About us
Join us on Discord, Board Game Arena, and Board Game Geek! Meet other board gamers and play games of all kinds! Exercise your brain, have fun, meet new people, and share your love of gaming with other enthusiasts in the Essex County Gamers! Our events take place at board game cafés, public libraries, and hobby shops across Essex County, MA and beyond! Though our group plays a lot of board games, we welcome and encourage gaming of all kinds--cards, Backgammon, tabletop role playing games, Dungeons & Dragons campaigns, etc. We welcome new event hosts if you're interesting in running your own events--reach out to the Leadership Team to ask about hosting! We look forward to seeing you at the gaming table!
Upcoming events
10
01/29 Weekly Heavy Gaming
The Castle: Restaurant and Bar, 140 Rantoul St Retail Unit 3, Beverly, MA, USDo you enjoy heavy games on the strategic side of the hobby? Then join us Thursdays in Beverly at The Castle! The games are heavy but the atmosphere anything but!
Because we play heavy games, which we define as games weighted 2.5 or higher on BoardGameGeek.com, we have some rules to maximize everyone’s enjoyment. If this is your first time, read the Group Rules linked below, and the direct message the hosts will send you with additional details to help you understand how the group functions.
Here are the main things you need to know:
- Everyone wanting to come should RSVP by hitting the ‘Attend’ button by 2pm each Sunday. If you say you are attending, we ask you to make a firm commitment because it often spoils the games when someone no shows.
- We take turns picking games each week. We use the event chat on Meetup to coordinate game picks and seat selection. If it’s your first time, you will want to read the Group Rules below to help you understand the game pick and seat selection process.
- Games are not taught at the table. All players need to learn the rules to their game by Thursday.
- Games start NO LATER THAN 6:00 pm. Many of us arrive early for dinner, and games can start as soon as all players are there.
- The Castle charges a $6 gaming fee per visit. We encourage you to eat and drink at The Castle during the event! Due to the size of our group each week, The Castle will apply a gratuity to attendees' checks.
Other Tidbits
- Track the weekly picking rotation on our Pick List Google Doc
- Read the Group Rules Google Doc
- If you want to join the Heavy Game Thursdays guild on BoardGameGeek.com to see other regulars' game collections, go to: https://boardgamegeek.com/guild/3982. We often will bring games for each other if arranged beforehand!
10 attendees
Game Day Extravaganza and Annual Member & Host Appreciation Event
Salem Community Life Center, 401 Bridge St, Salem, ma, USWe are excited to partner again with Salem Park, Recreation and Community Services to put on our annual game day extravaganza and appreciation event at the Salem Community Life Center.
For this event, the Essex County Gamers Meetup group is welcoming its members and the public to celebrate our group's love of games, the hard work of our hosts and organizers, and the generosity of our members. Whether it will be your first time playing modern board games or you are an experienced gamer, all are welcome!
Here's what to expect at this event:
- Pizza, snacks, and drinks
- Games taught at the tables by our dedicated members
- Raffle for board games and gaming-related prizes
- Leave-a-Game/Take-a-Game table where you can leave or take games for free
- An optional no-ship board game sale/auction on BGG with the game/money exchange at the event
- A flea market to sell games during lunch
The center has plenty of seating and circular tables that will work with most space hungry games. Bring any game you would like to play at the event, but be prepared to teach any games to other attendees. Coordination for longer games may take place in the event comments beforehand, so we encourage everyone to RSVP. This event is generally suitable for those aged 10ish & up, and families with younger children are welcome to come game together (childcare is not provided).
Games of varying difficulty are played with each game featuring a teacher. Games played can be anything from quick and easy-to-learn light games to multi-hour, heavy, brain-burner strategy games. If you plan to arrive late, we recommend posting your estimated arrival time in the event comments and the hosts will try to have a seat in a game ready for you. Game clean up needs to start around 5 PM because we have a hard exit at 6 PM.
We will be hosting a flea market after lunch arrives for people to sell their games as well. We strongly encourage you to bring a list of the games you plan on selling with a suggested price.
The community life center is a short walk from the Salem commuter rail station, has a large parking lot, bike parking and a blue bike station. This event is open to members of Essex County Gamers and walk-in members of the public.52 attendees
Annual No-Ship Board Game & TTRPG Sale/Auction
Salem Community Life Center, 401 Bridge St, Salem, ma, USWe will be running another no-ship board game/TTRPG sale/auction GeekList on Board Game Geek in conjunction with our Annual Member & Host Appreciation Game Day Extravaganza on January 31, 2026 at the Salem Community Life Center in Salem, MA. Please RSVP via Meetup to whichever event(s) you plan on attending. While you do not need to attend the Extravaganza event to participate in the sale/auction, you will need to show up at that event between 11 AM-4 PM to pick up/drop off games and exchange money.
To participate in the sale/auction you will need a Board Game Geek account. Anyone in the North Shore area can bid on listed games and also list games to sell. For complete information on how to bid and list games, visit the GeekList. Games and money must be exchanged no later than 4 PM because the Extravaganza ends at 5 PM.
For people who wish to participate in the Game Day Extravaganza, there will be:
- Pizza, snacks, and drinks
- Games taught at the tables by our dedicated members
- Raffle for board games and gaming-related prizes
- Leave-a-Game/Take-a-Game table where you can leave or take games for free
The community life center is a short walk from the Salem commuter rail station, has a large parking lot, bike parking and a blue bike station.
10 attendees02/05 Weekly Heavy Gaming
The Castle: Restaurant and Bar, 140 Rantoul St Retail Unit 3, Beverly, MA, USDo you enjoy heavy games on the strategic side of the hobby? Then join us Thursdays in Beverly at The Castle! The games are heavy but the atmosphere anything but!
Because we play heavy games, which we define as games weighted 2.5 or higher on BoardGameGeek.com, we have some rules to maximize everyone’s enjoyment. If this is your first time, read the Group Rules linked below, and the direct message the hosts will send you with additional details to help you understand how the group functions.
Here are the main things you need to know:
- Everyone wanting to come should RSVP by hitting the ‘Attend’ button by 2pm each Sunday. If you say you are attending, we ask you to make a firm commitment because it often spoils the games when someone no shows.
- We take turns picking games each week. We use the event chat on Meetup to coordinate game picks and seat selection. If it’s your first time, you will want to read the Group Rules below to help you understand the game pick and seat selection process.
- Games are not taught at the table. All players need to learn the rules to their game by Thursday.
- Games start NO LATER THAN 6:00 pm. Many of us arrive early for dinner, and games can start as soon as all players are there.
- The Castle charges a $6 gaming fee per visit. We encourage you to eat and drink at The Castle during the event! Due to the size of our group each week, The Castle will apply a gratuity to attendees' checks.
Other Tidbits
- Track the weekly picking rotation on our Pick List Google Doc
- Read the Group Rules Google Doc
- If you want to join the Heavy Game Thursdays guild on BoardGameGeek.com to see other regulars' game collections, go to: https://boardgamegeek.com/guild/3982. We often will bring games for each other if arranged beforehand!
2 attendees
Past events
431
Group links
Organizers
Members
347
