Girls Game Shelf — Bringing your Tabletop Game to a Whole new Level
My first love was tabletop gaming. Childhood fascination with Monopoly, Clue, and Scrabble would eventually evolve into late night sessions of Axis & Allies, or Tigris & Euphrates, which in turn were eventually supplanted by adult game nights featuring 7 Wonders, Twilight Struggle, and Time Stories.
Previously, the only drawbacks to tabletop gaming were spending an hour fighting over rules interpretation with your friends or dropping $70 on a game only to realize about four turns in that it was not the game for you. Board game videos — one of the best developments of the new board game revolution — solve both. Want to know how play a new game? There’s a video tutorial. Box looks interesting, but want to see the components? Try an unboxing video. Gameplay, reviews, mods — if you can think of a question or some element you’d like to watch, there’s a video. It you’re lucky, you’ll find one that’s entertaining as well as informative, and if you’re REALLY lucky, you’ll find Girls’ Game Shelf.
Part tutorial, part gameplay, part opinion, a typical episode of Girls’ Game Shelf gives you a great game overview. In creator and host Christina Aimerito’s words “Its a great way just to get a feel for what a game is like. Its also a great way to watch a bunch of competitive girls try and kill each other.”
What gave you the idea for the show?
“The idea for the show was really an amalgamation of several different factors that crashed together right after the birth of my first child. I loved being a new mother, but desperately needed to jump back into a creative project. I wanted to produce a show that was centered around my own interests and my own lifestyle. Storytelling and board games are high up there on my list of passions, so the idea to do something with this community felt obvious. I filled many pages with ideas for the show’s format, and we even shot a few episodes (that I will NEVER show ANYONE) but nothing was really quite what I wanted. It all felt scripted, or boring, or pretentious.
Then I saw an episode of Parks and Rec with one of the lead characters trying to explain his board game design to his girlfriend. The Cones of Dunshire, I think it’s called. I thought it was brilliant. It was so relatable and a nice slice of life for any of us who have ever had the pleasure of listening to a friend pitching their new game design. That’s where the storytelling bit really clicked in for me and I decided that I wanted to tell the story of each game in a concise and entertaining format. After that, it was some trial and error and finally we ended up with the show as it is today.
My favorite thing about board games is that each play through has it’s own life and it’s own story. All the players participate in this new narrative and take on these characters until the conclusion. It’s fascinating to me and I love it so that’s what I’m trying to show in each episode. The questions I constantly ask while editing are “What is the story that took place here? What does it feel like to play this game? What did each player experience?”
Why girl gamers in particular?
“This was kind of a no-brainer decision on my part. I felt that we needed some more representation for women and people of color. I felt that the community also wanted that. I didn’t necessarily think it was anything ground breaking. I was pretty surprised at the response to be honest. Don’t get me wrong, it was mostly an overwhelmingly positive response! And that was wonderful! I just didn’t realize exactly HOW lacking we were in having that representation. I don’t like to make a big deal of the fact that we’re all women because I don’t think that should be abnormal. To me, GGS contributes the diversity by simply existing. Gamers who are also women… We exist!”
To what do you contribute the surge in board gaming in the last several years? And in particular with women?
“The internet has become a very friendly place for the hobby. Kickstarter makes it easy to search for and splurge on new games, Board Game Geek is a venue for people to come together in many different forums, Dice Tower and other review shows keep us all well informed AND connected without having to step foot into a hobby store and brave new places, Wil Wheaton’s Tabletop put games at the forefront of geek culture. It’s an easy hobby to get into now. I used to feel like board games were either for family nights or for those dark hobby stores where I never felt welcomed. Now I feel that the culture has shifted to include anyone and everyone. There’s kind of a universal goal of all boardgamers to introduce more folks into the hobby, and I love that.”
What have been your favorite games on the show thus far? Least favorite? Why?
“I adore most of the games we’ve played and can easily gush about most of them! Letters from Whitechapel is one of my favorites because I love how the theme plays on real events and people. The one game I’ve been so-so on is CodeNames. I get a lot of flack for that. But to me, it’s a game that reminds me of vocabulary games in grade school. It’s fun enough, but the hype was just too great around it and I was disappointed.”
What are some of the positive aspects of gaming? Do you think competitive games improve or boost confidence?
“There are SO MANY positive aspects about gaming. It is a way to engage with people in imaginative play as a child OR adult. That’s huge. Especially as adults, we don’t get many opportunities to do that. And yes, competitive games absolutely improve confidence. In the right group, it’s a safe place to find your voice and problem solve both independently and cooperatively.”
What would you like the “take away” from Girls’ Game Shelf to be?
“Ultimately GGS is aimed towards people who are new to the gaming hobby or looking for way to present a game to new players. I enjoy watching play-throughs and reviews, but not all those who are new to the hobby would agree. GGS is an accessible way for newcomers to get their feet wet and discover new games.”
The current season of Girls’ Game Shelf airs monthly til the end of the year. Check out their Youtube channel and give them some love on social media. Also, feel free to share your favorite board game in the comments! Play on, friends!
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