Wednesday Evenings @ 401 Games Downtown​
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​​​We've been getting together at 401 Games every Wednesday since 2009. This event has allowed the Toronto community to try an endless variety of games and meet many other local and visiting gamers.

Before attending this event for the first time, please read through the details on this page including information about the Survey & Schedule and showing up to ​Play Games! Once familiar with these details, you can use the hex buttons below to access the most used sections of this event.
​The schedule for this event is arranged throughout the week leading up to the event:​
​​​Additional information below includes details about Offering to Host, Regular Hosts, and Event History.
There were 515 different games offered in 2024 and 521 in 2023 with these as the most frequent titles:
Thursday: Offer to Host a Game
This event is only possible because of the amazing people who volunteer their games and time to host every week; thank you!
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To offer a game, reply to this BGG thread or email me with:
  • the name of the game(s)
  • information about the theme, mechanics, or any expansions/variants that will be included
  • your preferred player count & acceptable range if different
  • whether or not you will be teaching the game, considering the 3 hour event limit
  • links to learning videos or rulebooks if you're asking players to learn the rules in advance
  • how many tables are required:
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Frequency: Attendees are encouraged to offer a game ~ once for every 5 times they attend, once they are comfortable at the event.
Multiple Offers: You may offer a choice between 2 games.​
Selection: If more games are offered than needed to support the number of attendees, selection is based on popularity and flexibility (e.g. fewer requirements).
Survey: Complete the Game Selection Survey in case your game isn't selected, indicating 'Excited' or 'Willing' for your game. 
Saving Spots for players is generally discouraged, but include your request and the reason in the notes of your survey for consideration.
Prototypes are welcome from regular attendees/hosts.
Borrowing games from our collection is possible if we have a game that you'd like to host.
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Friday to Wednesday: Survey & Schedule
All games are scheduled in advance, allowing interested attendees to research and choose from a range of games with different mechanics, themes and complexities within the scope of our group.
If you're interested in attending:
  1. Review and acknowledge our Code of Conduct if this is the first time you are attending or if your information has changed.
  2. Submit the Game Selection Survey to let us know which games you're interested in for the coming week. The survey is usually updated to include the current offers on Friday morning, and can be submitted anytime Friday through Wednesday. 
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​Confirmation: You'll receive an email when added to the schedule (check your spam/junk folder). The schedule is created Sunday morning, with changes to fill open seats and adjust for cancellations until the start of the event.
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Experience: Not required. Most games are taught and there are always some games suitable for any experience level.

Requirements: Games with longer playtimes or more complex rules may require players to learn the rules in advance. These often build on mechanics learned in other games and are listed further down on the survey. 

BGG: To help your fellow players get to know you, your name on the schedule links to your BGG profile (if known). We encourage you to fill out your BGG profile with games owned, game ratings, and some information about yourself.

Cancelling: If your ability to attend changes after submitting the survey, email me as soon as possible. 
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Wednesday: Play Games!
Location: 401 Games downtown @ 431 Yonge Street​​​

Transit: Head south from College station on Line 1. Ref: TTC alerts

Bike Share: Docks on the west side of Yonge, between the store & Gerrard

Parking Suggestion: Impark underground at 40 Gerrard St (~$6)

​Accessibility: The play space is only accessible by stairs
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Start: Arrive before 6:00pm or the scheduled start time of your game, if earlier. The space becomes available when the event hosts arrive, which is usually between 5:30 and 5:45pm. When you arrive, find your game or check in with the event hosts to be directed to your table. 
Arriving late may forfeit your spot at that table and future events, especially if you don't let us know in advance, since games begin at their start time. 

Store Closes at 8pm, so make purchases or pick up orders before the event. 
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Event End: Games must be packed up and everyone out of the space before 9pm. If your game ends early and you want to keep playing, there are always some light games available that you can borrow.

Noise: This event can be quite loud, especially while multiple games are being taught. All participants are encouraged to keep their voice at a level where they can be heard only by the people at their table. 
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Walk-ins: Last minute spots may be available if there are open seats, late cancellations or late arrivals. 

