Canterbury Halloween Board Game Club Announcement

 

We are very excited to announce that following our hugely successful Canterbury Pride Board Game Club, we will be hosting another event: Canterbury Halloween Board Game Club, on Saturday 25th October 2025! The event will run from 10:00-16:00, so that's 6 hours of gaming!

This time we're putting our efforts into making a Halloween themed event that is fun for adults and children in a calm and relaxed setting. We'll have a great selection of board games available for people to play. Some scary, others less so, so there'll be something for everyone to enjoy.

Halloween events are more often than not aimed entirely at children, or if they are for adults, they involve heavy drinking and loud pubs. We thought it would be nice to have something a bit more chill. Somewhere to come and soak up some spooky vibes and gain the benefits of table top gaming.

Once again we are very lucky to have access to the Fruitworks Coffee Shop event space, which we loved hosting in for our last event and we will have stalls available from local businesses. So far we have confirmed Board at Home, Ramsgates FLGS, Drawn and Quartered tattoo studio, and Kitsch Flamingo Designs, who ran our hugely successful tombola at our Pride event.

We will also be using this event to launch the Hand Limit Go Fund Me, which we will be using to help raise funds to get Hand Limit set up as a Community Interest Company. It is our goal to expand the reach of our activities and use our resources to support local community groups and schools through the positive effects of table top gaming. However, in order to get there we first need some funding to get ourselves set up.

Dungeons & Dragons and Drinking

On 1st August this year I will be one year sober, and while a lot of my own hard work has gone into this achievement, I also recognise the role table top gaming has played in helping me make the change.

I was once a prolific drinker and even more so at social gatherings. Having a drink while playing TTRPGs seemed like the most natural thing to me. Alcohol is a social lubricant, and in a situation where you were required to lower inhibitions and get into character, or many characters if you are the GM, drinking felt like the obvious choice. For a long time I felt like having a drink, or several, while playing, kept me loose and relaxed. It made me feel like I was better at getting into the flow of the game and unleashed my creative side on the fly when responding to the actions of the player characters.

I used to pair my drinks with the games I was playing, not just TTRPGs but board games too. A glass of wine for Horrified, a strong grog with Pirate Borg, and a pint of foaming ale with Dungeons & Dragons. Each game seemed to offer an opportunity to have a drink. Table top gaming was a relaxing pastime so why not share it with a relaxing drink?

I have always had a difficult relationship with drinking and have struggled to keep things in moderation. I always used to say that drinking was thirsty work. One drink would lead to the next and while I was happy and enjoying myself, through gaming I slowly started to realise that my drinking was more of a problem than I realised.

I have discussed before the importance of GMs to take time to decompress after TTRPG sessions, even if they are fairly relaxed. On top of this, there is always something to be gained from seeking some reassurance from your players that they had enjoyed what you had planned. However, when I was drinking, regardless of how much fun was had during the session, I had trouble decompressing and trusting the feedback I was being given from my players. My decompression time would become a spiral of negative emotions as I doubted any evidence before me that I had been entertaining enough. I focused on any and all negative points that my brain could give me. The session was too boring, or I was too intense (usually as a result of my drinking). I found the time I needed to decompress and adjust back to normal life increased the more I had been drinking. Sometimes days would pass and I would still not feel like I had entirely processed the experience.

This emotional hangover was difficult to deal with, often on top of your more traditional hangover. Of course, with hindsight I realise that the solution was simple, but at the time I internalised a lot of the emotions I was struggling with. The extended periods of recovery I needed after each session had me believing that I was not a good GM, that my players were just humouring me, that I should hand over the reigns to someone else. Despite all this I still was unable to come to the conclusion that drinking and DMing was affecting the whole experience for me in massively negative ways.

In the end, however, it was GMing that helped me recognise that my problem was not with the game, or my abilities, but with my drinking. I was getting too generous with magical items for my players and not remembering who I had given what. I was handing out game-breaking spells and magical artifacts that were completely throwing planned encounters. While I don't mind that my players probably enjoyed these boons, it made things very difficult in an almost entirely home-brewed world when I could barely remember what had happened each session. It really made me feel like I could be offering my players a much better experience if I avoided drinking while playing.

