Students unwind through IU Board Game Club, reach out to community

Wednesday night, members of the Board Game Club at IU traveled the country in brightly colored train cars in the game “Ticket to Ride.”

During the call-out meeting, members played “Ticket to Ride,” a game they discovered last semester. “Ticket to Ride” involves using train cars to build tracks from one city to another in North America.

Junior and Vice President Allison Phillips said she has liked “Ticket to Ride” since the first time she played.

“It was my favorite of the semester,” Phillips said. “The rules are simple, and it’s more about tying things together and trying to make connections before other people can. It makes you want to win.”

Junior and Vice President of Media Matt Spears said the club creates a tight community because the games are played in small groups.

At the call-out, there were three different games being played by 13 attendees.
“We always try to make sure there is one person in each group who has played before,” Junior and Treasurer Meredith Grubbs said.

She was the first in her game to complete a track connecting one city to another.

Last semester, the club had meetings every other week.

This semester, members said they hope to have weekly meetings with pizza and drinks. The club members usually try to play games most people have not heard about.

The group went to Game Preserve, located on the square in downtown Bloomington, to learn about different kinds of board games. Then they ordered them online.

Grubbs said the group will usually have a PowerPoint slide to help everyone learn to play the game.

She said about 20 to 25 people showed up to each meeting last semester and that the group hopes to do more advertising to draw more people to the club.  

The members played a murder mystery game during Halloween week. During the game, the members became very involved in trying to solve the murder, Phillips said. Grubbs said the event lasted about two and a half hours.

“That’s where we went from a new organization on campus to an organization that will stay,” Phillips said.

The members said they also hope to do service work. Junior and Vice President of Membership Emily Wright said the club is hopes to visit the Meadowood Retirement Community to play games with residents at the facility.

“I’d encourage people to give it a try, even if it doesn’t sound like something you’d be crazy about,” Spears said. “They are definitely a nice way to break from the stress of school, have fun and meet new people.”