From New Players to Fervent Hobbyists

This is a call for more research on the growing world-wide tabletop gaming phenomenon, which includes sites of rich cultural production, nuanced emerging communities of practice, and examples of the kinds of varied and rich activity we want to see in our designed learning environments. Evidence that tabletop gaming is experiencing a golden age includes the prolific activity found on the website Board Game Geek (http://boardgamegeek.com/). This paper will present some of these activities and make a case for why “The Geek” serves as a mirror to reflect on more traditional educational settings.