There are few better examples than that which transpired recently during a game of Pirate Borg we experienced a character death at the hands of a Sentient Fungus. The killing blow was made and the table fell silent as it became clear that there was no coming back from this for Luca the Zealot, the team's Glass Cannon. It was a truly sobering moment, which was only stopped when Luca played his Charon's Obol allowing him to return to life with 1HP. What troubled me was that I had absolutely no memory of awarding him this relic. The player informed me that I had handed it out many sessions ago when I had been drinking.

Don't get me wrong, it was still a fantastic moment of collaborative story-telling, but it really highlighted to me how much of a problem it was for me to not be remembering our sessions, or even to take notes. This all took place after I had quit drinking but stayed with me as a reminder that I was a better GM now that I had stopped. Drinking was making me sloppy.

Tabletop games didn't just help me realise that I had a problem with drinking, they helped me readjust my life to accommodate my sobriety. Gaming sessions began to revolve around coffee and cake rather than drinking, and our regular meet ups at Fruitworks Coffee Shop became a staple of my week. I found my life shifting away from the pub and towards bright, open cafes instead. Where I used to use alcohol as a social lubricant, table top games began to provide me with the relaxed atmosphere and aid to meet new people. 

During the week when I wasn't able to play with a group, I invested more time into solo board games as a means of unwinding and relaxing, rather than pouring myself a drink. The almost meditative nature of solo gaming was a cornerstone of my mental wellbeing. Through playing games I was able to enter a flow-state where I was completely unconcerned by the outside world and my inner demons. They gave me a rest from thoughts of drinking, as the structure and puzzle-like element of these games kept my mind satisfyingly occupied. 

It has been a journey for me but looking back I can really appreciate the role that table top gaming has played in helping me reach sobriety and providing me with a safe space to continue. This is a personal story for me and I am not using it as a way of saying others should do the same. Drinking is not inherently evil, and most people will never experience the same problems as I did. I just wanted to share my experiences so that if anyone happens to find themselves in a similar position to me, they might gain some encouragement to make the necessary changes. 

Hand Limit: Gaming In Real Life

Hand Limit is going through a lot of growth in recent weeks. We held our first in-person event, launched a Patreon, and announced our first steps into physical print with our new Hand Limit zine. 

We are also gearing up for some more input from the wider Hand Limit Collective. This will take the form of gaming-inspired artwork, articles covering cosy video-games, and reviews of TTRPG Actual Play podcasts. 

With all this exciting new material we put our heads together to come up with a suitable tagline for Hand Limit. We wanted something that clearly stated our intentions and incorporated our core values, but didn't take up a whole paragraph. That wouldn't make for a snappy tagline. If you want to read more about our core values, I recommend taking a moment to check out our About Us page.

Hand Limit stands for a lot of things; we believe in equality, equity, and inclusion, we believe trans rights are human rights, and black lives matter, and we believe in the rights of people with disabilities. We believe in making an inclusive space. We believe that engaging in the act of unproductive play as an adult in a capitalist society is an inherently rebellious act and is therefore political. Most prominently of all we believe in the power of tabletop games to improve mental health and promote community bonds, and a big part of this is the tangible nature of the hobby.

Considering this, we have decided that the tagline for Hand Limit should be "Gaming In Real Life". 

The University of Bath reports that "Loneliness is one of the most significant challenges faced by Western Societies in the 21st century... In the UK, surveys suggest that one in ten people are 'lonely', with loneliness being linked to ill health and premature mortality."

We are living in an increasingly digital age with more of our time than ever before spent consuming social media. However, the AMA Journal of Ethics states that "documented internet use patterns suggest that the internet increases loneliness." It cites an early study of the internet and psychological well-being found that greater use was linked to a decline in communication with family members, a decreasing social circle, and an increase in depression and loneliness. Loneliness, it states, "can be defined as the feeling we get when our need for rewarding social contact and relationships is not met."

While digital technology can "offer connectedness, companionship, and community membership", it cannot be ignored that problematic use of the internet, or internet addiction, is on the rise at the same time as loneliness. 

Tabletop games can offer a remedy to this by offering an opportunity for in-person interaction that has clearly defined parameters. Strangers occupying the same space and engaging in a shared activity, especially one that promotes playfulness, creates a space in which rewarding social contact can be achieved. Writing for meeplelikeus.co.uk, Michael Heron highlights that table top games provide "a healthy way for people to spend mindful time with each other." 

Heron goes on to say that "everything about a board game has a focus on the people around the table... games do it through a conduit that lessens social anxiety." Tabletop games provide a focal point, a common ground, to encourage the players around the table to interact with each other in ways that other social activities such as drinking in the pub or going to the cinema do not. 

