I’m an Old (™). This is a fact. I’m what the internet affectionately calls an “elder millennial.” I have had teens and 20-somethings treat me like I should, in fact, be crawling into my own grave of my own volition by now. And somehow, I find myself getting into tabletop gaming for the first time in my life, at my age?

I have been a nerd, or a geek, or whatever my whole life. I have at least dabbled in most nerdy pursuits at some point or another. But I never got into tabletop gaming (whether it be card games, or co-op board games, or RPGs) as a kid/teenager, when most nerds are getting into that kind of thing. It wasn’t that I avoided them on purpose. I was just never really exposed to it at any point in K-12. My mom was not a gamer of any kind. My younger brother was a gamer, but only video games and Pokémon cards (which I dabbled in a bit, for his benefit, but didn’t really play). Being a military brat, I didn’t have many friends and didn’t keep any for very long, and none of them were tabletop gamers of any kind. So, I just didn’t really know anything about them.

Even in college, when some people might get into it if they missed out on it the first time around, I managed to accidentally avoid it by virtue of not living on campus and getting the full “college experience.” My best friend did live on a college campus, and so dabbled in a few things. Through her, I played my one and only RPG campaign one summer between semesters (and it wasn’t even D&D, it was the much simpler Mage series of RPGs by White Wolf).

Now, somehow, through a twist of brain-weirdness, and because of my abominable habit of picking up new habits the way some people catch a cold, I find myself getting into several varieties of tabletop gaming for the first time ever. I have picked up a couple board games (and I don’t mean your more traditional family board games like Clue or Monopoly). I started with one that seemed accessible and easy to learn for a newbie (and also appealed to me as a Disney nerd): Villainous. Then I grabbed Azul, because it had such great reviews on gaming sites. I also bought one of the Hunt a Killer murder mystery games: Mystery at Magnolia Gardens. And now I’m considering the much more massive (and expensive) game Descent: Legends of the Dark by Fantasy Flight Games. I’ve been considering this one after doing a lot of research on games I play on solo mode. I’ve dragged my mother, and once my brother, into playing Villainous with me. And my mom really enjoyed the Mystery of Magnolia Gardens game, but mostly I’m on my own for this new stage in my nerd development, lol!

In addition, I bought a game (also by Fantasy Flight Games) called Legacy of Dragonholt. It’s a bit like a cross between a full RPG (such as D&D) and a “Choose Your Own Adventure” book on steroids. I have managed to drag my mother into doing this one with me as well, lol! We do a couple hours on the weekends. It’s not as flexible as I would like (and as I would no doubt get from a full RPG game), but it is entertaining and it’s a good stepping stone into other, bigger things.

I have ALSO started buying Magic the Gathering cards for the first time in my life! And this bad habit I can entirely blame on Twitter. Particularly, the artists I follow on Twitter. Several artists I love and follow on social media started sharing the pieces they painted for one of the new MtG expansions: Streets of New Capenna, and I was in raptures! It’s a mix of magic and 1920s Jazz Age aesthetics! I am obsessed with 1920s history/style right now! It was made specifically for ME. How could I resist?

I am trying (with middling success) to teach myself how to actually play Magic the Gathering. I even downloaded the MtG: Arena app to play that way, since I have no one to play with IRL. But so far the intricacies of the rules and the various card functions is proving rather opaque to me. So… *shrug*

This has all happened in just the last three or four months. Will it STICK long term? I don’t know. I’m ADHD. Jumping from hyperfixation to hyperfixation is just part of my mental makeup. But maybe. If I can figure out what the hell I’m actually DOING? And if I can find actual people IRL to play any of these things with? Then maybe.

If you are an expert in any of these things, and care to offer sage advice, I am all ears. If you are brand new to the world of tabletop gaming and want to muddle through these things with me in a blind-leading-the-blind sort of scenario, please also chime in! If you want to just point and laugh at The Old (™) muddling her way through all of this, feel free. I am well aware how silly I look, and I’m at peace with it.