The Game Club's Cheat Code for Community - Guy Blomberg and Shay P Leighton | grokludo 16

Guy Blomberg and Shay Leighton have started a book club. It's called The Game Club, because it's not really about books, it's about games. But it's not really about games – it's about friends.

With loneliness on the rise, these two excel at bringing people together. Blomberg has been behind several conventions such as PAX and DreamHack, as well as GIG, the Games Industry Gathering. Leighton is a community organizer who gives talks to unions, activists, and more.

Aussie locals will recognize the two as half of the entrepreneurial team behind Australia's first videogame bar, the Mana Bar.

Using the standard book club model, The Game Club sends members an interesting game every month with prompts for people to meet up and discuss. So far, so normal.

But behind it all is extensive research into loneliness and community building, and I had a few discussion prompts of my own, about how a hobby with automatic guild invites and elo matchmaking can ditch the mantra of "alone together," and simply be... together.

I've known Guy and Shay for many years, and it's somewhat serendipitous that they're starting a "book club for games" at exactly the same time I dove into Tracy Fullerton's book, The Well-Read Game.

The book emphasizes, as did Tracy on the podcast, the importance of journaling your experiences, sharing them with others, and comparing the differences in perspectives. It specifically mentions the "book club" format as a healthy way to share some of those growth moments that are perhaps unsuitable for social media.

It's clear Shay P Leighton has done his research on combating the "friendship recession," and his last book club project, the Tough Guy Book Club, is already a success. He makes some great points in the episode about the removal of civic life, and how we've replaced our missing institutions with... nothing.

I imagine each Game Club chapter will be different, and the idea of a designer-focused game club has piqued my interest. Is that feasible in Sydney? I shall find out. Worst case, I'll end up playing the monthly game on Twitch and fostering discussion there, which isn't so bad – though Guy and Shay feel strongly that in-person meetups is the right way to do this.

In the meantime, if you feel like joining, make sure to use the code "grokludo" to get 50% off the first three months. This is an affiliate link and directly supports the podcast.

As usual, thank you for supporting grokludo and I hope you enjoy the ep!