Then there's the simple fact that play in both children and adults is a healing activity that allows growth of character. We explore the world around us through the act of play, which provides us with a testing ground for our own actions. It lifts the weight of responsibility, even for a short while, and allows us all to engage in the fantastic, rather than the mundane. This act builds social bonds between us in ways that others take much longer to do. I have already written about how playing board games with strangers offers you a much faster insight into the inner-workings of other people around the table than traditional small-talk enables. How someone acts around the table in both cooperative or competitive situations, provides us with a much better grasp of how someone is likely to behave outside of play. This takes away a great deal of anxiety that people may feel in situations where they are getting to know new people.

Aside from the real-life social element of tabletop games, there is the physicality of the actual games. While online gaming can still offer a sense of community and connectivity, the very real, tangible nature of board games provides a sensory experience that even the most advanced virtual reality cannot replicate. The tactile nature of most board games provides a connection to the real world that boosts a player's sense of wellbeing, and of being present in the moment. 

The digital world can all-to-often feel unreal and disconnected from reality, whereas tabletop games provide a connection to fantasy and imagination, while also being grounded in the physical world. Pieces can be touched, picked up, even tasted if you are so inclined and have the owner's permission. The realness of tabletop games, even theater-of-the-mind TTRPGs, connects players to each other, to their physical location, and to the game itself in ways the digital realm cannot. By being grounded in reality, tabletop games create a space for mindfulness, connectivity, and a sense or presence that boosts our mental health and tackles feelings of social isolation.

All this being considered, it feels pertinent that Hand Limit's tagline should be:

Gaming In Real Life

Hand Limit 2025 Event: Canterbury Pride Board Game Club

On Saturday we held our first ever Hand Limit Event, Pride Board Game Club, and it was a huge success. We seated approximately 58 people playing games throughout the day, plus a further 22 who came in to browse our stalls. We had a lot of fun demoing games, making recommendations, and helping people get set up. The games played ranged from Molly House, to Fluxx, to Ghost Castle. It was particularly nice to meet some fans of the blog as well!

Now that the dust has settled and we've had a chance to take stock of everything that happened, we thought it would be good to share a few thoughts and highlights of the day.

Drawn and Quartered tattoo studio ran a stall selling art prints and temporary tattoos, which were very popular. It was great to see so many people from the alternative community come out and be board game nerds for the day.

Dice & Destiny, our Friendly Local Gaming Store (FLGS) came along to sell and demo some board games including Yogi and Bad Trevor, which were both received really well and were both prizes to be won at the charity tombola.

Kitsch Flamingo ran our tombola, which was hugely popular and had some truly awesome prizes, including tickets to an immersive Grease experience in London, a free aerial fitness course from Inspire Fitness, and a tattoo voucher for Drawn and Quartered, which were all claimed before the end of the day.

Fruitworks Coworking and Coffee Shop, the spiritual home of Hand Limit, was the perfect environment for the day. Their event space was the perfect size and many people enjoyed the fantastic coffee and cakes they offer.

Huge thanks are due to all of our sponsors and contributors. Needless to say we would not have been able to get this far without their support and they helped make the day truly unique.

Throwing this event was a learning curve for us and we have certainly come out the other side with some valuable lessons on what we can change to throw future events and offer the best possible experience to our guests. 

We asked all those attending to fill out a questionnaire giving us feedback and valuable data that will help us run future events. Some highlights of the data we have received so far indicate that 50% of the people attending heard about the event through word-of-mouth, 100% of replies stated that they would like to see more events like this one, 100% said that we had created a safe and inclusive space, and 85% of people said that their mood improved as a result of Pride Board Game Club (the other 15% indicated that their mood hadn't improved, but it hadn't worsened, which is a win as far as we're concerned!). This last point is particularly important to us, as Hand Limit is all about the promotion of tabletop gaming as an aid to positive mental health and community building. Also interesting is the largest group of people (35%) stated that Pride Board Game Club was the first time they had played table top games in a very long time. We will be going through all of the responses carefully and apply any learning to our future activities to make sure we continue to provide a service that is beneficial to the communities we hope to serve.

So where do we go from here? After such a successful first event, Hand Limit is certain to host more in the near future. We are already looking ahead to Pride next year and are starting talks with local community centres to arrange for smaller gaming events targeting specific communities. We want to use this momentum to grow and strengthen the Hand Limit brand and continue to help people by using board games to promote positive mental health and community building.

