What is gaming without games? What is life without memories? In the Gaming Memories Volume 01, our team shares happy, sorrowful, or deeply impactful memories of their lives, seen through the lens of tabletop gaming. Please join us for Gaming Memories, and if you have one you’d like to share, drop us a line.
Show Me The Winner – K. David Ladage
I moved a lot as a kid. It is a tough thing, finding friends, when you are always the new kid in school. Add to this a tumultuous relationship with my (divorced) parents and what you have is a kid who, when he found friends, would latch onto them. I was, and remain, fiercely loyal to those who showed me kindness.
My biological father is one who rarely, if ever, showed his emotions. He was distant and aloof. He was gone to work by the time I woke up. He was not home yet when I returned from school. He would show up after dinner, and would be working in the kitchen when I went to bed. I mean, I love the guy, but he was not a major influence in most of my life. My mother has been married three times: my biological father (Kenneth L.), my step-father (Greg G.), and a man I have hardly ever known (Edgar M.). My mother had many men at the house over the years, but Greg was the only man other than my biological father I ever called ‘Dad.’
Greg was a wonderful man who, while he and my mother dated, became my friend and confidant. He introduced me to the first few games that I would call non-traditional (meaning, beyond the typical department store fare like Monopoly, Clue, and games in the Parcheesi family). I remember sitting at our tiny kitchen table in Holly Hill, FL and him pulling out Win, Place & Show.
I knew nothing about horse racing. I just knew that this meant something to him. So I studied the pieces and recall wondering about those department store games. I wondered why they were so similar and cookie-cutter when there was games like this one? There is a lot going on in that game! It is not that it is overly complex (it isn’t), it is that although the game is dice-driven, it is not entirely luck-driven. There are so many things you can do, decisions you can make, that create a game that feels like it has a quality I did not know the word for at the time: agency. Greg and I played that game a lot. He tried to give it to me when my mother inevitably broke his heart and he had to leave. I refused.
Greg—dad—wherever you are: I love you, and thank you for being my friend.
♥♥♥♥♥ – Definitive memory/experience
Read more articles from K. David Ladage.
In-Significance – David McMillan
One insignificant evening in 2023, my wife and I took a seat around a round table to play a game called GPS. While I can’t recall all the other faces at the table, I distinctly recall that, along with one other person, my wife and I were joined by our hosts, Sarah and Evan.
Evan, apparently, was a massive fan of the game, and his eyes fairly sparkled as he rolled up his sleeves and taught us how to play. If I told you I remembered anything about how that game was actually played, I’d be lying. GPS was just another filler in a lifetime of filler games, leaving very little impression once it had left the table. But, hey, we had fun. I recall Evan’s exclamations whenever someone pulled off an impressive move. I recall the feeling of being among good friends, just having a great time. And once the game was done, my wife and I said our goodbyes and made our way home. It was a game night like any other game night. I wish I could remember more. I wish I could go back in time and burn every single moment of that evening into my memory. Because, as it turned out, that would be the last time that my wife and I would ever see Sarah.
Life got in the way, and we missed the next few game nights. Then game night got canceled. Sarah and Evan weren’t feeling well, but anticipated there would be a game night the following week. But, there never was. Evan got better, but Sarah didn’t. Sarah was dying of cancer. And within a matter of days, she was stolen away from us.
I will always treasure that last insignificant evening that we spent with her.
♥♥♥♥♡ – Life-changing memory/experience
Read more articles from David McMillan.
