Gaming Buddies

I've not made a huge amount of progress on Codename: Vacuum the last few weeks - it has been fairly hectic for a number of reasons. In the meantime, a trip to York made me think of something.

In the last seven years I've lived in five houses in three towns over 250 miles apart. During that time I've made a bunch of really good friends - the sort of guys you stay in touch with despite living hundreds of miles apart and try (not as much as I'd like!) to make the effort to visit them despite the distance. And I've made all these friends through gaming.

This weekend we had to pop to York (90 miles away from our new home in Newcastle upon Tyne). While there we popped in to see my friend Paul. Paul responded to a request for Border Reivers playtesters back in 2006, and I then joined his twice weekly games night and he became one of my best mates and Reiver Games playtesters. While in York I also met Dave through the local games group Beyond Monopoly!. Dave and I shared an interest in gaming (I think it was Space Hulk that first drew us together, but we liked very similar games, and liked the same things - except the Star Wars prequels!). Sadly, after a couple of years Dave moved to Plymouth (350 miles from York) and I haven't seen much of him since (though it's definitely my turn to visit (now 410 miles away!).

Then we moved again, 160 miles further south to near Bedford, and I joined a new game group. Terry, Graham and Andrew were available during the day on occasion, so we formed a playtesting group. As Reiver Games slowly withered and died our group changed from a playtesting group to a regular gaming night.

In a couple of weeks we're going down south to spend a weekend playing games with Terry, Graham and Andrew. We saw Paul and his family yesterday, and have agreed to see them on the way down south for another catch up and some gaming. I'm hoping to arrange an epic trip down to Plymouth to see Dave in the next few months (which will probably involve, you've guessed it, some gaming).

We moved back to Newcastle at the end of last year, where we still have some really good friends (several of whom come to my games night), but through the local games club (which I've hardly made it to yet) and a games night at the local games shop: Travelling Man I'm hoping I'll make some more excellent friends.

I'm really glad I have gaming as a way to meet new people, and that the people I meet share my interests and often turn into some of my best mates. Who have you met through gaming?