So my teenaged brothers taught me how to play Dungeons and Dragons when I was eight years old. It was a constant background in my life. Whenever we wanted, we slipped off to battle monsters and help townsfolk and find treasure... all without knowing I was practicing math skills. My fourth grade math teacher was puzzled when I blasted through my times tables. We only had pencils, paper, dice, and a battered copy of the Player's Guide (first edition, for those wondering). It was all you needed, really. Well those and your imagination, which it seems my family had in spades.
Now there's a resurgence of the game, largely thanks to Stranger Things for bringing it back into mainstream media. (Although they still do play in a basement...)
So tabletop gaming is making a fairly welcome comeback. It's a way to socialize with friends, and offers far more variety than video games because you cannot predict what your fellow players will do. It requires creative and adaptive thinking, and helps develop better interpersonal relationships with your fellow players.
If you or your child is interested at all, the library carries a few books on Dungeons and Dragons. We also have a live virtual program coming up on July 6th, 2021 at 12:00 noon EST titled Ask a Game Master where you can ask all the questions you have about tabletop gaming in general.
Happy Gaming!
Originally posted 01/01/20, updated 06/20/21