Stacks of board games collecting dust, boxes of card games left untouched, and convention halls sitting empty: such is the life of tabletop game players in the Ottawa area, whose community has been forced online amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Although play has moved to online platforms such as Tabletop Simulator and Tabletopia, members of the Ottawa board gaming community say virtual play is not the same.
Isolating board gaming communities
Ottawa resident and game enthusiast Faran Mirza owns 300 games. Mirza began collecting games after he was gifted the card game Codenames in 2017.
He said the social aspect of tabletop gaming is missing from virtual play.
“The experience of banter, seeing the expressions when you do a move that impacts another player,” Mirza said. “It’s not there.”
Mirza said although he still gets to play in person with members of his social bubble, he is also playing online.
He said he used to meet up with gamers every Sunday at a local bar and misses being able to play with others more often.
“Going through the physical library and choosing [a game], finding three other people that you want to sit down and play that with,” Mirza said. “That side of it is the thing I think I miss most.”
Playing online has also limited Mirza’s ability to meet new people who have the same hobby, he said.
Justin Tremblay, an Ottawa resident who works for the federal government, has been playing board games since he got one for his 30th birthday in 2000.
In 2019, Tremblay started the Clarence-Rockland Boardgamers Network on Facebook to organize weekly meet-ups at the local library. The group currently has 119 members on Facebook.
Now, Tremblay owns about 150 games.
“The whole point of board gaming for me and a lot of people in my group was the social interaction, getting together,” Tremblay said. “We were able to do a cerebral activity while being social.”
Now, most of the people who regularly met up with Tremblay’s group before the pandemic have opted for virtual gaming on Tabletop Simulator, Tremblay said.
He said he still chats almost daily with other members of the board gaming Facebook group, despite a decline in posts in the group since the pandemic began.
Tabletop Simulator lays out the environment for a board game—including the board and the pieces—but does not manage the rules of the game. Instead, the players manage the rules and keep score.
“It’s the next best thing to gaming in person,” Mirza said.
Tremblay has also picked up a new hobby during the pandemic: painting miniatures. While he dabbled previously in painting the pieces from his games, Tremblay said he recently picked it up again and fell down the miniature rabbit hole.
Mirza said he got into solo gaming during the pandemic. Many newer games have a solo option, where you can play by yourself or against a virtual opponent. Mirza said he also started playing more card games, such as Arkham Horror and Marvel Champions.
The ups and downs of pandemic board games sales
While many tabletop gamers have remained engaged in the community, Tremblay said he worries some people are leaving the community because they can’t afford to purchase games or must sell their games to pay for necessities.
“A lot of people are culling their collections,” Tremblay said, noting that he’s seen an uptick in Facebook posts from people selling their games. “I want to believe that they’re just taking a pause and are going to come back.”
Mirza, on the other hand, said he believes involvement in the tabletop gaming community has increased during the pandemic. Mirza said he has found games go out of stock more quickly than before the pandemic.
“You’re indoors, you can’t go out, so you’re playing with your bubble. It hasn’t been as hard as you would think to the industry.” — Faran Mirza, Game enthusiast
Mirza’s point of view is echoed by Jordan Richer, a project manager and game designer for Hit Point Press, an Ottawa-based tabletop gaming company.
Richer said the company, which makes third-party content for the popular fantasy role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons and employs about 12 people, has experienced relatively consistent demand for its products.
According to Richer, Hit Point Press is mainly funded by crowdfunding company KickStarter. Hit Point Press had its most successful funding campaign ever this year, raising $1.3 million USD despite the pandemic.
“The most interesting thing is how little has changed,” Richer said. “It’s an industry that … was picked up by a lot of people as a hobby that could be played while isolating.”
Richer said Hit Point Press shifted to releasing much of its product as PDFs for virtual gaming, as well as converting older products to an electronic platform.
Grayson Doherty has worked as a sales manager at the store for 15 years and said he’s seen a large increase in the demand for hobby products—including board games.
“A lot more people are getting into hobbies,” Doherty said. “[The pandemic] has at least given people time to reflect and grow themselves.”
Doherty said the store saw a decrease in small impulse purchases, such as Funko Pop bobbleheads, but the loss in revenue has been made up for by planned purchases of jigsaw puzzles, model kits and games.
Toys on Fire also relies on revenue from conventions. The store normally hosts tables at around 15 conventions a year in the Toronto and Montreal areas, but in-person conventions since mid-March have all been cancelled.
“That was a huge revenue stream for us that was kind of cut to zero.” — Grayson Doherty, Toys on Fire sales manager
Sean DN sells products at conventions to raise money to start a gaming lounge in Ottawa, where visitors can play video games and board games. This year, he said he has struggled to raise money.
DN organized and hosted a virtual convention on Nov. 28 and 29 to help businesses that normally rely on sales from conventions. Each vendor had their own virtual “table”—a video stream and link to their products—and convention visitors could move from table to table.
“I think that this could be a new way … to be able to do these conventions,” DN said.
What comes next?
When the pandemic ends, Tremblay said he believes tabletop gaming will experience significant growth.
“People are going to want to connect. They’re gonna want to get out,” Tremblay said. “I have a feeling it’s going to be bigger than ever.”
Everyone in his friend group has a list of two or three games they want to play when things return to normal, Tremblay said.
“We chat almost daily about what games we’re gonna play first,” he said.
Until then, Tremblay and his Facebook group will continue playing online, waiting until they can meet up in person again.
Featured graphic by Danielle Cole.
