Designing the Nerd Cave–Game Room

     I became a gamer around 1980.  People at my mom’s office were playing something called Dungeons & Dragons and raving about how much fun they were having.  She soon bought the blue box set for my father at a local bookstore.  He had about as much interest in the game as Stephen Hawking would have in a Karaoke machine. I quickly inherited the box and was instantly hooked.

      A couple years later, I was babysitting for a couple down the street when I noticed Avalon Hill’s Squad Leader on the bookshelf.  The husband, Steve, invited me over the following Saturday to play.  Getting my head handed to me became a regular thing but I loved every minute of it.

     Admittedly, my recent gaming career has been limited to studying rules, reading articles and working on my personal campaign from time to time.  Now that my kids are getting older, I have a bit more free time and I think they’re ready to move beyond basic board games.

      I was recently reading a copy of ASL Journal on our couch.  My son sat down next to me and started perusing along with me.  He noticed one of the diagrams of an Advanced Squad Leader game in progress and started telling me what the “blue guys need to do to beat up the green guys.”  And to be honest, he wasn’t far off the mark.  I’m not sure where he picked up the concept of popping smoke and trying a flanking move but needless to say, I was extremely proud.

     While we have plenty of places in our home to game, I really wanted to have the option to do so in the new nerd cave.  Sure, the dining room table is roomy but the vibe in there isn’t really conducive to serious dice slinging.  Plus, I’m able to close off the Nerd Cave and keep a game set up indefinately…away from the destructive little paws of two certain cats who will remain nameless.

      Using a sofa sleeper leaves the center of the room wide open.  If I was so inclined, I could rock some serious Yoga in here.  We have a small round table that seats 4 in our den.  If I need to, it’s no problem to move it in here for gaming.  Or, we can set up a game on the floor.  I’m working on a third option but I’ll describe that project in a later post.

    Finally, I need room to store my slowly reconstituting game collection. The bookshelves I installed provide plenty of space and the closet has a nice roomy shelf up high that’s not sturdy enough for comic boxes but perfect for games.

      My next goal is to wrap up some landscaping projects around the house so I can spend my Saturday afternoons playing Axis & Allies or painting up a batch of Space Marines with my son.

Next time–Blogging, shopping, gaming, and surfing from the comfort of my couch.

Copyright 2012 It Came From The Nerd Cave