Sometimes, you can get lulled into thinking that our hobby is on the verge of breaking out into the mainstream culture.  That people "out there" are practically aching to find games which are stimulating and require thought, but only lack the aspiring gamer to introduce them into this promised land of "good games". 

And then, at other times, you come face-to-face with the reality that stimulating thought, learning rules (even simple ones), and maybe even playing games in general isn't what some people consider fun and/or relaxing.

Over the last couple of weeks, I helped organize and run a couple of workshops for the new graduate nurses at my hospital, which were all about stress management.  We gave them some time to talk (and vent) about what they are going through, had an expert on relaxation and stress management come in to work with them, and then, in the afternoon, I thought it would be a great opportunity for me to share my hobby with them and play some games together.  

Now, I knew my audience pretty well, and didn't even begin to try out any strategic games.  I looked at my game collection and tried to pick out light, party-style games, but also wanted to expose them to some games that were slightly more obscure than what they'd find at Target or Wal-Mart. 

On the first day, I did tote along Pandemic ("just in case" I had one or two really interested in learning something more complex... and it is a healthcare setting, you know), but the other games I brought were Time's Up, Say Anything, Werewolves of Miller's Hollow (since we had actually played Werewolf before), and Felix: The Cat in the Sack.  The scoring for Say Anything seemed to blow their minds, and they knew virtually none of the people in Time's Up.  So in general, they seemed to suffer through both games to make me happy, but it didn't seem to me that there was a lot of fun to be had.  In fact, several comments were made along the lines of "this game is causing me stress", which was, obviously, against the point.  I mentioned the word "auction" when they asked me about Felix, and I thought I'd have a total mutiny if I said any more.

So for the second group, I went even more mass market and took these games: Catch Phrase, Word on the Street, No Thanks!, Dixit, and Werewolves of Miller's Hollow.  They liked the sound of Word on the Street, so we divided into two teams of about 7 people each and went at it.  Everyone seemed to have fun, but one person on my team was like a crazy (and a bit overly-competitive) little word-spoutin' machine, so we won two games in a row.  And again, I still got the feeling that they were playing along mostly for my benefit.  In fact, most of the group bailed at this time, taking us up on the offer to go away and do something else to relieve their stress.

That was cool, of course, and I was left with 6 people wanting to try out another game.  Since I'd had some success with it before in non-gaming groups, I decided to try Dixit on them.  At first, as I was explaining the rules, I could see some eyes glazing over even in the brief rules-teach.  So I mainly focused on what they needed to do, and got them playing as soon as possible.  After a round or two, however, they really seemed to be getting into it!  And by the end, at least one or two of them commented that they would like to own the game for family gatherings and vacations and such.           

So what is the point of this longish and somewhat rambling post?  Mainly, it's that not necessarily every person out there is a gaming convert waiting to happen.  For many people, their idea of relaxation does not involve thought or challenge.  And the reason that mindless games like Bunco, Keno, and the beloved LCR are so popular is because that's what people want. 

And please don't think that I'm judging them those people, because the point here really is more about how different they are than me and the people I hang out with.  If what they need to relax and de-stress is just to veg out and turn off the old noodle, then good for them.  

But that also doesn't mean that we gaming evangelists should stop our work, because every so often, like a diamond in the rough, a new gamer may be discovered.  And who knows, maybe the next one might even be someone involved in my little game of Dixit...