LOVE BOARD GAMES? Weekend event in SE Michigan is your paradise
A group of people, including Plymouth resident Mark Haynes (right), play a game of Wing Span during Friday’s openign day of NERDFEST.
Have dice, will travel.
That could be the mantra of hundreds of board-game lovers who are converging on the Sheraton Hotel in Novi this weekend — some from as far away at Austria — to share their passion for fun, conversation-generating competitions at the third annual NERDFEST convention.
NERDFEST was founded by a trio of southeast-Michigan board game aficionados — the husband-and-wife team of Ryan and Natalie James of Commerce Township; and their good friend Jeff Madigan, a Livonia resident who, like Ryan James, is originally from Redford.
The three-day gathering’s popularity has flourished thanks to The Gamecasters podcast launched a few years ago by the NERDFEST founders. Each podcast is downloaded upwards of 1,000 times by its growing legion of followers.
“This all started around 2010 when myself and a bunch of buddies would meet in my basement for something we called NERDFEST,” Ryan James explained. “Natalie, I and Jeff started a podcast during which we talked about NERDFEST, and our number of followers (now exceeding 1,000) started growing.”
Attendees can register at the door (enter on the north side of the Sheraton) or online by clicking here.
Convention has grown tremendously
Natalie James explained once the get-together grew too large for their basement, it was moved to a VFW hall in Wixom.
“We held it there for two years before we simply outgrew the space,” Natalie said. “We moved it (to the Sheraton) this year so we could handle all of the people who wanted to attend.”
Ryan and Natalie explained that everyone is welcome to attend this weekend’s event, which runs Saturday, March 29, from 10 a.m. to midnight; and Sunday, March 30, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
“People can bring their own games, or they can play games from our expansive library of games we have here,” said Ryan. “Most of the board games you’ll see people playing here aren’t the mass-market games like Monopoly, Sorry or Cranium; they’re more hobby-style games with strategy. But that doesn’t mean you can’t bring mass-market games and find like-minded people here to play with.
‘Don’t be intimidated by new games’
“A lot of times, people are intimidated by the non-mass-market games, but they’re easy to learn how to play and they’re far from intimidating. We have people here who help first-timers play new games — and we have signs made up so you can meet people to play against. The No. 1 goal of NERDFEST is to give people a place to have fun playing boardgames for a weekend.”
“There’s something for everyone here,” Natalie said. “You’ll see people here from 6 years old to senior citizens. There are a lot of family-oriented games for people of all ages.”
During a Friday afternoon media interview, Ryan said he just saw, for example, a 60-ish-year-old man playing chess against a 6-year-old.
“Our primary focus is to create a space for like-minded people to get together and socialize while doing what we all love most: playing board games!” the NERDFEST website explains.
Vendors, events galore
The event will include a number of board game-creating vendors, as well as local designers — Like Matt Riddle of Oxford — and special events in which participants can win prizes.
The Jameses emphasized that open gaming is the main attraction at NERDFEST, fueling new friendships and experience playing games attendees may never heard of on Friday but have mastered by Sunday.
Attendees travel from as far as as Utah and California — and then there’s Austrian Juergen, who has traveled to the United States for the first time specifically to partake in NERDFEST.
“I learned about this from the Gamecasters podcast and decided I had to attend because I have made so many friends through the podcast,” said Juergen, who said the nine-and-a-half-hour flight from Austria to southeast Michigan has been well worth it.
Journey from Austria
“It’s great being around like-minded people who I have met through the podcast,” Juergen said. “Now I can put faces to names. I love it.”
Among the attendees are board game designers, like Matt Riddle of Oxford, whose games are currently sold by Target and other big-name retail stores.
For the first time in NERDFEST history, the Jameses have had to charge an admission fee of $30 for all three days of NERDFEST (it opened Friday at 10 a.m.) or $20 for a one-day admission. Children under 10 years old get in free.
“Since we moved into this bigger space in this hotel, our costs have increased, obviously, thus the need for an admission fee,” Ryan explained. “It’s not about the money for us. It’s about giving people a forum to have fun and meet fellow gamers.”
Ed Wright can be reached at 734-664-4657 or edwright@socialhousenews.com.
