Grand Rapids Area Tabletop Alliance

Who are we?

The Grand Rapid Area Tabletop Alliance is a diverse group of tabletop gamers who want to share their love of tabletop games with others. We have varied interests, from role playing to board games, from heavy strategic games to light party games, from collectible card games to social deduction games, and everything in between. But we share a desire to expand the hobby and expose others in the greater Grand Rapids area to the enormous range of games that make up the hobby.

What do we do?

We share games

We are living in a golden age of tabletop gaming, with literally thousands of games released each year. It is impossible to buy everything and you shouldn't have to. Games want to be played and game owners need others to play with them.

Want to try a game you don't have? Find someone who does.

Thinking of buying a game but aren't sure if it's for you? Find someone to let you try it first.

We teach games

Everybody learns differently. Some people can read a rulebook and make sense of a rule set, some prefer to watch a video, and some need to be taught directly. But everybody needs to play a game at least once to understand how it works.

Just bought a game but the rulebook is terrible? Find someone who's played before.

Interested in a game but are intimidated by the rules? Find someone who can teach you.

We play games

Our members belong to a variety of gaming groups who meet at various locations and at various times. Some meet weekly in friendly local game stores, some monthly in local restaurants or breweries, and some occasionally in their homes. Some of us want a large group to game with and some are happy just to game with the same people from week to week. We don't care how or with whom you play, but connecting to the larger GR community of gamers can help you find new players, expose you to new games, and put you in touch with a far greater range of options.

Looking for a group to game with? There's probably a group looking for new members.

Looking for a place to play? Find out what spaces are friendly to gamers.

We gather

So what do I need to do?

There isn't really a process for becoming a member. There aren't any membership dues or specific requirements. You just need to get involved, and you can do that in several ways.

Join the Discord

We use the GoodGameGR Discord server as our primary way of getting in touch with each other. There are forums there for finding game nights, for requesting certain games be brought to events, for finding players for campaigns or online gaming, and many other ways of connecting with other gamers. You can interact with the membership as a whole or set up sub-forums for specific purposes or specific groups. Join the Discord.

I don't use Discord. Are there other options? Many groups that are part of the larger alliance also connect through Slack, Facebook, Meetup, or a variety of other methods, but the Discord channel is the primary means of communicating with the group as a whole.

Share your game list

We (like everybody else) use Boardgamegeek.com to track our collections. It is the single most comprehensive collection of information about board games and it's free to set up an account. Once you do, sharing your username with the group allows others to view your collection, and knowing their username also lets you see theirs. Some of us also use GeekGroup, another free website that draws data from Boardgamegeek to show collection data for groups rather than just individuals. It also uses other visualizations of BGG data to provide insight into your collection, your playing habits, etc. You can find our collective list of well over a thousand games here and if you are interested in having your BGG data added to the group, let us know.

Do I have to share my information? No, you can still participate as a passive user.

Do I have to loan my games to people I don't know? Of course not. They're your games.

What if I don't have many games to share? Then come play some of ours. That's the whole point!

Come to a game night

On the Discord channel you can find information about game nights being held at public locations such as restaurants, bars, and coffee shops just about every night of the week. We try to maintain information on this site as well, but the information on the Discord is far more current. You can RSVP if you like or just show up. We are an extremely welcoming crowd and you'll always gind someone to include you in a game.

Do I have to bring any games? You can if you like but don't feel you need to. Others will have games they'll want to play.

Do I have to RSVP? No, you can just show up. If you want to let people know you're coming or want to request playing or being included on a specific game you can do that on the Discord channel, but there is no need. Come as you are!

Come to the monthly gathering

We have an all-day game jam on the third Saturday of every month on the downtown GVSU campus. In addition to Discord, we will also be posting the dates and locations of our monthly gatherings on this site and on Facebook. Coming to a monthly gathering is the easiest way to meet people and see if this group is for you. It doesn't require you to register or share information in any way. Just show up and join us for some gaming.

Do I have to bring any games? You can if you like but don't feel you need to. There will be plenty there.

Do I have to play with people I don't know? No, but we hope you will. You can always come with a group you already know and just play games with them if you prefer, but we hope you will take the opportunity to connect with others as well. After all, that's why we're doing this.

Do I have to play with people I don't like? Of course not. There will always be people with whom you don't click. But we hope you'll give everyone a chance and try a game with them before deciding.

Want to learn more?