by Jared Barton, reporter
OMAHA – In the time of social distancing, mandatory masks, and precautions to just about everything, one surprising champion among hobbies rises: board games.
With companies rushing to fill the gaps, COVID-19 has left in their product release lineup, people are happy to play the games they did before along with the new ones, even if the way they play is a little different.
Webcams and remote services for various tabletop and card games have come out in the past few years, allowing spread-out playgroups to keep their streak going. But what about in-person, face-to-face gaming?
The Geek Room, off 186th and Pacific in Omaha, is just one of the Omaha game stores that are open for in-house gaming. In regards to social distancing, owner Jason Kopecky said,
“We put a lot of our tables away, made sure that the ones that we left were socially distanced – were six feet apart from sales walls, the counter, the other tables.”
Kopecky also said that due to the rise of people being stuck in their homes, looking for something to do, they have sold many single-player games and puzzles, the latter of which they did not sell before the outbreak.
There are even a few pandemic-based games available, namely PANDEMIC, the outbreak-prevention strategy game. The CDC even published a small board game to help people understand the outbreak in a simple and entertaining way.
As for some games, they are socially-distanced by nature. Ryan Jaeckel, an Omaha resident and Star Wars: Legion player, says that the game he plays is already played on six-foot-by-six-foot boards. The only real difference he’s noticed is the lack of physical attendance.
Jaeckel said, “We used to have a day, on Sunday, where we’d come in and play, that’s now gone. So, right now, it’s more sitting at home, painting, reading.”
Now, the Geek Room, like other game stores in the Metro area, does still offer curbside pickup for those who aren’t comfortable with or able to come inside the building. They do require masks for entry, and ask that people maintain six feet between each other.
