Say hello to our brand new Bristol staff member, Sven!
Say hello to Sven!
With the official opening of our new Bristol store comes the official appointment of 3 new fantastic staff members!
In this one, we welcome Sven, one of our newest Rules of Play elves! Take it away!
Hi! I’m Sven, a Belgian board game afficanado, film buff, alternative traveller and former date show participant. In 2012 I left Belgium to hitchhike to Sydney, Australia. In Malaysia I met a girl from Plymouth in a minivan and what followed can only be described as a romantic comedy, in which we moved in with each other in Bristol and got married and I am played by - hmmm - Jake Gyllenhaal.
I have been playing board games for as long as I can remember and I can’t wait to share that passion with tabletop newbies and board game fanatics!
What’s your favourite board game?
There are different games for different occasions, but over the last few years I’ve been playing a lot of Small World and Pandemic. Dominion was my gateway game that got me into more elaborate games way back in 2010.
If you had to pick a least favourite board game, what would you pick?
Tough one. Can I go with my least favourite board gaming experience? The day after a Christmas, eating and drinking, we tried to play Cornish Smuggler.
Nobody knew the rules, everybody was hungover and after 4 hours of playing, we still didn’t have a clue what we were supposed to do! I do want to give the game another shot.
Favourite gaming memory?
Aside from playing Scrabble (and being beaten every time) with my grandma, I think I’ll go for lengthy Dominion gaming sessions in a very old Belgian cavern pub.
What are you most looking forward to about working in a games shop?
Learn new games! Introduce someone to new games! Chat about games! Make friends! I always thought I knew a lot of games. That is until I walk into a board game shop and I feel I have a lot more learning and exploring to do.
Stamina and the will to carry on are both important traits in gamers! What’s your longest gaming session record?
I played 7 Ages for a whole weekend (+16 hours) with some friends. I was dreaming about that game for weeks after!
What is your ideal weekend in Bristol? Any recommendations for visitors?
Bristol is great! It’s both big enough and small enough and every week a new micropub or trendy eatery seems to open up.
Wander by the harbour, pop in the Watershed, Mshed, a harbour pub and the SS Great Britain. There are some really good cycle tracks, so seek those out as well!
What TV series / film would you love to be turned into a game?
One of my favourite films of all time is the 1977 classic Sorcerer by William Friedkin in which a group of scoundrels have to risk their lives transporting gallons of nitroglycerin across the dangerous South American jungle. That would work really well in a tense, nerve-racking cooperative game.
What game are you particularly looking forward to playing but haven’t yet?
I love games with really cool artwork, so I’m drawn to a game like Stuffed Fables. Pandemic Legacy, Terraforming Mars, and Evolution have been on my list as well, but ask me tomorrow and I will list another 5 titles!
Thanks Sven! Pop in and say hello to our brand new member of staff at our Bristol shop.
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