My Summer Lair Chapter #327: Are Board Games The Meaning Of Life?
Growing up did you play board games like Uno or Sorry or even Monopoly?
Fun, right? Now forget those classic experiences.
An entire board game subculture has emerged that recognizes tabletop games as works of artistic expression and community-building and even cerebral engagement.
About 3 minutes into The Hobby a tabletop board game documentary, a gamer looks into the camera and confirms: “People don’t realize how big the world of board games is.” He is talking about me, of course.
So this puzzling world…this subculture of games and gamers was brand new to me. And that’s what fascinating documentaries do: they allow you to visit a strange and unfamiliar world.
In Las Vegas (of course, Las Vegas) for the past couple of years there’s been a World Series of Board Games. It’s exactly as it sounds: a competitive tournament where board game players compete in various strategy games. There’s a winner and there’s clear losers.
All of this…this passion, this enthusiasm, this creativity, the board games, the community and even the World Series of Board Games is covered in Simon Ennis’ documentary The Hobby: Tales from the Tabletop.
This is not my world. As I said to Simon in this MSL conversation; I’m on the comic book side of the nerd house. I don’t play video games either. (And until I saw this documentary I didn’t realize just how solitary most nerd activities are. I go to the comic book shop, buy some comics and read them by myself. Sure, you can play video games online with others. But you can also play by yourself at 2 a.m. You can go see movies like Mission Impossible and Superman by yourself. A lot of the games discussed in The Hobby require people. A community is a strong thematic thread in The Hobby. Again, yeah there are games you can play by yourself. But this is clearly deigned to be a social experience.)
Simon is your Universal Studios tour guide into the world of board games: he takes us to Las Vegas for the World Series of Board Games.
He takes us to Scarborough, not far from Warden Station where the beef patties used to be…where gamer and Simon’s charming friend, Dan Corbett lives. In the documentary, the Hobby you can see Dan and Simon and other friends assemble, get their snacks and drinks and sit down to play distinct board games.
Other curious subjects in the Hobby…you got the “Roger Ebert of board games,” a rock-climbing board game philosopher and a birdwatcher who poured her passion for the birds and created Wingspan, an unlikely smash board game hit. The documentary is brimming with lots of creativity and even ambition.
It’s why, oddly I asked Simon, are board games the meaning of life? The description of the documentary reads: A funny, affectionate, character-driven portrait of the surprisingly massive subculture of modern board games, featuring a diverse group of subjects who find deep meaning in “meaningless” pursuits.
It’s a notable thread running through the documentary. The Hobby is a documentary about people…about how we spend our leisure time. The honest truth is we all wrestle with the what do you want to be when you grow up question? That’s really the compelling hook, especially if you’re not a gamer like me.
“Are you sitting comfortably? Then I’ll begin.” Let the games begin.
The Hobby @ W • T • F
Host Sammy Younan
Recorded: Friday, June 13, 2025 at 1:20 pm (EST)
Stress free pop culture tastefully harvested for your divine delight. Once a week a carefully curated edition of My Pal Sammy goes directly to your inbox. Sign up for my newsletter so we can have some fun…like the best Ed Wood movies!