Food: You may bring snacks, but confirm with the game host before consuming food at the table and ensure your fingers and game components stay clean.

Drinks: You may bring drinks, but do not keep open drinks on the table. There is a water dispenser to refill bottles.
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​Event Hosts

Sara VanderWal ​(she/her)
I've hosted this weekly event at 401 Games since its' creation in Sept 2009. You can email me or message me on BGG with any questions, comments or concerns.

Favourite games:
  • Sagrada
  • ​Grand Austria Hotel​
Picture
This 2010 photo may be old, but it may still help you recognize us!
Duncan McGregor (he/him)
Duncan helps with the on site logistics for this event every week. He started attending in Jan 2010, and has become my primary proofreader and sounding board.

Favourite games:
  • Terraforming Mars
  • Concordia

Game Hosts

These are some of the friendly folks who help ensure a wide variety of games are available for attendees of this event. Check out their linked BGG profile to find out more about their game preferences!
Allan (he/him) ​​
Favourite games:
  • Brass Birmingham
  • Kanban EV
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Kushal (he/him) ​​
Favourite games:
  • ​Bitoku​
  • Five Tribes
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Melanie (she/her) ​​
Favourite games:
  • Isle of Cats
  • Calico
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Naser (he/him) ​
Favourite games:
  • Age of Empires III
  • Fury of Dracula

​​Event History

​We began playing boardgames at 401 Games every Wednesday evening in Sept 2009. The event has steadily grown along with the facility as 401 Games made multiple moves to expand with the hobby. 

​401 Yonge St, 3rd floor - Sept 2009 to July 2013
This weekly event began at the original 401 Games location where the gaming space was on the 3rd floor, accessible by a narrow, rickety staircase. It was a drop-in structure where games were picked onsite. 

There was only space for 30 players and we were reaching that regularly after a few years. A lottery system was implemented to determine who attended each week. Since the attendance list was known in advance, many players started pre-planning their games through the Meetup discussion.
518 Yonge St, basement - Aug 2013 to Nov 2014
We were very excited when 401 Games moved to a more spacious location up the street because the increased play space meant the attendance could grow again. The play space was in the basement, split between multiple rooms, with low ceilings and some low-hanging overhead pipes which made it tough to socialize and decide games together at the start of the event, so advanced planning became more common until we had a fully scheduled event. 
518 Yonge St, 2nd floor - November 2014 to July 2018
After about a year, 401 Games also leased the space above them as a dedicated play space. The first week was spent assembling the new tables before we could sit down to play, but the ceiling height and space between tables felt luxurious and we never had to worry about an attendance limit. 
​2782 Yonge St @ Lawrence - ​August to November 2018
There was a brief period when 401 Games closed their downtown store and moved to midtown. Like the loyal gamers we are, we made the trek every week to continue our event, though attendance dropped substantially.
518 Yonge St, 2nd floor - November 2018 to August 2019
After a few months, 401 Games moved back to the location near Wellesley Street. We returned to the 2nd floor and it felt like a home-coming! The front room, with floor-to-ceiling windows and fancier tables, became dedicated to boardgames so we could use the space anytime without interfering with card players or tournaments. 401 even maintained a boardgame library that we could borrow from for a small rental fee.
750 Yonge St - August 2019 to Nov 2024
The main floor play space at 750 Yonge St improved accessibility, both with the absence of stairs and the proximity to subway lines. We loved the high ceilings, bright lights and ability to rearrange the tables to accommodate different games.

However, like many things, these in-person interactions had to be cancelled during the pandemic. Many of us moved to online gaming and the discord group was created.
When the event resumed in February 2022, the standard first-come, first-served scheduling process that we'd been using for years felt inadequate. Popular games would often fill within minutes, rewarding attendees who could closely monitor notifications between events and causing hosts to miss out on the change to join these games while they waited to see if their game would have enough players. And that's when the current scheduling process with weekly survey was born!

Check out the stats from our 2023 events here

731 Yonge St - Nov 2024 to present
The configuration of the new play space is still unknown!
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