A few weeks ago I wrote about still feeling anxious in public even after vaccination. Last week Ohio dropped its mask mandate, and I had to basically give up on even the hope that non-vaccinated people would wear their masks in public.
With this information in mind, and watching the new cases fall in Ohio I decided to give public board gaming a go again. My small group had been meeting up through most of the pandemic, but that wasn’t something I was comfortable with. After everyone was vaccinated they started playing at our local board game café again. I was on the fence about it still, but was convinced to at least go once and see.
Ya’ll, I’ve MISSED playing board games! I’ve missed seeing my people. I was so anxious the first night I went. How do I talk to people? I haven’t seen most of these people for over a year. How much have I changed in that time? How much do I catch people up on? How do I TEACH people how to play a game even!??
It was a good night. I felt so full and happy after that night. I’m now going back weekly, and I have in home game nights scheduled with friends I know are vaccinated and trust to take care of themselves. My Gloomhaven game nights have picked back up too!
I honestly didn’t think I was missing board gaming that much, but after the past few weeks of weekly game nights and weekend game nights it feels like a piece of me is finally back in place. THIS is what I’ve been deeply missing the past 15 months without actually realizing it.
In the before times I was tracking every single game I played. I stopped doing that because it was just making me sad how infrequently I was playing. I’m trying to get back into the habit of AT LEAST taking pictures of what I play, but I’ve definitely forgotten a few in the past couple of weeks. Here is what I’ve remembered to take pictures of!
From left to right Embarcadero, Black Angel, Gloomhaven, and Castles of Burgundy.
Cassadi Thomas 