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[4]By Bevan Hamilton [5]
BELLEVILLE – Scalliwag Toys [6] owner, Richard Belanger, is hoping that taking part in the third annual International TableTop Day [7] on Saturday will be good for business.
International TableTop Day was founded by the Star Trek television series actor Wil Wheaton [8] in 2010 to celebrate tabletop gaming. According to the event website, the day was celebrated in 80 countries in 2014 – including on all 7 continents – and had over 3,000 events in total.
Belanger, who co-owns the business with his wife, Karin, is hosting a local event for the third straight year. It will run from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m.
“It’s an opportunity for people to see different games, not just your typical Monopoly and Risk games. We carry a lot of different games,” Belanger told QNet News on Thursday.
The Belanger’s have owned the Front Street store since 1985. They already host game nights throughout the week, but they view TableTop Day as a chance to open it up more to the public.
The first two years were successful for them, Belanger said. He expects a busy day again on Saturday. That’s why he’s prepared by having what he describes as an “army” of volunteers on hand.
“Many of our volunteers are enthusiastic about games and they pass that enthusiasm onto other people.”
The store will have five game tables – including a children’s table, a dice game table and a Steven Jackson Games [9] table. Steven Jackson is a popular game designer who specializes in role-playing games.
There isn’t a theme to what games were selected, Belanger said.
“We tried to select games that can be played in a short length of time and that are relatively easy to explain,” he said.
Although Belanger said he has no way of knowing if sales will go up on Saturday alone. But he has a long-term plan.
“You never know what a promotion will do. We hope to bring people in who haven’t been before…it’s more of a long-term (idea), to let people know that we are here and we do carry these things.”
But most of all, Belanger said, “It’s a fun day. There’s no pressure to buy. It’s just to come out, look at games, see what they’re like and enjoy yourself.”