Gaming brings back childhood fun at Regina's Prairie Game Expo

If you're looking to get back in touch with a younger, more fun you, you may want to pull out a board game.

Comic Readers in Regina has partnered with Sask Games to put on the Prairie Game Expo this weekend.

The free expo will run Saturday from from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. at the Core Ritchie Community Centre. And if you think a bunch of people gathered together playing board games would be a quiet event, you'd be wrong, says one of the organizers.

"It's very energetic," Comic Readers co-owner Chad Boudreau said. "We've never had an event that's had less than 100 people there.

"There's a great babble in the room, which is fantastic, because everyone feeds off of that."

The games aren't all traditional strategy games, either. Last time around, Boudreau said they even set up oversized Jenga and 200 people ended up filling the hall.

You may be a little bit intimidated to step into the world of gaming, but Boudreau said all levels of gamers are expected at the event.

"It's a passionate hobby and it's a hobby that people love to share," said Davey McLellan, part of the leadership team of the SaskGames gaming group.

"It's best experienced when shared," said McLellan.

Boudreau said he found his love for gaming playing Monopoly on rainy days as a kid. Later in life, he said he was "wowed" by the board game Scotland Yard.

It wasn't until he moved to Regina as an adult and saw the same game at a friend's house that he was reintroduced to the hobby and began trying more games than he thought existed.

"It took me back to being a kid, in a very good way," he said.

His rediscovery of games paired well with a resurgence in popularity of the pastime.

"People were tired of being tied to their phones or playing video games, families wanted to reconnect, friends wanted to reconnect," Boudreau said. "We want to sit across the table from someone and have a meaningful event in a social setting.

"And that's what board gaming and gaming is all about."

For Kelli Carnegie Meeres, coming to Game Expo is a family event. Kelli, her six-year-old son Owen and her husband Alex try to make it out to every event during the year.

Carnegie Meeres said the whole family plays board games. "Now that Owen can read, the games are a lot more fun," she said as they were getting ready to play a game called Ticket To Ride.

Owen was encouraged to learn to read through playing board games and finding new ones that piqued his interest. 

"His math skills and reading skills have improved because of the board games that we play," said Carnegie Meeres.

"Board games, I think, are better for learning to take turns, to interact, to be patient, to handle frustration when you're around other people — all of those social skills we learn from board games."

If you're not sure if you'll be into games, Boudreau said the options are very diverse.

"There are so many different types of games now that, depending on your personality, I'd say you're going to find a game that works for you," he said.

There will be learn-to-play sessions for five games throughout the day, finishing off with a board game tournament.