What am I playing at...? with Jennifer Page
The Little Board Game Café author on competitive Christmases, the best ice-breaking games, and meeple necklaces.
‘What am I playing at’ is our semi-regular feature discussing board games with those outside the industry. And next up at the tabletop is author Jennifer Page.
Jennifer has released the first four books in her Little Board Game Café rom-com series, the latest of which, Christmas at the Board Game Café, was released earlier this month.
As can probably be surmised from the series title, Jennifer is also a big tabletop games fan. So, we had a chat about the above, but really, mainly, to discuss competitive Yuletides, the best ice-breaking games, and meeple necklaces.
Hi Jennifer. So, what do you think you're playing at?
JP: My latest novel, Christmas at the Board Game Café, has just been published.
It’s the fourth in the Board Game Café series, which began with The Little Board Game Café, but every book can be read as a standalone.
I’m now rewriting/editing my fifth novel which doesn’t have any board games in it at all. Maybe I need to sneak one in there. It’s another feel-good romance book with a musical theme and quite a lot of campervans. I’m very excited about it.
At any one time, I always have a few ideas for books that I’m bursting to write so there’s always a self-imposed pressure to finish one and get on with the next one.
As an author of romantic fiction and a fan of games, how do the two mix for you in your novels and in the real-world?
JP: Initially, I didn’t set out to write about a board game café – Emily, my main character in the first book, was running an ordinary café, but I did know I wanted her love interest to be geeky.
And then I thought, why shouldn’t he be a geeky board gamer? After all, I fell in love with a geeky board gamer. I live in a house full of board games so it was a natural progression for the café to become a board game café.
Romance and board games in real life? Why not? I did dating apps for 13 years before meeting my husband, Hermi (who introduced me to board games.) I think if I’d discovered board games before, I might have met him sooner. I did join the Meetup group London on Board, but didn’t go to any board game evenings because I didn’t recognise any of the games in the pictures. If I had, I’d have met some of his friends and they might have introduced us.
I think board game groups might be an excellent way to find love, especially for introverts like me who find small talk and parties difficult.
The festive season has come early for your latest book, Christmas at the
Board Game Café. Which games will you be settling down to this year.
Are tabletop games with your nearest and dearest at Christmas relaxed
occasions, or all-in competitive cutthroat affairs?
JP: Hermi and I spend Christmas Day with my mum. She’s not a board games fan but can usually be persuaded to play Ticket to Ride. We might even persuade her to try Art Society as she loves art.
It won’t be relaxed though – Mum doesn’t like board games much, but she is very competitive and likes to win.
I’ve bought my husband a new game for Christmas that was released at Essen – I can’t reveal what in case he reads this – so hopefully we’ll be playing that too.
You spy a couple of strangers at your own local board game café, casting longing eyes at each other from across tables. But neither is making the first move! Oh, the fools. Which ice-breaking game are you gathering off the shelf and shepherding them over to play to start off their long and happy lives together?
JP: Just One or Codenames. I think both are easy to play but you reveal a lot about yourself with the clues you give. A word-based game like one of these that actually involves talking is ideal.
Best romance-themed game you've played?
JP: Fog of Love. The first Christmas we spent together, my husband gave me this as a gift. I bought him Nusfjord. Must admit, I preferred Nusfjord and still do.
But Fog of Love has grown on me and even features in Second Chances at the Board Game Café. We actually played a game or two as research – we played as if we were the characters in the book, rather than ourselves - and I made a video about it for TikTok.
‘Someone once picked their nose while playing a grafting game. I have never played with that person again’
Ideal game night: which games are you playing, who's with you, where are you and what snacks are you chowing down on?
JP: That’s so difficult without upsetting some of my board gaming friends.
We have a little dream of having a house with a huge room so we can set up several tables and invite everyone.
Top of the guest list would be my husband and two of his oldest mates, Mark and Barry.
What snacks? Snacks?! Hermi likes to keep his games in pristine condition, so eating wouldn’t be allowed at the games tables.
Do you have a grail game - one game that you always wanted to play or
own but never have.
JP: I don’t. I tend not to be bothered about playing new games – I love playing ones I already know over and over and over again.
Hermi, on the other hand, likes trying new ones. So I have to satisfy my craving for
playing Gizmos, Forest Shuffle and It’s a Wonderful World over and over again on BGA.
What's the best board game component?
JP: I have to say meeples because they feature in all my books. When The Little Board Game Café first came out, some non-board gaming readers didn’t know what meeples were, so I made a reel for Instagram to explain.
I make keyrings, necklaces and earrings out of meeples now (bought for the purpose, not nicked from Hermi’s games boxes – he’d probably divorce me if I did that).
What's the most nefarious/antisocial thing you've seen someone do when playing a board game?
JP: I don’t want to say really. But someone once picked their nose while playing a grafting game. I have never played with that person again.
Monopoly: yes or no? Explain yourself
JP: Probably no. I haven’t played Monopoly since I met Hermi and discovered how many wonderful games there are out there.
I have nothing against Monopoly per se, but there are a lot of games that I enjoy more.
Christmas at the Board Game Café is published by Aria and is available now.