Finally, I would like to say a massive thank you to everyone who came along on the day. It was all our lovely guests that made this event what it was.

Do you have an event or community group and would like to collaborate with Hand Limit? Please contact us using the Contact Us form on the website.

Hand Limit 2025 Event: Canterbury Pride Board Game Club Update

With only a few days to go, we are all very excited to host our first ever Hand Limit event. Everything now has been pretty much organised and we're confident that it's going to be a fun day for all.  We've had an incredible response to our marketing campaign with many people telling us that they will be along on the day to play some of the games on offer. On the day we will have seating for about 50 people, which we originally thought would be plenty, but considering the feedback we have received we are now looking at options for overflow seating. However the day turns out, what we consider most important is that everyone who comes has a great time.

Attendees are welcome to bring their own games or make use of our library. We are working on compiling the list of games that will be available on the day and so far have reached about 90 options. These range from fun party games, games for children, and more advanced games for adults who are more familiar with gaming as a hobby. Dice & Destiny will also be demoing games on the day if you fancy giving something new a try and would benefit from being lead through the rules. Our volunteers  will also be happy to recommend games and help get you settled.

Canterbury Pride is a great event every year with the whole community getting together to celebrate LGBTQ+ people and support each other. It feels like now more than ever it is important to be able to be proud of who you are and recognise the struggle of LGBTQ+ people all over the world. It is our aim to compliment the main Pride event by offering a calm, welcoming, and relaxing space for people who need a break from the sights and sounds of the day. Board games are an incredibly powerful tool for building and strengthening community bonds, and we hope that everyone who attends will feel the benefit to this and their mental wellbeing.

We've had some terrific contributions to our tombola ranging from tickets to an immersive Grease show in London, a voucher for a tattoo at Drawn and Quartered in Canterbury, vouchers for Inspire Fitness, plus board games and some Warhammer models for the miniatures enthusiasts among us. All money raised from this tombola and from donations throughout the day will go to supporting the BeYou Project, which supports LGBTQ+ youth in the Kent area.

We have also confirmed accessibility arrangements for the venue. There is a fairly steep step up to the coffee shop, which some people may find difficult. If this is the case, our guests are advised to ring the doorbell and a member of staff will come and deploy the access ramp.

If you are unable to make it on the day, but still wish to show your support, our Just Giving page is now live and accepting donations.

We are very excited to see you there on the day but if you have any questions beforehand, please get in touch with us in the comments below or by filling out the Contact Us form on our website.

Mental Health Awareness Week

Since 2001, the Mental Health Awareness Foundation has been leading Mental Health Awareness Week with the aim to bring people together to raise awareness of mental health. This year Mental Health Awareness Week took place from 12th to 18th May and the theme was "community".

As the Mental Health Awareness Foundation puts it:

"Being part of a safe, positive community is vital for our mental health and wellbeing.  We thrive when we have strong connections with other people and supportive communities that remind us, we are not alone. Communities can provide a sense of belonging, safety, support in hard times, and give us a sense of purpose."

Here at Hand Limit we believe in the positive effects that board games have on mental health and combating social isolation, and this is largely thanks to the sense of community that they promote.

Writing for The Center for Mindfulness & CBT, Tyler Witzig helpfully outlines the ways in which board games can help improve our connection to others. Witzig states that board games provide us with shared experience that allows people to bond over a common interest. This creates a sense of community and belonging. 

"The excitement of the game and the thrill of victory or defeat can help people form deep and lasting connections."

Furthermore, board games improve communication and collaboration with others. Through engaging with the game, particularly cooperative games, players are put in a position where communication is essential. This type of communication, structured around a game, can help break down barriers and create a safe space for players to express themselves. Playing games with others also help foster feelings of trust and empathy, which helps players develop more meaningful connections with each other. Through play, we get to know people in ways that go beyond surface level interaction. It is rare on first meeting someone that you get to witness their inner morality at work. How do they behave towards others when winning or losing? How do they support new players? Do they compete in good faith? These questions can all be answered when playing a game with someone whereas usual initial social interaction barely begins to scratch the surface. As a result it is easier to get to know people, and to get to know people who you might not usually have had the same level of interaction with, while playing games.

