Serious Gamers is a meetup group and community I established May 2022. There are plenty of groups for board gamers or game developers, but I found that those groups were too narrow in scope. Instead, I wanted to make a group that attracted anybody who takes gaming seriously: not just as an idle diversion, but as an activity worthy of pursuit and an art form worthy of analysis.

In her book Reality is Broken, Jane McGonigal writes:

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Game developers know better than anyone else how to inspire extreme effort and reward hard work. They know how to facilitate cooperation and collaboration at previously unimaginable scales. And they are continuously innovating new ways to motivate players to stick with harder challenges, for longer, and in much bigger groups.

Through gaming, we find a source of intellectual and physical challenge that stretches us to the limits of our abilities. Gaming engenders flow state, what psychologist Mihály Csíkszentmihályi considers the optimal human experience in which someone experiences an adequate amount of challenge and competency to feel as if time melts away. Certainly, gaming can engender laziness and be addictive. Like any other activity, it can be done to excess. But we believe in the power of gaming to improve reality, provide a consistent mental challenge, and to empower community. Understanding how to use gaming for good instead of bad is just one more aspect to nerd out about.

The group passed 200 local members in the Salt Lake City, UT area and a wider group of people congregated on the Discord server. We met regularly for both in-person and virtual events.

Video Game Book Club

In our Video Game Book Club events, we picked a game—sometimes popular, sometimes not—that was worth a closer look. Just like a typical book club, attendees brought all their thoughts and opinions to the table and we held an open discussion. We discussed the individual game, but also sought out larger truths about game design in general.

We held events discussing these subjects

Game Dev Coworking

Every other week, those of us interested in the game development side of things gathered for Game Dev Coworking. These events offered a chance for established game developers or those interested in getting started to meet each other and discuss their projects.

Attendees used the events to get feedback on their game projects, discuss the various game engines, get unstuck on technical or mechanic problems, or just chat with other passionate people.

We met every other Sunday in a dedicated space. Areas for dedicated work, a communal area, and food and drinks were all provided.

The bi-weekly Game Dev Coworking event we ran

Casual Events

We also did a number of more casual events, where people from the group drawn by the joy of communal gaming could gather. Such events included board game meetups, online games, and meetups at a cafe or local bar.

Drink and Play event at Quarters Arcade Bar

Serious Gamers was organized on Meetup.com. If you're local to the Salt Lake City area, I'd love to meet you. If you'd like to start up a chapter of Serious Gamers in your own city, please reach out!