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Board Games Tool for the Library: Your Board Game Sommelier Has Arrived

Public libraries have needed this website and app for a long time.   Your library supports a lot of online gaming but most have a whole lot of other board games that don’t require a computer – from chess to Monopoly through Dungeons and Dragons any strategy game your heart desires.  Sometimes it for the teens and other times it supports adult programs.  Choosing which games to buy and support is difficult and this website isn’t supported by paid recommendations but by the honest and professional reviews and perspectives of a board game enthusiast.  It was tested with years of experience at one of Toronto’s amazing Board Game coffee houses, Snakes and Lattes.  They know their stuff!

So, check it out and learn more about board games and dream about events at your library.

(I’ll let you in on a secret (shhh).  The developer is an avid board game enthusiast and amazing expert who comes by this service development honestly. His dad developed games and his mom is a celebrated Canadian librarian!)

Here’s his press release.

Your Board Game Sommelier Has Arrived

June 29, 2015

Toronto, ON – As tabletop games continue to grow in popularity, more and more board game cafés are
opening to cater to demand. The best ones have specialized staff who can make personal recommendations for you. These game sommeliers don’t just pull titles randomly from a list of the
“best” games or select an arbitrary category like “party games” or “strategy games.” They listen to their
guests, and use what they hear to figure out what’s going to work for them.

Which leaves everyone else out in the cold if they can’t get to a place like that… except now there’s an
app for it.

One of the game experts at a beloved Toronto game café has spent years developing an online board
game recommendation service. The web app at www.pick-a-game.com has just launched, and it’s
probably the closest thing you can get to that sommelier experience without going there yourself.
For a quick recommendation with as little fuss as possible, the app’s “quick pick” is what you want. If
you’re willing to go a little deeper, you can take a quiz and get more accurate picks, along with some
psychological insight via games. Or you can also just say “I like Scrabble and Scattergories,” and get
recommendations based on that.

Veteran players can use it to find games to introduce to their neophyte friends, and the neophytes can
confidently explore beyond the games they know from childhood.

The web app is free, and it gives a better experience than you’re likely to find at many game stores. A
mobile-optimized version is in development, and there’s video content coming soon as well.

About the creators

The web app was created by a father-and-son team. Jonathan Moriarity has spent the last five years as a
game guru at Snakes & Lattes, Toronto’s celebrated board game café. He’s also been a game designer,
developer, art director, rules writer, and retailer. His father Michael Moriarity has been designing and
implementing software since the ancient times before the IBM PC. He lives in Hamilton.
Contact

To find out more about Pick-A-Game, visit
www.pick-a-game.com
or write to
[email protected]

 

Stephen

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Posted on: June 29, 2015, 10:30 am Category: Uncategorized

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