WESTLOCK – A ‘Rampaging Ferocidon’ swings in only to be blocked by a ‘Perilous Myr’ as Michael Ashton and Anthony MacLeod duel in a fierce game of Magic, the Gathering. After dying to the ferocidon, the myr deals two damage directly to Ashton, securing the game for MacLeod.
Meanwhile at another table, a battle rages on with ‘Orks’ and ‘Space Marines’ opening fire on one another as another duo competes in a heated match of Warhammer 40k, both with sights set on galactic dominance.
This is just an average day at GeekSpace Westlock, a club put together for people to enjoy their gaming hobbies.
Card games like Magic, the Gathering and Yu-Gi-Oh that have summoners sling spells at one another are played alongside wargames and classic roleplaying games like Dungeons and Dragons and Shadowrun where mighty heroes seek to take down great evils.
The weekly gathering is held at the Youth Unlimited YFC every Tuesday and is open to all ages and skill levels for a myriad of different board games, card games and even video games.
GeekSpace was founded by Tara MacLeod after her husband, Anthony MacLeod, wanted to play Magic, the Gathering, but were unable to find anyone in Westlock. Using her connection with YFC, which she had been volunteering at since January, she was able to secure the space for a weekly gathering.
“There was nothing in town, and when there’s nothing you create,” said MacLeod.
The club drew in members from around Westlock like Michael Ashton who started attending the weekly gathering in late August after hearing about it on Facebook. After picking up Magic, the Gathering in the Edmonton he was excited to find a place where he could play in town.
“Most of the games I play tend to require more than one person, so I was just trying to find a place to play,” said Ashton.
Only a few weeks in the club, Ashton found himself joining two Dungeons and Dragons campaigns. In these campaigns, Ashton plays as Rogar, a vicious tribalistic dragonborn barbarian and Drusilia, a rouge human raised by elves. These campaigns see mighty heroes battle against intimidating monsters and vanquish great evils.
Ashton says the club provides an opportunity to better his own skills in games while meeting people of similar tastes in town.
“It’s a really welcoming space and people should come out if they’re able to,” Ashton added.
During its initial founding, the club offered $10 meals to members to enjoy, however as COVID-19 restrictions grew, meals had to be scrapped. MacLeod says she plans to bring them back as soon as restrictions allow.
“The new restrictions kind of put a damper on things,” MacLeod said. “We were growing for a while but lost about half our members.”
While the restrictions halved members, MacLeod says they have plateaued and expect to begin gaining more players once COVID-19 restrictions loosen.
The space remains open to all who want to participate after the proper forms are filled out.
The club is open to any game and provides new players with everything they need to get started while remaining open for experienced players. New players are encouraged to bring games they enjoy as well.
“Just show up and enjoy what’s there. We have a lot of extra Magic, the Gathering cards. At the beginning we were bringing free decks for people, and we have had a lot of support from the gaming community,” said MacLeod.
GeekSpace takes place every Tuesday from 5 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. A membership form is required for new members as well as a medical emergency form. All forms can be found on the GeekSpace Facebook page.
“All levels of experience are welcome, whether you’re a pro player or you don’t know what any of these games are,” said MacLeod. “We’re really happy with how the community has responded to this event and the support we get from the community in terms of membership.”