"Board games are an inclusive activity," Witzig writes. "This inclusivity allows people to connect with others they might not otherwise have the opportunity to meet." Playing games, either competitively or cooperatively, provides the perfect backdrop to get to know new people. This inclusivity is highlighted by Sam Allen, writing for the Mental Health Awareness Foundation, as a key component of fostering positive community. This inclusivity of the table top hobby ensures that everyone around a table feels included in the group. Each player gets their own turn to make their own choices that have an overall impact on the game and the experience of others. This engagement with the group as a whole produces the feeling of a shared space and community. Without inclusivity it is impossible to create a sense of community in diverse groups.

Allen goes on to say that another corner stone of community building is friendship and fun. It is important that group members look forward to seeing and spending time with each other, which encourages continued attendance. Through this individuals can grow stronger bonds and trust with other group members. Unless we hadn't made it completely clear, we think that table top games are incredibly fun and definitely keep members of our collective coming back for more. 

As community was the focus of this year's Mental Health Awareness Week, we ought to give our attention to the role of table top gaming to aid this vital aspect of mental health. If you are looking for a community, or perhaps want to create stronger bonds within a group you are already a part of, board games are a great place to start.

Snacks. The Ultimate Table Top Taboo?

In all board gaming communities there is one question that seems to get people riled up more than anything else, and that's the question of snacks at the table when playing board games. There is little more that causes the collective blood to boil, apparently, than the inclusion of any type of food or drink at the table. But is this really justified?

I appreciate that people are protective over their game collection and don't want to see the carefully crafted assets damaged or stained. There are, of course, steps that can be taken to help reduce this by way of card sleeves, but is the risk of some minor damage worth it to increase the social element of the hobby?

Multiplayer games exist specifically to be a shared experience with friends and other hobbyists. In many respects they are perfectly suited to combine with food and drink to enhance the experience. They are primarily in-door activities, they usually involve sitting together at a table for extended periods, during which time people will get hungry and thirsty, and they are both social experiences that we use to bond with those around us.

Commensality is the term anthropologists use to describe the act of eating together, and it is recognised as one of the most commonly shared practices among human beings. However, there is some debate as to what the term actually refers to. Does it mean sharing the food, the table, the place, or the moment? Jonsson et al state that commensality "is first and foremost a matter of sharing the table and, thus, the place and the central material object." In this way, eating together is viewed as a way of creating or maintaining a group, "a way to assert or to strengthen a 'We'". By eating together and sharing food, we are reasserting our connections with each other while also reassuring our brains that we are safe, satisfied, and loved. This naturally floods our bodies with positive hormones. 

If we are looking at commensality as Jonsson et al described it, we can see a strong overlap between board games and mealtimes in the sharing of the table space and how this increases our bonds with each other.

As there is such a clear link between gaming and food, it is entirely natural that we should look to combining the two pastimes. I understand that the owners of board games don't want to see their collections marked or damaged, but by rigidly denying the incorporation of eating and drinking to accompany games, are players losing out?

I don't mean to sound dramatic and morbid but everything decays. We cannot keep everything pristine forever, and to what end are we attempting to do so? Resale value is one thing, sure, but in removing such a perfect partnership as games and food, are players limiting their enjoyment of an activity just to maintain a value that is as much at the whim of the market as it is in the quality of the product?

All game owners must make the decision for themselves about what they will and will not allow at their tables, but I for one will always allow food and drink . In fact, pairing food to the type of game, much like we find thematically appropriate music, is all part of the fun. Let's not forget that publisher Pretzel Games supposedly got their name from their desire to design games that can be comfortably played with a pretzel in one hand!

There is already enough joylessness in the world, let your players eat and drink at the table.

What it’s like to hate a game and then fall in love with it OR why your first impressions of a game aren’t always fair

When I was first introduced to Star Realms, I think I gave it a fair try. In principle, it wasn’t a totally unfamiliar premise - though at that point I hadn’t played too many deck building games. But I understood the premise, and liked the idea of something like a trading card game, but that you only had to pay for once, which was the main reason, at that point, I had not delved into the world of TCGs (fair reader, how things have changed now!) 

I played against Skully, Hand Limit editor, a couple of times, and lost spectacularly, before declaring it was a trash game for trash humans and I would never play again. I played the cards in my hand, I did a little damage to their authority, I chose cards from the marketplace and tapped my currency cards to pay for them, when they eventually entered my hand I used them and did a little damage to their authority again. My opponent seemed to get the better cards, they did spectacular damage to my authority, and it didn’t take them long to get another good card in their hand again and do even more damage. My little 1 hit Vipers were useless and I couldn’t regain authority quick enough to keep up with the damage being done to me. 

