Sun and a few passing clouds. High 58F. Winds WNW at 10 to 15 mph..
Clear skies. Low 31F. Winds NW at 5 to 10 mph.
Updated: February 18, 2022 @ 1:14 am
Marlon Jaribay, Mark Miller, Genevieve Vianey and Truitt Broome play Sagrada at Level Up Games on Feb. 2, 2022. (Photo/Alex Anteau)
Level Up Games exterior on Feb. 2, 2022. (Photo/Alex Anteau)
Level Up Games interior on Feb. 2, 2022. (Photo/Alex Anteau)
Marlon Jaribay, Mark Miller, Genevieve Vianey and Truitt Broome play Sagrada at Level Up Games on Feb. 2, 2022. (Photo/Alex Anteau)
The game at hand is Sagrada and the assembled players, Marlon Jaribay and UGA students and faculty Mark Miller, Genevieve Vianey and Truitt Broome, pass the tray around the table and use the dice to construct elaborate stained glass windows.
Gatherings like this are a common occurrence, as the shop seeks to establish itself as a community gaming center in Athens and join the ranks of Tyche’s Games just off UGA’s campus and Dragonstar Hobbieson the East Side.
While the shop officially opened its Athens location on Oct. 28, 2021, it didn’t finish installing its community gaming space until 2022.
The store is a satellite location to the Level Up Games flagship store in Duluth. It specializes in selling tabletop games, board games and card games, along with model kits and other accessories. However, that’s not its only purpose.
“We have a Discord set up where we encourage community interaction and community activity for anyone who wants to to come in and to look for others to play with or people to interact and join a game,” said Jared Johnson, manager of the Athens location. The store employees want the shop to serve as a community game center.
Level Up Games exterior on Feb. 2, 2022. (Photo/Alex Anteau)
Johnson said so far the store hosts a weekly board game night and scheduled events for card games like Magic the Gathering and war games like Warhammer 40K. The board game nights at Level Up Games are “bring your own board game,” though the shop’s staff often provides their personal games for guests to play as well.
Other game shops around Athens also emphasized the importance of serving as gathering places for people who share a common interest.
“[Local game shops] serve as a meeting place for people and a chance to, you know, get in touch with other people who share the hobby,” said Sean Holland, manager of Tyche’s Games.
Like Level Up, Holland said Tyche’s Games seeks to connect people through their Facebook page and Discord server.
“We try and provide forums for people to get in touch with gamers and build community because that’s really one of the things we want to do,” Holland said. “Building community is a good in and of itself.”
Level Up Games interior on Feb. 2, 2022. (Photo/Alex Anteau)
“Without a [Local Game Shop] for the most part there wouldn’t be a community in a lot of areas, because it offers a place for people to come together and to play, “ Johnson said. “The games are getting bigger, which is great. It’s so much fun to be able to play a board game that takes two and a half hours to play that comes in a box that’s the size of your torso, but you don’t have the space or the time to play that game at home.”
Customers like Tyler Baker, a management major at UGA, highlighted the importance of local stores as well, emphasizing that not all shops are created equal.
Baker said that when interacting with larger companies, he felt that they often just wanted sell products. Attending events hosted by local shops like Level Up or Dragonstar made him feel like he was part of a community.
The group gathered on Wednesday Feb. 2 agreed.
“It’s pretty pogchamp, as the kids would say,” Jaribay said.
On Feb. 2, the Hispanic Student Association at the University of Georgia announced Maria Canals-Barrera as the 2022 Affirming Latinx Achievements and Success ceremony keynote speaker.
A small group of people gathered outside of the North Oconee Water Reclamation Facility on Sunday afternoon for a free Valentine’s Day-themed tour of the facility.
Elijah Odunade is representing UGA as one of the 36 college students from across the country competing in the first ever primetime “Jeopardy!” National College Championship, which premiered Tuesday on ABC, hosted by Mayim Bialik.
The FBI arrested an Athens man on Feb. 10, 2022, on assault charges related to the Jan. 6, 2021, United States Capitol insurrection, the U.S. Department of Justice announced on Feb. 10.
COVID-19 cases have continued to decrease at the University of Georgia compared to last week, according to the university’s reporting system. UGA reported 87 new cases during the week of Feb. 7-13 — 79 fewer cases than last week.
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