Last weekend’s annual BOGA retreat was a great success. Every year more and more people attend , and every year they add more and more fun events.
The Boardgamers of Greater Akron (BOGA) Retreat was started a few years ago for board gamers in the Northeast Ohio area to have a weekend away just to game. We spend the weekend at Camp Carl, a church camp on the outskirts of Ravenna, which has very nice accommodations (not roughing it by any means). There are lots of families, and you don’t have to be a member of any gaming group to attend. Meals are even included in the cost of the retreat.
Everyone brings board games to share, and Underhill’s (the shop that hosts BOGA meetings) lets us borrow some of theirs as well, so there are stacks and stacks to choose from. You can also take advantage of some time in the camp’s gymnasium, or play some video games. They have had Rock Band set up in past years, and this year several people brought their laptops to play SWTOR. If the weather is good there is a bonfire in the evenings. It’s a very laid-back environment with lots of friendly people.
This year they added a Zombie LARP on Friday night, which was very well attended (I passed on running around in the woods in the dark). They played two scenarios so everyone got to be a zombie and a human, and there were even cool props like bloody shirts and weapons.
My favorite part of the retreat was playing 7 Wonders, one of my husband’s favorite games, for the first time. It’s a fun little game that has won a lot of prizes. The gameplay is not that hard, it doesn’t take too long, plays up to 7 people, and there is some strategy involved. It’s great for older kids too; in our game we all got beat pretty soundly by a middle schooler!
If you live in Ohio and are interested in board games (especially Euro-style games), here are some groups to check out:
Boardgamers of Greater Akron (BOGA): Meet twice monthly (once Friday evening, once Saturday) at Underhill’s Games in Cuyahoga Falls
Cleveland Board Gamers: Monthly meet-ups around the Cleveland area, particularly at the Euclid and Nordonia libraries
Columbus Area Boardgaming Society (CABS): Meets nearly every weekend in Worthington; first meeting is free, and after that they ask for a small membership fee
Jedi by Knight 