Back then I was a novice, a baby TTGer, and I hadn’t fully discovered any skill for forward planning, ruthless competition and dastardly strategy. If I played it for the first time now I think my first impression would have been completely different. 

Skully found a friend who was into Star Realms, and they played happily on work breaks and over the mobile app version of the game for several months. I looked on suspiciously - how can they love this unequivocally terrible game, that punishes less experienced players and affords no opportunity for learning and improvement? 

Eventually, after months or even a year, I was persuaded to give it another go, after several thorough explanations (lectures) on the importance of strategies such as discarding cards (getting rid of the stuff that doesn’t help), building a deck around a specific faction (benefitting from buffs and boosts), and being a sneaky little goblin and trying to purchase the cards you think your opponent will want before they have an opportunity to. 

We played again, and this time I tried implementing the strategies I had been told about and I didn’t lose so fast. I decided to buy cards that matched colours, I discarded the lower value cards by making sure I had some Machine Cult faction cards that allowed you to do this. I played the game as it was supposed to be played. And reader, I loved it. 

So then I had to put my big girl pants on and admit I was wrong. Maybe the problem wasn’t the game? Maybe I was the drama after all? 

I’ve actually spoken about this game in some talking therapy since. It was a neat demonstration of my stubbornness and fixed thinking around things that I perceive as too difficult or beyond my knowledge and skill. If I cannot do something, it is therefore not worth doing and is even a Bad Thing. American psychologist, Carole Dweck’s Growth Mindset theory is a good place to start if you are interested in looking into the psychology of this further. Using this neat little example of a tabletop game as an illustration of this tendency of mine, and being able to unpick my responses and reactions to it, was a much easier and more comfortable task than thinking about an example of this behaviour from work, personal relationships or studies. 

Games are great aren’t they? They teach us how to play nicely with each other, how to share, how to be a gracious winner, how to deal with disappointment. They can also show us things about our own inner worlds and self-limiting beliefs. 

So, if there is a game you really don’t “get”, maybe give it another go one day. You might find out something about yourself.

5 Reasons Why You Should Be Playing Tabletop Games

We like games, that much is obvious, but we also think there are a lot of people out there who would love games as much as us but aren't sure about getting into the hobby. Just in case you are undecided, we've put together this list of 5 reasons why you should be playing table top games

1. Mental Wellbeing

We've written fairly extensively in the past about the positive mental benefits of playing table top games, but did you know that games involving puzzle-like and problem-solving elements can help create more brain neurons, which can slow cognitive decline and memory related dementia?

Eleesha Lockett, writing for healthline, states that "Games are among the many activities that can keep the human mind entertained and engaged. But more importantly, games can help stimulate our brains."

A 2019 study exploring the effects of 16 weeks of combined physical and cognitive training involving games, found that working memory and executive function significantly improved. A further paper published in 2020, A Review on Serious Games for Dementia Care in Ageing Societies, explored the use of board and video games and their benefits. Board games were found to help with cognitive functions such as memory, communication, and emotional regulation. The review found that when early and middle stage patients with dementia used "serious" games, they improved on a wide variety of cognitive abilities.

2. Enhances Playfulness in Adults

We recently wrote [insert link here] about the benefits of playfulness in adults and how, among it's many benefits, adult play can boost creativity, sharpen our sense of humour, and help with stress coping mechanisms. Playfulness is defined by Proyer and Ruch in 2011 as "the predisposition to frame (or re-frame) a situation in such a way as to provide oneself (and possible others) with amusement, humour, and/or entertainment." Adults who participate in playful activities display 5 types of playful behaviours; spontaneous, expressive, creative, fun, and silly, and those who displayed higher levels of these characteristics were also recorded as having higher creativity, better ability to appreciate beauty, a greater sense of hope, and lower stress among others.

If you are looking to enhance your positive playful characteristics, and feel the benefits of the related positive link to well-being and life satisfaction, taking up table top gaming as a hobby is a surefire way to get started.

3. It's a Social Activity

There are games to fit any level of social interaction. Playing a game with another person or a group of people provides ideal structure to an evening. It allows a shared activity for conversation to grow around like vines, but with enough to focus on that there's reduced pressure to be overly communicative if you are feeling confident. Sometimes there is nothing more relaxing than allowing a conversation to fall into a gentle lull, while everyone around the table becomes absorbed in what's unfolding in the game before them.

