Gamer

These days the term "gamer" is typically associated with people who play video games. However, there are other types of games out there, as well. As I mentioned in the first post, I love to play games. While I do play video games from time to time, I was referring more to board and card games. I will try almost any board or card game at least once. I just love to play games.

It started when I was very young. At the age of five, I learned two things that started me down this path. I learned how to shuffle a deck of playing cards, and my uncle taught me how to play chess. I haven't looked back since. I was obsessed with playing chess when I was much younger. My father and two of my uncles would play chess with me all of the time. I couldn't get enough.

I consider myself a decent player at this point, to the point that my dad has decided not to play me anymore. Had I stuck with it as I grew older, I could have been a great player. However, I became distracted by other games that I learned. I wanted to learn as many games as I could. I would read books of card game rules and never actually play a game with someone else. I would play any board game that anyone put in front of me. I even started to make up rules for my own games.

This obsession has never really waned in my adult years. As I played more and more games into my teenage years, I learned I had a competitive nature. I played to win always. For me, that was the fun of the game: winning. Unfortunately, it was hard to find games that challenged me or people who would play against me. Then, when I started high school, I found the game that would change everything.

I had heard about Magic: the Gathering before but I had never really learned much about it. It was always this mysterious game I wanted to learn but didn't know how to go about it. Unlike most card games and board games, Magic doesn't come all in a box. It is known as a collectible card game. You buy packs of cards, like baseball or football cards, and you use the cards you collect to build a deck. You then use that deck against other decks built by other players. Until high school, I hadn't found anyone who played so I didn't bother looking further into the game.

When I started high school, though, I found a group of people on the school bus who played. I was able to see actual cards for the first time and play with them. It was like a whole new world was opened up to me. The amount of depth to the game is immense, because you are not limited like you would be with a normal board game. You can modify your deck however you wish and play against people in several different ways. It gave me an outlet for both my creative nature and my competitive nature.

From there, I found a local shop that sold Magic cards and even had small tournaments on the weekend. This allowed me to really explore the competitive nature of the game. I never really did venture further than the local game shop for a long time. And for a while, I moved on to other card games similar to Magic. However, I never really moved away from Magic and eventually came back to it. I've started really competing in major tournaments and even travelling to play. This past year, I had the most successful year of my Magic career finishing very well in several high profile tournaments. I plan to continue doing so this year, hoping to improve on last years results.

While most of my gaming focus is spent on Magic these days, I still take the time to play board games with my friends. As I type this, I look over to a stack of board games I just bought at Books-a-Million today. I will be spending the evening playing games with my friends as I spend most Saturday evenings. These are the same friends I met while playing Magic. I even met my wife playing Magic. Gaming has been an integral part of my life up to this point and I'm very happy with what it has done for me.

I wrote in the first post about wanting to get into game design. I have dabbled in it in the past. I believe the experience I have with gaming my whole life gives me the ability to create some great games that other people would enjoy. It is my goal to complete at least one game design this year. Even if I don't get it published, I still want to have it finished. Once I have some work down, I will post updates here for you to see.

-Eddie