Game on: Horizon West Board Game Group welcoming new players

If you have a taste for tabletop gaming but need to expand your clan, you might want to make a quest out to visit a local group in Horizon West. 

The Horizon West Board Game Group meets the first Thursday of every month at ScribbleSpace, 13790 Bridgewater Crossings Blvd., Suite 1080, and welcomes new players. The group also meets on other Thursdays throughout the month on a case-by-case basis. 

From deck-builder games such as Dominion to classic games such as Life or Monopoly, the Horizon West Board Game Group offers something for everyone. Potential players interested in participating can join the group on Facebook to stay updated on game nights.

“The Board Game Group is open to anybody who would like to come,” said Andrew Young, co-founder of the group. “I had been in a board game group in Washington — where I had just move from about three months ago — and I wanted to get one started here. There are some other board game groups in the area, but they’re mostly closer to Orlando or Kissimmee.”

Because most of the nearby board game groups were located in other towns, Young decided to form one closer to home. He reached out to neighbors and residents in other Horizon West neighborhoods through social media to gauge interest in forming the group. Neighbors responded positively to the idea, and shortly thereafter, Young got the ball — or in this case dice — rolling. He was even able to secure a venue to host the game nights.

“It started because I like to play board games, so I wanted to see if there were other people in the area who also like to play board games, and it seems like there are,” Young said. “Our Facebook has (more than 50) people.”

While reaching out to neighbors, Young was able to secure a venue to host game nights. ScribbleSpace owner Cynthia Dailey offered her business as a venue for game night — free of charge.

“She offered her space to allow us to use for the group,” Young said. “(We want to) try to build the community through another type of activity that could be offered.”

Dailey said offering her business to the Horizon West Board Game Group is just part of the ScribbleSpace goal of strengthening the Horizon West community.

“We provide the space to them at no cost as part of our goal at ScribbleSpace of catalyzing community offerings that Horizon West doesn’t yet have,” Dailey said. “We want it to have ‘all the things’ to strengthen it as a community and help the vision the master plan intends come to life.”

Young said the group has played games such as Dominion, Splendor, Villainous, Builders of Blankenburg, The Godfather, Azul and Fluxx. Players are welcome to bring in whatever board or tabletop game they would like. Classic board games, collectible card games and other casual board games are welcome. With a wide variety of tabletop games available, players also will have opportunities to try new games. 

“The board game industry has gone up significantly over the last couple of years because of things like Kickstarter enabling people to get their (board game) ideas out there,” Young said. “There are so many different board games are out there now that a lot of people don’t know about because they’re not advertised. They’re not sold at Target or Walmart or even on Amazon, but they’re out there. We just want to give people the opportunity to experience them.”

Any questions pertaining to the Horizon West Board Game Group can be directed to Young or Doug Berry — another co-founder — via Facebook.