A “meeple” is the term for a piece in a board game that represents the player. It comes from “my people”, and in creating this monthly board game Meetup, I wanted to share board games with my people, my community. From day one, the goal of Marpole Meeples has been to build a supportive, welcoming community in the heart of Marpole to share modern board and card games.
I also set a goal to never stop growing. I hoped to attract people who already play games, of course, but also new faces who were just curious about the hobby. With that, I hope to always have new faces at our events. It’s nice to have the regulars coming back month after month, but seeing new people means that I get to meet more of our community. So far, I think I’ve achieved that goal at every one of our events. Sometimes it’s just one of two individual new faces coming to see what’s going on, sometimes it’s families looking to do something fun for a Friday evening. Every time is wonderful to meet new people and share this great hobby with them.
I myself rarely get to play anything at my own Meetup. My role is the host. I provide a wide selection of games that are easy to teach, quick to learn and fun to play. I personally welcome everyone that walks through the door and ensures they get into a game as quickly as possible.
But it’s not all me. Our regular attendees will bring games to share too, and so are eager to open their table to anyone that wants to join. We’ve had members bring a game to share only for the table to fill up to the maximum player count without them, and they have been happy to teach their game and let others enjoy it while they find another spot. The generosity in the group is always wonderful to see.
We play all kinds of modern board and card games. You’ll never find a table of chess, poker or mahjong at our events. Instead, you’ll find modern classics, like Settlers of Catan or Ticket to Ride, or the newest, hottest game that just went on sale this month, and everything in between.
Some of the most popular games in the last few months have been, in no particular order: Azul, an abstract game about tiling a wall; Wingspan, an award-winning game about attracting birds to your garden; Skull, a fun, fast bluffing game; and Treasure Island, a game about searching for buried pirate treasure.
That’s only a tiny bit at what gets played. We see war games, strategy games, puzzle games, social deduction games, abstract games, racing games and much more.
I hope all that helps you understand what we do at Marpole Meeples. I am eternally grateful for the opportunity to build this community from month to month. Maybe next month, I’ll see you there!
Follow us on
Meetup.com https://www.meetup.com/marpolemeeples/
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/marpolemeeples/
Twitter https://twitter.com/marpolemeeples
