Dear Members and Supporters,
It’s the end of another crazily busy year at Melbourne Meeples, and for the board game community in our great city.
We’re the most board-game obsessed city in Australia – that much is clear. However I’m beginning to think we may be one of the most board-game obsessed cities in the world.
Let’s unpack that a bit. Between July 2024 and June 2025 Melbourne Meeples delivered over 780 hours of gaming events. A calendar month has 816 hours, including nights, so just let that sink in for a moment: allowing for a healthy 8 hours sleep a night, that’s enough gaming time to consume 7 whole weeks, dusk until dawn, or over 10% of the whole year.
That’s a little mind-blowing. However here’s the real kicker. Melbourne Meeples are – by some margin – putting on more board gaming events than any other organisation in Australia. However we’re not the only ones. If you then add all the other board game events and meets in Melbourne that figure more than doubles, in fact it likely trebles.
As gamers you know this: we know a few of you even play games almost every night, hopping between events. And this is just organised meetups where people leave their homes and travel to a venue to play games – how much board gaming is also going on at home?
We also have board game retailers slap bang in the middle of the CBD, and in prime locations across our city. Travel around the world and this isn’t the norm. They’re usually on the outskirts only, or tucked away on side streets. That’s not to say it’s been an easy year for retail, as stock shortages, exchange rates and shipping challenges have all caused havoc. However despite all this, consumer demand remains strong.
So let’s restate that. Maybe a couple of cities in Germany can beat us, but I reckon Melbourne may be the most board game obsessed city in the world, and Australia is a much more board game obsessed country than the publishing world has realised – and recently we’ve heard from multiple sources within the industry that publishers are finally noticing. So it’s a good time to a board gamer in Australia!
In celebrating this, I want to give a massive shout out to everyone that has made our biggest ever year possible. Thank you to our main event sponsors, Mind Games; to our fantastic friends at VR Distribution and Let’s Play Games for supporting our raffles, tournaments and Play to Wins; to our retail partners and those that have exhibited at our events and at the board game market; to the Boss Agency and the Big Games Night Out team for the opportunity to connect with new gamers via our Fed Square event; to our fantastic venues and hosts that have been so supportive and welcoming; to everyone that runs gaming meetups in our city and makes our community what it is.
Plus of course to our amazing volunteers and our dedicated organising committee, and the many hours of dedicated work you’ve put in to run so many events across the year; and to all of you – for coming along and playing board games with each other!
Thank you so much. You’re what makes our community so special.
Chris Ingold
President – Melbourne Meeples