On top of this, playing games, either competitive or cooperative, provides the perfect backdrop to get to know new people. Strangers can sit around a table together and get to know each other on a much deeper level than mere conversation would usually allow. Through play, we get to see someone's inner morality, how do they behave towards other players when winning or losing? How do they support new players to a game? Do they compete in good faith? These actions all reflect deeper aspects to someone's personality and sometimes when meeting new people, it's good to learn these things up front.

4. We're in a Golden Age of Games

It's so easy to say that something is the Golden Age of a particular thing. Margaret Hofer described the period of 1880s-1920s as "The Golden Age" of board gaming in America, but at that point they'd never played Catan or Gloomhaven so how can we trust her? However, with a pinch of salt we could feasibly consider the current boom in the table top industry a sign that we truly are living in its Golden Age. In 2022 the global board game market was worth $18.93 billion and is expected to reach almost $40 billion by 2028.

Thanks to this explosion of choice in recent years, not just for the Big Names such as Ticket to Ride and Wingspan but also independent developers, there is now a board game for almost everyone. No matter what your tastes are or what kind of experience you are after from a game, there is almost certainly something on the shelves of your local Board Game Cafe for Friendly Local Gaming Store (FLGS) that will have you a keen gamer in no time.

5. Less Focus on Digital Entertainment

Nicolas Pickaerts, chief executive of the online design store Abask raisese the "tangible aspect of playing games, which serves as an antidote to the overwhelm of the digital world... you get to enjoy the physicality of holding a beautifully crafted piece in your hand that has been thoughtfully designed".

There is no doubt that we live in a world that is becoming exponentially digital and with this the amount of time each of us physically spend in the company of our friends, family, and even colleagues is reducing. Dr. Charlotte Russell, a clinical psychologist working in mental health, rates the human need for connection as a "primary need" and that "If we lack human connection this can have a negative impact on our well-being very quickly."

Most FLGSs and Board Game Cafes will be able to recommend gaming groups for people seeking them out. There are also many online communities that can help arrange in-person meet ups for those interested in table top gaming. Our digital world is important for societal progress, it is essential that people do not become less connected as a result and still value the fundamental need for in-person contact.

The final and most important reason to take up table top gaming as a hobby is quite simply that it is fun, and why would you deny yourself a fun time?

What other reasons can you think of that should be included in this list? Or perhaps this article has giving you encouragement to give board games a try? If so, why not check out our article on board games to get you started in the hobby.

Playfulness in Adults - An under represented field

I recently wrote about how I believe playing can be considered a rebellious act in a society that does not value playfulness in adults. Bizarrely, this received more backlash than I was expecting from people who did not appreciate me thinking more deeply about the sociology of playing games. While I firmly believe that choosing "unproductive" play in a society that favours productivity, is inherently rebellious, I am aware that some people prefer to focus on the inward-facing benefits of play. Or perhaps my attempt to look deeper into an activity they would rather just consider fun will also be met with resistance?

Saya Des Marais, writing for Psych Central ascertains that "playing is just as important for adults as it is for children. Among its many benefits, adult play can boost your creativity, sharpen your sense of humor (sic.), and help you cope better with stress". However, Proyer and Ruch, writing for SpringerOpen, claim that despite this, there has been comparatively little literature or research on playfulness in adults. I feel that this lack of research into playfulness and the benefits of play in adults supports my believe that western society does not value play in adults in the same way as it might in children. 

Proyer and Ruch found that the results of their own research indicated that "playfulness in adults relates to positive psychological functioning". They highlighted the need for further studies to illuminate the contribution of playfulness to well-being in adults. Furthermore, a 2013 study in the European Journal of Humour Research, also by researcher Proyer, found that a predisposition to play in adults was positively linked to well-being and life satisfaction.

So what exactly are the benefits of adults playing games aside from just being enjoyable on a surface level?

Playfulness can be defined as "the predisposition to frame (or re-frame) a situation in such a way as to provide oneself (and possibly others) with amusement, humour, and/or entertainment". Framed the context of this article, playfulness links with table top games in their ability to frame specific themes, subjects, or actions in an entertaining way. Patchwork by Uwe Rosenberg is a perfect example of how the act of making a patchwork quilt can be reframed to make it a less arduous, more competitive, and potentially a more entertaining task. 

