N.C. State is home to many clubs, ranging from educational clubs to sports clubs and everything in between. There is even a club for students who just want to play board and card games.
The Table Top Gamers Club, which meets in Talley every Thursday from 6:30 p.m. to 10 p.m., offers a large library of games to its members, ranging from games like Risk and Yahtzee to Dungeons & Dragons. The club’s $10 yearly dues allow members to check out any of the games and join any tournaments that the club holds.
Mike Roselli, who later formed the Collegiate Association of Table Top Gamers, founded the club in 2006. He is currently the executive director of the association. The NCSU Table Top Gamers Club is the most reputable chapter of this association.
The club’s president, Derek Shields, a senior in industrial engineering, has been a member for three years and is a fan of a few of the more abstract games. Two of his favorites are Bang! and Betrayal at House on the Hill. The goal of each game is to eliminate opponents through trickery and tactics. As with all board games and card games, players need a little bit of luck as well.
Bang!, Shields said, is a western themed game about shootouts. “Betrayal is a game based off of the old stories where people have to stay in a haunted house for a night in order to earn a large inheritance,” Shields said.
Shanna Wood, a sophomore in wildlife science, also enjoys playing Betrayal.
“There are 50 different outcomes,” Wood said. “You never know what will happen.”
The club has several special interest groups. One of the larger ones is the Magic: The Gathering SIG led by Yehor Fedchenko, a sophomore in computer science. The group holds tournaments and plays a variety of multi-player versions of the game.
“The club is great,” Fedchenko said. “I come every week to play.”
Rob Nunely, vice president of the club, is a sophomore in creative writing. He keeps order in the meetings and helps organize tournaments, such as the Magic tournament held this past Thursday.
Another weekly participant in the club’s activities is Lewis Pulsipher, a game designer who is best known for his game, Britannia. Pulsipher brings the club games that he is in the process of making in order for the players to test them.
“Games are not like paintings,” Pulsipher said. “They are interactive; you have to find out how people react to them.”
Pulsipher is a professor at Fayetteville Technical Community College and is the first professor in North Carolina to teach game design on a community college level.
Besides playing board games and card games likeMagic: The Gathering, the club also helps with charities that help children in need.
“This year, we will probably be donating to Child’s Play, which is a charity that provides games to children with terminal illnesses,” Shields said. “Last year, we donated money to a charity helping Haiti.”
The club provides students a place to go where they can play games with their peers. It also allows for the formation of special interest groups like the current Magic SIG, where Magic players can get together and bond based solely on their unique interest in the game. In an era when technology has become increasingly important, the Table Top Gaming Club offers students a pared down experience where interaction takes center stage.
