<p>Okay, this is not the top criteria, or even the second or third. But a recent college visit showed us that DS defines his "tribe" as being people who like to play board games. On this particular visit, he asked the tour guide about board games and was rather taken aback that "He's reached his junior year and no one's challenged him to play any game! Maybe these aren't my people."</p>
<p>So... are there any schools out there where it wouldn't be unusual to find kids in the lounge playing board games? Any type. Just electronic-free.</p>
<p>Anyplace with a strong comp sci program. Carnegie Mellon had plenty, I know RPI did as well. My son even found the group at Harvard when he went to accepted students weekend - he played board games all weekend!</p>
<p>This past quarter at Stanford, S took a fun “class” taught by a sophomore all about different kinds of board and card games. He came home for spring break with a new game that he had won in the class that none of us had seen before. The group met on Saturday evenings and seemed to have a great time!</p>
<p>My son hauled his favorites up to college as a freshman and set them up in the lounge. Didn’t take long to pull people in! Super great way to meet others.</p>
<p>When we toured Harvard, the tour guide told us proudly about the hundreds of board games available for check out, including CandyLand and Chutes and Ladders, his favorites! To further the Harvard-students-as-board-game-lovers image, my brother, a Harvard grad, is a board game enthusiast (make that maniac) who designs computer games professionally. He prefers games like Settlers of Catan, I think, and more recent similar games.</p>
<p>UT Dallas has a big gaming community - electronic and board games. Any place with a bunch of “nerds” (meant in a loving way - i’m married to one!) will likely have a big group of gamers. Also, my H plays with a large board game club here in Dallas. The games float from bookstores to homes, but newcomers are always welcomed.</p>
<p>Haverford College - they had a board game club, and next year I hear they’ll be having a student-run house called “Nerd House” for alternative social activities for those who don’t care for partying.</p>
<p>Willamette University in Salem, Oregon. All of my son’s friends there get together on a regular basis to play traditional games and a range of card/board games with titles I’ve never heard of: Carcasonne; Dominion; Bang; Guillotine; Speed-Scrabble, etc.</p>
<p>My daughter plays board games at her school, apparently it also involves shots of whiskey with a pickle juice chaser. I didn’t ask more than that. TMI</p>
<p>^ It’s hard to play well when drunk. As a follow-up, I’ll now add that my son plays board games and chose to live in a substance-free dorm. My daughter’s not a drinker either, and apparently she and her friends at Harvard and MIT regularly get together for board games (she’s an MIT grad and current Harvard student).</p>
<p>One thing to look for is the existence of game stores near campus that typically sell board games. The college town of the big state U that my son will attend this fall has 2 game stores; 1 across the street from the dorms and the other a short bike ride away. Both stores have large game playing rooms where folks get together nightly for Magic the Gathering, Pokemomn, and board games. The stores are filled with undergrads, faculty, grad students, and lots of others. It is not uncommon to see up to 100 people playing games some evenings.</p>
<p>I would think there are groups of people at basically every school that enjoy playing board games… they just aren’t out and about so you don’t see them on the tours and such, like you would IM sports (for example)</p>
<p>Somewhere in our 40 (!) college visits over the last 6 years, we saw a school library that had a bunch of board games on shelves right where you came into the library. It sounded like they really used them, too. I think maybe it was Carleton, but just can’t remember for sure. I remember that D1 was very pleased to see them and that some of her favorites were there.</p>
<p>Search just about any school’s website for a gamers club (and then figure out what kinds of games they are talking about). Most schools have them. You don’t need all the kids at the school to play board games, you just have to be able to find the ones who do :)</p>
To further the Harvard-students-as-board-game-lovers image, my brother, a Harvard grad, is a board game enthusiast (make that maniac) who designs computer games professionally. He prefers games like Settlers of Catan, I think, and more recent similar games.</p>