Kitchen), Liam, Katy and new girl Hope and off home I go...

Sometimes your shadow looks like a Wizard... sometimes the magic is all around you or in your heart. Don't let it go!