Meeples in your neighborhood: Rosemarie Opitz
If you come to any ChewsDay Challenge, there’s one person you’re nearly guaranteed to see: Rosemarie Opitz. She has missed only five ChewsDays in the past year and a half!
Rosemarie was first introduced to Regina’s board gaming community in 2017 through her friend Nikki, and she’s been hooked ever since. Rosemarie is often accompanied on Tuesday nights by her young adult nephew Connor, who lives with Rosemarie and her mom. For Connor, his auntie says, the draw is “playing games with friends and having fun.”
Since she doesn’t often play board games at home, ChewsDays are Rosemarie’s opportunity to connect with people from all walks of life, while both learning new games and playing old favourites, such as Wingspan. “I like visiting with the people I am playing with and getting to know them,” she says.
Even when she’s not teaching games at the Learn-to-Play table – which she does regularly – Rosemarie still prefers games that don’t run super long; “two hours or less” is her sweet spot. She especially likes card games as well as board games with engine-building or tile-playing mechanisms. Wyrmspan, Azul, and Potion Explosion are among her favourites, and anything that has a focus on nature – especially if it has Wingspan designer Elizabeth Hargrave’s name on the box – is very likely to grab her attention!
Rosemarie shares the core goals of Play with Your Food – “Have fun. Do good. Be awesome.” – as both a ChewsDay Challenge volunteer and Team Captain of The Colorettos. “I like that we all have a common interest and that we all want to help make our community better by helping those in need,” Rosemarie says.
If you’re looking for a board or card game to play, there’s a good chance you’ll find Rosemarie has posted one on that week’s ChewsDay Challenge post on the Community Forums. And if you’re worried that you might feel out of place, don’t be! “Know that you are welcome – no matter your age, background, or skill level,” Rosemarie says. “You don’t need to have a gaming background – whoever posts a game is willing to teach it!”
