A York board game club is celebrating a big milestone this weekend.
Its the 20th birthday of Beyond Monopoly this Saturday (15 February) and they have invited everyone to their party.
There’s something for everyone, with plenty of games, a puzzle hunt a quiz – and even board game-themed cake.
The celebratory event will take place at regular meeting location The Bar Convent in Blossom Street, York from 10am to 9pm. And it’s free for everyone to attend.
Those going along will be able to play games from their collection of more than 300, or bring your own to play too!
Jim Marshall, Beyond Monopoly club chairman, has been with the club for 19 of its 20 years. He said that “looking back it’s been an amazing ride.
“Board gaming has evolved through that period from a niche activity to something approaching mainstream, with games cafés popping up everywhere, games available in a growing number of shops and games appearing in popular culture.
“The club reflects the broad base of modern gaming with families, couples and individuals all coming along, and on a personal note I’ve made some great friends at the club.”
Beyond Monopoly first started in early 2005 at Neal Guppy’s Enterprise Club on Nunnery Lane. It then moved to the York Railway Institute Club on Station Street, before finally to its current location The Bar Convent Living Heritage Centre.
Beyond Monopoly have also been involved with a few ‘games on the road’ sessions over the years too – including public events in Parliament Street and the Railway Museum, and most recently York Explore asked to do do some 2023 school summer holiday sessions at their libraries “which was great fun”.
To find out more about the club, visit their website here.
Q&A with club chairman Jim Marshall
What’s your favourite board game?
‘Love Letter’ is based on a simple 16-card deck. It’s my favourite social deduction game in which players try to read each other to figure out what cards they have in hand. (Actually, that’s a cheat as it’s a card game!)
Which board game causes the most arguments?
‘The Resistance’, in which at the start of the game the players are divided into two groups, essentially the good guys (‘The Resistance’) and the bad guys (“The Imperial Spies’). The trick is that only the good guys know who each other are, and over the course of the game the bad guys have to wheedle out the good. The back-and-forth accusations and denials are what make the game. And again, I seem to have chosen another card game…
What’s the longest game you’ve ever played?
‘The Resistance’, in which at the start of the game the players are divided into two groups, essentially the good guys (‘The Resistance’) and the bad guys (“The Imperial Spies’). The trick is that only the good guys know who each other are, and over the course of the game the bad guys have to wheedle out the good. The back-and-forth accusations and denials are what make the game. And again, I seem to have chosen another card game…
Which board game would you most recommend (particularly for beginners)?
I’ll offer a couple. The popular ‘Carcassonne’ involves 3-5 players laying square tiles containing buildings, roads, fields and monasteries to recreate the medieval citadel of Carcassonne while scoring points for completed buildings, roads etc. I’d also recommend ‘Codenames’, a word-association game in which players are split into two teams. In each team the nominated clue-giver gives clues to his / her team mates to help them identify their hidden words from a 5×5 grid of 25 words before the other team is able to identify their words.
If you could only play one board game for the rest of your life, what would it be?
Firstly, please don’t make me do that! Right now I’ll say ‘Hansa Teutonica’ in which players build up trading networks in medieval Germany (it’s a lot more fun than it sounds!), but ask me again in a month and I’ll probably give you a different answer.
If you could play a life-sized version of a board game, which would it be?
‘The White Castle’ is set in beautiful Himeji Castle in Japan. If you’d like to fund the airfare I’d be delighted to go to Japan and play the game in the real castle, especially with the cherry trees in full spring bloom!