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During this pandemic, board games have been a valuable pastime for many people, whether it's breaking some out with the family and friends or learning how to play games on new online platforms. At Johnson County Library, our Table Top Games Committee has been trying to think of ways that we can share our passion with our patrons even if we can’t meet in person. Join us each month for a virtual Table Top Games event!



Ian's Table Top Games Story

I have always been an avid video gamer, but my board game experience was limited to Trivial Pursuit until I started working as a teen services librarian at the Kansas City Public Library. I volunteered to participate in a tabletop gaming initiative a couple of the other intrepid teen services librarians were starting in our system. I was aware that these fancy and complicated European tabletop games existed, but they seemed too complicated for me to seek out on my own. I quickly learned that the difficulty curve of modern board games was mostly something I had invented in my head. I founded a weekly teen tabletop gaming program at my branch and it quickly became my favorite part of the workweek. When I came over to Johnson County Library and found that they had their own Table Top Games programming, I tried to keep my cool when my manager asked if I wanted to be involved with it. “Yeah, that would be cool,” I said, doing backflips and fist pumps in my head.

One of my favorite things about tabletop gaming is that they covertly promote useful life skills. In my tabletop gaming incubator we would play games and then discuss which 21st Century skills they reinforced. These included things like literacy, leadership, teamwork, and flexibility. My favorite games are those that have a low barrier of entry but have tons of replayability.

Some of my favorite games:

Splendour - Who knew a game about Renaissance jewel merchants could be so THRILLING. Granted, a lot of this games appeal is its excellent gameplay mechanics (and wonderfully tactile poker chip “jewel” tokens). It’s a game where every single playthrough teaches you a new, better way to play. It’s almost plain unfair that there is an app version of this (which I had to delete from my phone to, you know, be a productive member of society).

Carcassone - Another example of “who knew a game about constructing a medieval fortified town in France could be so much dang fun!” The Germans really know what they are doing when it comes to elegant game design. This is another one of those games that takes minutes to learn, and a lifetime to master.

Takenoko - If this game is available at one of our game nights, I’m usually going to try to make people play it with me. While this game growing bamboo for a voracious panda is pretty cutesy on the surface, the gameplay is phenomenal and so much fun.

Betrayal at House on the Hill - I’m not a big horror movie guy, but this game about a group of people exploring a haunted house is one of my favorites. It’s all the fun of a D&D-esque role playing game without having to learn any lore or math. Best of all is when the game switches up halfway through and one of your party members starts working with the monsters (vampires, werewolves, giant amorphous blobs, there are dozens of crazy horror movie scenarios!) trying to destroy you.

Ticket to Ride - This is my favorite game to introduce folks to the wild and wonderful world of board games beyond Monopoly. It’s hard to think of a more perfect gateway game.

Learn how your tax dollars are put to work to make our community a better place to live. Meet hard-working members of the Johnson County Government and find out how they help every day.  In February our special guests will be from Johnson County Planning, Housing, and Community Development.

Connect with Your Community Tuesday Feb. 2, 6:30 pm

Join us for Storytimes on Facebook Live!

Weekdays at 10 am - Storytime

Wednesdays at 7 pm - Bilingual Storytime

Fridays at 7 pm - Evening Storytime

On Artists in Sight, we interview some of the Kansas City area's best local visual artists for insights about their work, creative process and the things that inspire them.

This program will be hosted using the On24 meeting software, and you can register for this program directly with On24. A Johnson County Library staff member will contact registrants before the program, via the email you registered with, providing instructions on how to access the On24 meeting. You do not need to download any software or create an account.

Chico Sierra is a Mexican-American visual artist, poet, musician and muralist, among many other things. Chico learned that borders can be fixed and severe, but also blurry or even non-existent. His cultural hybridity has played out throughout his life as he has spent time living with people of different classes and cultures in the United States, Mexico, Canada, Germany and the Philippines. The cultures that Chico experienced in these countries, as well as the theme of blurring borders can be found in Chico’s art, poetry and music which is heavily influenced by graffiti, pop art, Mexican folk art and political comics.

The countdown to Sunday has begun!

Have you ever had a good idea? You know, the kind of idea that leads to a foolhardy venture like creating a football league to take on the NFL? That's exactly what Lamar Hunt and seven other owners did in creating the American Football League. They called themselves the "foolish club." The AFL and NFL merged in 1966. Four years later, Hunt's Kansas City Chiefs won the Super Bowl. Fifty years later, the team we call "our team" won another championship! Now, they defend their title. How many more are there to come?

Are you a Chiefs fan? Search jocohistory.org for articles about Lamar and the team from back in the day. It's the place to travel through local history. Also, be sure to follow our hashtag on Twitter!