Meeples in your neighborhood: Kristy Smith

Few people can actually say that board gaming saved their lives; Kristy Smith is an exception. Nearly twenty years ago, in her mid-twenties, Kristy was recovering from one of several operations she had endured in the decade since health issues had started to change her life.

But something important happened one day. “I was struggling with related memory issues that were pretty severe, and a friend brought over some games saying that gaming would help me,” Kristy says. “I had doubts, but I gave it a try.”

“Within months,” she recalls, “the staff at Wascana Rehab said they couldn’t explain how my memory and executive functioning skills had increased so rapidly. They said I had improved so much they no longer needed to see me. There was no more they could do above what I had already done for myself!”

What began as therapy is now her main hobby, if the hundreds of games in her condo’s spare bedroom are anything to go by. But it’s a very healthy hobby – one that has not only helped Kristy through some very rough times in her life but also has helped build a strong and supportive community around her.

“I transformed from a girl who could barely make a strategy to save her life to a woman with a passion and over two hundred board games! I love how board gaming has helped me develop as a human, and I love who it has brought into my life,” she says. “Lifelong friendships have been made sitting in a simple circle around a table with a game.”

Kristy grew up in northern Saskatchewan, and even in her mid-forties, she still misses the places of her childhood – “the beauty of the north and the sense of community such small places foster,” she says. She ended up relocating to Regina – where her parents now also live – for more accessible healthcare, education, and employment.

“I still call Regina my home and try to embrace the positives of city living,” Kristy says. “I’m so lucky to love my job in the healthcare region as a medical transcriptionist. I am able to love it by keeping a very intentional work/home life balance.”

Not long after her introduction to board gaming played such an important role in her recovery, Kristy’s gaming friend moved away. But by then, there were gaming opportunities popping up in the city, and Kristy decided to start going out for game nights – first at the Wok Box, and then at Boston Pizza North Albert, for what is now ChewsDay Challenge.

While strategy, abstract, and worker placement games are staples for Kristy, she’s found that her likes and dislikes in board gaming change, both over time and depending on the groups of people with whom she’s playing.

“Picking a favourite is hard – kind of like giving me a bag of barbecue chips and asking which chip is my favorite,” she says. “Lately, I’ve been craving Obsession and Grand Austria Hotel, but I also have my favourites like Stone Age and Space Base.”

Kristy she says loves “everything” about board gaming, “from getting a new game to punching the pieces out, figuring out different strategies, beating my best scores, and learning all kinds of things.”

“But above that, it’s about the friendships made and the camaraderie,” she says in response to what keeps drawing her back to the gaming table. “It’s the laughter, and the unlikely relationships that can be made as a group of people with perhaps nothing else in common share a great time around the table, all with the help of a board game.”

“I’m generally pretty nervous around large crowds and new people,” she admits, “but board games are helping me open up. I’ve become friends with people who I never would’ve generally met, and I’ve taken part in both the giving and receiving of support, when needed, from this community we’ve developed.”

“I care about the people in this community on many levels,” she says. “I care and I’m cared for. I help and I have been helped. I see the passion within the community that breaks the norms of many social groups and even goes beyond.

Kristy sees the work of Play with Your Food as a natural extension of that inclusive mindset. “I see the intentional passion spill out to people who are not even in our community, who are less fortunate, who face abuse, neglect, hunger, and disease, and sometimes are simply forgotten. It’s not just a passion. It’s our community actively coming together using something we love to break those restraints and help.”

While her medical issues have forced her to step back somewhat over the last year, Kristy continues to attend – and help out – at ChewsDay Challenge whenever she can. She’s been an Event Ambassador and a Learn-to-Play Teacher, and last fall, she not only celebrated her birthday at ChewsDay Challenge, but she also arranged for our regular server to receive a special gift for his own recent birthday.

“I chose to take on these roles because I have such a love for the hobby, and because I respect and trust the leadership,” Kristy says. “I wanted to be part of spreading the amazing feelings I got when I first started in the hobby and someone took some time to make sure I was welcomed.”

Kristy chuckles when she considers why she joined a Play with Your Food fundraising team. “Let’s not kid ourselves – the sound of a 24-hour gaming event at the end sure drew me in over the years. But it’s become only one of the perks,” she says, “now that I see more into it and realize what a difference our small community can make, not just in our city but in our world. I want to be part of that good.”

“I may not remember all the events we hosted or all the games we’ve played together, or the total money raised, but I remember the friendships made, and the feelings of pride each of my teammates give me when I think about how we’ve made a difference,” she adds. “I’m so lucky to be on such a great team that keeps getting better every year. Go Table Flippers!”

If you’re considering coming out to a ChewsDay game night, participating as a sponsor, or joining the 2025-26 campaign, Kristy’s advice is simple: do it. “Now is the time. Hesitations have kept me from so much, and life is too short to waste time on that. Come play a game with me, and I can introduce you to about seventy more people who are unbelievably amazing and have incredible hearts for the hobby, the community, and the world.”