Locals get dose of D&D, board games at library event

More than a dozen local children and teens learned the finer points of Dungeons & Dragons as well as scores of other popular board games on Friday, Jan. 3, at the Waverly Public Library’s first role-playing and board game event.

Joe Roth, from the Dealt Hand in Des Moines, was on hand at the city library from 3 p.m. until well past 6 p.m. to conduct two gaming sessions for attendees: one focused solely on the fantasy role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons, and the other devoted to a long list of other popular board games.

In the years after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and the associated social isolation many experienced, Roth said role-playing games as well as board games have offered people of all ages a way to reconnect with others.

“People want in-person social interaction,” Roth explained. “Our role-playing stuff has taken off in the last couple of years. This is our first time in Waverly, and we’re excited to be here. In the end, everyone likes games.”

Aside from events at libraries, restaurants and other venues, Roth said the Dealt Hand offers a three-day event called “Camp Refresh” conducted at the Boone YMCA camp in the summer.

“That is one of the coolest things we’ve ever done,” he said. “It is the best.”

Dungeons & Dragons has a long history around the world, dating to the game’s rise in popularity in the 1970s and 1980s when the biggest video game was a squarish Pac-Man offering from Atari.

A fantasy-world game that usually involves many players over several hours, or even days, D&D — as it is most often referred to as — involves players choosing character identities and embarking on adventures of various sorts.

The game is governed by dozens of rule books such as “The Monster Manual,” “The Dungeon Masters Guide” and “The Players Handbook” and is played with a set of dice that ranges from four- and six-sided dice to 20-sided dice.

Characters range from fighters and thieves to clerics and paladins, each with unique skills, personal traits and abilities. Players also choose to be human, elves, halflings or other mythical races as they traipse into worlds of fantasy and myth guided by their minds.

A dozen attendees were present at the beginning of the event, with ages ranging from children to early teen years.

Two Waverly boys — Chase Joss, 13, and Isaac Mueller, 11 — shared a table with Aplington resident Catharine Martin, 12, at the start of the D&D seminar. All three agreed on a singular phrase to explain their love of the game.

“Just playing with your friends,” the trio agreed, is one big attraction to the game.

Mueller said he has played D&D for three years, and he explained that his dad got him started playing the fantasy role-playing adventure game.

Martin, who attends home school, said D&D is good for socialization, adding that she enjoys it in part because “I’m used to playing strategy games.”

Roth led both the D&D session as well as the later-starting board game seminar. He explained that each participant would leave the events with a small gift and new lessons in having board-game fun.

“Our goal is to play D&D. There are a lot of rules, but my goal is to give you a firm grasp of the game. We are going to be playing, rolling dice and having fun,” he told attendees as the session began.

The two events were coordinated by librarian Trevor Krug, who said in an email that the library has a group of patrons who “have an interest in tabletop role-playing games.”

Also known as TTRPGs, the games are often expensive and challenging to learn due to sometimes complex rules. That is why, he added, the library had an expert like Roth from the Dealt Hand come and help attendees learn assorted games.

“TTRPGs can take a lot of preparation to run as a consistent library program, so when I learned that the Dealt Hand was offering a new program aimed at equipping young people with the skills and know-how to run their own games, I knew it would be a perfect fit,” Krug said in the email. “Since our grand opening back on Nov. 16, we’ve had nearly 200 board games go out the door. I think that number speaks for itself.”

“Let’s face it, board games are expensive, and it stinks to pay upwards of $80 for a board game only to find out that it’s not your thing. That’s why we’re proud to offer hundreds of games for our patrons to enjoy, completely free of charge,” he added.

Roth said he travels the state conducting tutorial sessions for libraries and other groups, as well as conducts game nights at restaurants, bars and other venues for adults who are interested in connecting over games.

“Our big focus with the Dealt Hand is, games are expensive but tough to learn. So we create spaces that are designed to make it easy to do, to sit down and play games. Our games collection is worth $12,00 to $15,000. We can roll $3,000 to $4,000 worth of games to an event so people can try a bunch of stuff,” Roth said. “You can try a bunch of games and not spend a lot of money seeing what you like. We build events that are really easy for people to sit down and play games and to feel comfortable and safe doing it.”

In addition to the special event with the Dealt Hand, Krug said there is a designated area of the library with board games for use or to be checked out. On Friday, as a dozen children were learning from Roth in the special events room, a handful of adults were on the other side of the library perusing the selection of board games.

“Our role-playing game collection has also gained popularity among a highly interested group of patrons: people are coming to the library specifically for these items,” Krug added. “Much like in the case of our board game collection, role-playing books and materials can be hugely expensive, so we’re filling a key need by providing these materials at no cost to patrons.”

Krug said library patrons can benefit from role-playing games in many ways, chief among them is social interaction and communication skills, but also problem-solving and creative thinking.

Ryan Webster, the Information Services Librarian who is also an avid gamer, said he believes that TTRPGs “specifically are great for personal growth.

“Role-playing games are a fantastic place for practicing creativity, literacy, and critical thinking while also providing a safe space where participants who might not normally enjoy social settings can socialize with their peers in a way that is different and more comfortable for them,” Webster stated in an email.

For Roth, his first event at the Waverly Public Library was both exciting and welcome. A native of New Hampton, Roth said he enjoys traveling the state and teaching people of all ages about board and role-playing games.

“Games are a social medium, so it is a chance to sit down (and interact). Games are great. It is all sorts of things. In the end games are fun, but the social interaction is important.”