91福利社

John Power is the chairman of Beyond Monopoly. Playing board games is his favourite hobby. He says, 鈥渕ost people have no idea when they come to the club that the games we play exist, because you just can鈥檛 get them here. Most of the games come from Germany.

John Power

"Go into a shop in Britain and you won鈥檛 see them. People come to the club for the first time, play a game like Niagara or Ticket to Ride and they are instantly hooked.

鈥淭he thing about these games is they are very positive and instructive. You don鈥檛 get eliminated, you don鈥檛 play for hours; they have simple rules and are easy to learn.鈥�

You might think playing games is something you leave behind in childhood, but John says Beyond Monopoly is for adults and families: 鈥渋t鈥檚 not a kids group, it鈥檚 not a playgroup. Parents can bring their children along, but most of the people who come to the club are grown ups.鈥�

Some of the club's games

John says some of the games fit a few of the stereotypes, are heavier and appeal to people who like to devise strategies, but he prefers the lighter games like a game called Pitch Car.

听鈥淚t鈥檚 like Scalextric, but without the electricity. You make a big wooden track of curves and bends and flick discs around with your finger. That goes down great!

"We've got over 150 games at the club, with varied themes including penguins,听 prospecting, railways ... landing on Mars!"

鈥淚f people just knew about these games they would really want to play them, I guarantee. These games change your life! I played Settlers back in 1996 and I now have 1,500 board games in my personal collection.鈥�

John also insists the atmosphere at the club is a fun one: 鈥渨e don鈥檛 sit there in silence staring at the boards, it鈥檚 a very social thing - we have a laugh!