Finding people to play with: where board game groups come from and what keeps them going

Few questions come up in board game forums as often as this one: where did you find your gaming group? The honest answer is usually: not in one place, but through several small paths. There is rarely a perfect group just waiting to be discovered. More often a group forms because someone takes the first step and asks two or three people. Here are the paths that tend to work, and a few thoughts on how a first evening turns into a group that lasts.

Start with the people you already know

The shortest path leads through people you already know. Colleagues, neighbours, parents from nursery or your sports club: many of them enjoy playing, they just never mention it. A casual invitation with a concrete date and a game that is easy to explain lowers the barrier. Starting the first evening with a two-hour game full of rules tends to scare people off. A short party game or a cooperative game where everyone wins or loses together usually works better at the beginning.

Game meetups, cafés and clubs

Many cities have open game meetups: in board game cafés, community centres, libraries or run by gaming clubs. There you meet people who already want to play, and you can try games you do not own yourself. Game shops often host game nights or have a notice board as well. Check the websites of shops and clubs near you, or simply ask next time you buy a game. After a few visits you will often find exactly the two or three people you also get along with outside the meetup.

Search online, play offline

Local groups on social networks, Discord servers of game meetups and forums such as the regional sections of large board game sites are good places to look. A short post with your city, the games you like and the rhythm you have in mind often gets more replies than expected. Be specific: a suggestion like every other Thursday from 7 pm, mostly medium-weight games, is easier to say yes to than a general question whether anyone fancies playing.

Fairs and game days

Large fairs like SPIEL in Essen from 22 to 25 October, but also smaller regional game days, bring lots of people with the same hobby to one table. If you try a new release with strangers there, you get talking quickly. It does not always turn into a regular group, but often into a contact for the next game night.

What keeps a group together

Most gaming groups do not fall apart because of the games, but because of the organising. Three things help in particular.

A fixed rhythm: if everyone knows you play every other Friday, nobody has to ask again each time. Whoever cannot make it once is back the next time. How to set up such a series: playnexi.com/en/spieletreff-organisieren

An easy way to reply: new people do not want to sign up somewhere just to say whether they are coming. A link they can use to reply directly makes it easy: playnexi.com/en/einladung-ohne-konto

Deciding together what to play: if the same person always picks the games, others quickly feel like guests. A short vote beforehand gives everyone a say: playnexi.com/en/spieleabstimmung

When the group grows

At some point more people reply than fit around one table, or not everyone can keep playing at the same person's home. We have written two separate articles about that: on limited seats with a waiting list (playnexi.com/en/blog/spieleabend-grosse-runde-warteliste) and on game nights where the host takes turns (playnexi.com/en/blog/gastgeber-reihum-spieleabend).

And you? Where did you find your group, and what made it stick?

This article was written with AI assistance and reviewed editorially.