Maybe I Am Not So Niche After All - I Am Not A Nerd Anymore

I have been told several times lately that as I play board games, war games, RPGs and computer games that I nerd. If you actually knew me, other than the glasses, I am guessing that as long as I wasn't wearing my Atari T-shirt (which is a bit of a give away) that I probably don't come across as a nerd.Some may argue about that with me but what the hell.

What I am about to say might not be news.

Nerds are now everywhere. 

There were more women in my FLGS than men the last time I was in there (a rare occasion admittedly). My local bookshop (and the chain it belongs to) have been stocking board games for years and used to sell RPG stuff as well. Within ten miles of where I live there is just less than ten shops that sell games. You can play games in three or four different pubs within a similar radius.

This week things are changing again in a way that seems to me at least to be a paradigm shift. I happened to turn on Radio 4 on Sunday and this week The Archers are going to feature a board games night. No less nerdy maybe. The Archers is no exactly mainstream itself. But the real killer came today. When I went to the supermarket.




Today I found out that Tesco is selling Pandemic and Codewords. These are two "mainstream" euro-board games. Whilst not the best prices I have ever seen for the games they are not far off a good prices. I mean Tesco for flip's sake. My hobby is now so mundane that you can pick it up with the bread and milk. Where does this end? Will there be a copy of The Walking Dead - All Out War there next week? Will Games Workshop have a shop in shop by the end of the month? Will Warlord be selling boxes of Africa Corps just in time for Christmas? I guess not. But still.

The world of gaming is changing. "What a world. What a world."