Junior Emalea Rooke considers herself a competitive person with a knack for figuring out people’s gaming strategies. 

So when her board game enthusiast friend, freshman Angel Dominguez, told her the news about the FHC Board Game Club being formed, she made sure she was one of the 12 eager students to attend the first meeting on October 19.  

Growing up with a strong board game background, Emalea was excited to use her skills against some of her classmates who share the same interest and love for competition in the world of board games. 

“Board games have always been a way for me to connect with those I cherish,” Emalea said. “I think the first meeting went wonderfully—we had a great turnout.” 

The Board Game Club plays a variety of games, ranging from classics like UNO to a crowd favorite that allows for more complicated gameplay: Settlers of Catan. 

“Settlers of Catan is my favorite game,” Emalea said, “because the board can be set up differently every time, and it’s a game of strategy. It’s very fun to play, and I enjoy trying to figure out everyone’s tactics.”

Held in science teacher Jason Colegrove’s room—room 241—every Tuesday after school, the club meets for about an hour to play some board games with students who share the love for all things gaming.  

In a typical meeting, you can find the students huddled around various tables throughout the room playing a variety of games. Usually, the groups consist of three or four people in an attempt to avoid the game continuing on for too long. 

Sometimes it’s hard to gather a large enough group of people to play a game, so this club provides the perfect opportunity to play the type of games that require upwards of four players.

“The purpose is to give students that are interested in tabletop games, board games, or card games the community to get together and play and compete,” Colegrove said. 

And according to some of the club’s attendees, this goal has clearly been accomplished. 

Physically sitting down and playing a game with some close friends is something that may not happen that often, especially now that the more popular version of games is those in the video game category; the community is an aspect that senior Tyler Molenda really enjoys about the club. 

Tyler finds the aspect of surrounding himself with people of similar interests to be a unique perk of the club. 

“It’s not like you’re playing an Xbox game,” Tyler said. “You’re socializing and doing something you [might] not normally do and engaging with people to have some good competition.” 

Tyler’s family is a fan of board games, but not as much as he is, so the club is a perfect place to meet students who share the same love of games, strategy, and competition that he has.

“I think it was something nice to do [that is] different—[something] you don’t often do,” Tyler said. 

Additionally, this club is not entirely brand new; pre-COVID, there was also an active board game club at FHC. 

“There were some students that were interested in bringing [the Board Game Club] back,” Colegrove said, “and a freshman that was interested in board games asked if we had a club, and now it has formed—or reformed, I should say.”

While some games that the club tries out are some that have been played among the members all their lives, this club also presents the opportunity to try new games that may expand the members’ horizons when it comes to strategy and technique.

 The FHC Board Game Club is unique because the community of people it brings together is unmatched. Acting as one group, but competing against each other in friendly matchups makes for a fun time in the game room. 

“We play music, and you hear lots of laughs throughout,” Emalea said. “The atmosphere of the room during Board Game Club is very welcoming and calm.”