Adults who participated in playful activities display five types of playful behaviours outlined by Proyer and Ruch: spontaneous, expressive, creative, fun, and silly. Leading on from this, people who scored higher in these characteristics were also recorded as having higher creativity, a better ability to appreciate beauty, a greater sense of hope, lower stress, among others. As such, playfulness in adults can be directly linked to a boost in overall well-being.

These characteristics may feel like they are considered as some inherent aspect of someone's personality and as such might feel inaccessible to someone who does not necessarily consider themselves playful. However, Dr. Stuart Brown, researcher and founder of The National Institute for Play, has identified eight "play personalities". People who enjoy table top gaming will undoubtedly associate with multiple personalities and below I have taken the liberty of providing suggestions on how they translate to the hobby.

1. The Collector - you enjoy building collections. TCGs, Warhammer, Board games, they are all collections.
2. The Competitor - you enjoy playing (and winning) against others in games that have clearly defined rules.
3. The Creator - you enjoy making things. This could be miniature building and painting, or even creating our own TTRPGs.
4. The Director - what table top group doesn't have that one person who drives the play, learns the rules, schedules D&D sessions?
5. The Explorer - you play through discovering new things. Often linked with the Director, this is the person who will favour games not yet played to bring to the table.
6. The Joker - you play games that bring out the silly or foolish in all of us. Happy Salmon anyone?
7. The Kinesthete - you enjoy using your body to play. From Jenga to Junk Art, you rule at dexterity games.
8. The Storyteller - you play table top games for the opportunity to create stories and get lost in the collective imagination of the group.

As Saya Des Marais writes, "Playing is just as much about your mindset as it is about the activity you're doing", so for your own sake, have a think about how you play and how you might build this into your adult life. Dare I say, it will be a rebellious thing to do?

Hand Limit 2025 Event Announcement!

Readers will know Hand Limit is a blog about the positive impact that in-person games can have on mental health, community, and well-being. However, it's our hope that the blog will turn into something more substantial that online musings and reviews. This means we are very happy to announce that 2025 will see the first in-person Hand Limit gaming event.

The event, as it stands, will take place on 5th June 2025 at Fruitworks Coworking and Coffee Shop in Canterbury, UK. The intention is that this should fall on the same day as Canterbury Pride and exist as a fringe event for people who wish to celebrate Pride and need a break from the crowds.

We will be hosting a number of stalls selling jewelry and artwork and the primary space will be given over to table top gaming, with a generous library of games and volunteers ready to help guests find their next favourite game. 

What's more, this event will be absolutely free to attend. We are very lucky to have secured a number of sponsors, who will be announced shortly, which is helping to cover the event costs. However, we are looking at taking donations for a local charity in place of charging an entrance fee as it will be a Pride/LGBTQIA+ event and we feel it is important to show our support.

Keep a close eye on future posts for further information and please feel free to get in touch if you have any questions or wish to be involved.

Can playing board games help us cope with failure?

Kingdomino - "I can't remember the last time I won this one" 

I have a simple rule with any board game: I am not happy until I've lost as many or more times than I have won. Losing in cooperative or competitive gaming is just as important for the enjoyment of the game as winning and a well designed game will recognise this and reward effort with entertainment, but how can losing at games help us in our daily lives?

D&D in the Workplace: Roll with it or a Critical Fail?

Dr. Jesse Olsen - "Why Dungeons and Dragons is Good for the Workplace"

Yesterday I came across a short article by Dr. Jesse Olsen - Senior Lecturer in the Department of Management and Marketing at the University of Melbourne, from 6th April 2023 discussing the merits of roleplaying games like Dungeons and Dragons in developing life skills such as "perspective-taking, self-awareness, empathy, creativity, critical thinking, and problem solving" and how these may be applied to the workplace to alter our perspective of team dynamics and how we deal with work-based challenges.

Table Top and Mental Health (From the Archive)

[This piece was originally written for another blog and published on 13th May 2021. Some aspects have been updated from the original, but most remains the same.]

People who know me only a little recognise that I am programmed to worry. Sadly, I seem to believe that if I'm not worrying about something, I've clearly not hyper-fixated on it enough. As a result, I am always thinking. I don't stop. Sometimes I'm able to momentarily distract myself from this constant stream of anxiety, playbacks, and what-if hypotheticals that form the bulk of my headspace, but I'm rarely fully chilled out.