The evening of Wednesday 19th November was a historic date for one of Trinity’s less well-known societies: Trinity Gamers Society. It saw the very first boardgaming competition held between Trinity and UCD. The society, which has been running for over three decades, is dedicated to boardgames and role-playing games and was the organiser of the event. About 25 people turned up at Goldsmith Hall to take part in the competition, which consisted of one-on-one competition in the games Memoir 44, Thud, and Little Wars. Trinity Gamers were confident of victory, believing themselves to be more dedicated than the opposition.
After three hours of combating, Trinity Gamers did indeed emerge victorious with a resounding win of 9 points to UCD’s 5. The scores were tied between TCD and UCD in both Thud and Little Wars, but Trinity clawed back the points with a defiant win in Memoir 44. They defended their college colours and earned themselves a large trophy (even if they did have to buy it for themselves!).
T T he Chair of Trinity Gamers, Aidan Duggan, hopes that the competition will become an annual event between the two colleges, with UCD hosting next year. In general, the society’s activity is based predominantly on day-to-day unscheduled boardgaming and role-playing in their dungeon-like room in Goldsmith Hall. Members go to relax, socialise and get away from the stresses of college academic life by escaping to the realms of fantasy.
T he main event of the year for the society is their annual convention: Leprecon. The next one, to be held in the new year, marks the thirtieth anniversary of the event, making it Ireland’s oldest gaming convention. The main organisation of the event is undertaken by the members of the society, which number up to two hundred on paper, but have a core, active membership of about forty to fifty members. They also travel to other annual conventions, such as those held in Belfast and Cork.
T he Gamers society is unique in that it is not associated with any computer games, games consoles and is not affiliated with any other societies, such as the Sci Fi society. The members seem passionate about the social and tactical aspect of the games that they play, which range from serious war games to more light-hearted card games. They claim that they will play any game that is brought to the table, even Monopoly! Although there was a strong sense of competition against UCD, the society is based on the old-fashioned enjoyment of games, hence their motto: ‘Trade in your degree for a good time’!
