GREAT FALLS — At 815 Second Street South South in Great Falls, you'll find the Owlbear Gaming Club. It's a nonprofit organization created in April 2023 to give people an opportunity to come together and play various games, such as Dungeons & Dragons.
Sitting around a table inside the Owlbear Gaming Club during the club's most recent monthly open house, people learned how to play a board game.
"We felt it was important to have a space to hang out and just to foster a culture of camaraderie, friendship, and just having a place to go that is a spot to relax and play all these games that have been coming out recently over the years," said club president Christopher Walker.
The club is for people 18 and older but people under 18 can come in as long as they're with a parent or legal guardian.
Walker said people can bring their own games or play the club's games.
"There's a game library here in the club, which is great for perusing and just finding games you've never seen before. Then, people can bring in things that they like," said Walker.
Board games aren't just popular in Great Falls, though.
According to Statista, the worldwide board game market is projected to have an annual growth rate of about 9.3% from 2022 to 2027 resulting in a projected market volume of $4.84 billion by 2027.
Lee Weigand owns Let's Play Games & Toys, a toy store in downtown Great Falls, and donated some items to the club to help it get started.
"Whenever people play more games, that's awesome. That's great for us and great for everybody," Wiegand said.
Kelly's Comics in Great Falls also donated items; the owner said he donated items because he's glad to see people playing games and happy to see more gaming options in Great Falls.
"It's been a very positive response. People have said this is a great idea (and said) thank you for doing this. I've had several individuals tell us 'Thank you for starting up a place for us to come hang out," said Walker.
To play games at the club, you have to be a member or ask a member to allow you to be a guest for a day.
The cost to be a guest for a day is $5. A general membership costs $30 a month and allows you to play games whenever the club is open.
For $75 a month, you can be a 'key holder' member which allows you to play games any time. The key holders, Walker said, set the hours for the club.
"The key holders try to spread out their games so (the club) opens a lot of the days of the week. So we currently have on the schedule...a Wednesday night key holder, a Thursday night key holder, a Friday night key holder, Saturday night key holder, and then a Sunday day key holder," Walker explained.
Money from memberships will initially be used to build up an emergency savings fund in the amount of three months rent for the building the club operates out of. After that, the club's board will discuss how to use any additional money.
TRENDING
- 7 deaths in 5 days on Montana roads
- Woman gored by bison in Yellowstone
- INFO: Montana State Fair in Great Falls
- 1 dead after being hit by vehicle in GF
- RECENT OBITUARIES
FOLLOW KRTV: Instagram | TikTok | Twitter
