blogs
TBGT
Do you know what TBGT stands for? Probably not. It’s been written on my calendar for weeks though I didn’t put it there. It stands for That Board Game Thing, an annual gaming convention held locally since 2004. It’s been gaining in popularity ever since. I’ve been a TBGT widow the past several days. My husband leaves in the morning, comes home for dinner and then is off again to play more games into the wee hours. Okay, by wee hours I mean a little past midnight, but we’re not that young and the kids are up at 6am without fail so that’s pretty late.
It’s held at a hotel and had 116 people registered this year. I’m told it even brings in people from several states, including celebrities. Well, board game celebrities. This year my husband played poker with Alan R. Moon, designer of several excellent games, including the very popular “Ticket to Ride.” Every year has a theme. I believe there was a pirate theme one year and this year was something related to Japanese culture. (I don’t remember the exact wording, I’m just an outsider.) There was a sushi cake. Real cake, but the sushi was actually frosting so I’m guessing much tastier than it sounds.
The organizers put a great deal of effort into a puzzle contest every year. This is the only way I get to participate. The gamers are assigned into random teams and each team member gets a different puzzle as “homework” the first night (Thursday). My husband leaves the puzzle with me to complete while he’s off gaming. Then the team members come together on Saturday with their completed puzzles to compete for a prize. I hear this year’s big puzzle (the one you can’t start until you’ve finished your homework) involved some sort of play dough diorama.
Saturday night also has the games table. Each participant brings in some games. The accepted approach seems to be to bring in at least one good game and than as many from home that you no longer want, and then everyone takes turns picking out games to bring home. We’ve gotten some wonderful new games this way and some games that have been good for putting on next year’s game table.
It’s been kind of lonely, but I’ll benefit from any new games we’ve picked up. And my brother-in-law is the one who brought my husband in so I can commiserate with my sister. The convention started Thursday morning and is wrapping up tonight so I’ll have my husband back soon. At least until next year.
It's always something...
Amanda grew up in a small town in northern Ohio. It’s the kind of place where teachers accidentally called her by her sister’s name and even occasionally, her mother’s. Even though Amanda has grown comfortable in Cary, ties to her hometown, where her father is currently Mayor, are still strong.
She moved to the Triangle when she got married in July of 1999 as her husband, D, had a job here. She soon found work in a field she never knew existed, but gave up a paycheck when her first child was born in May of 2003. Y got a little sister, J, in February 2006. Exactly one day after J turned three, the household was blessed with twins, baby boy G and baby girl M.
Mandy usually appears weekends on TriangleMom2Mom.
Comments
Wow - I had absolutely no idea something like this existed.
I googled "That Board Game Thing" but didn't find any info about this event in the search results - could you post a link to their web site? Sounds cool!
I didn't know this when I wrote about it, but the event is apparently open only to those invited by past attendees. The only thing I can suggest is that you might have some luck fishing for an invite somewhere on BoardGameGeek.com.