A board game event at the Korean border

South Korea – April 2023

For my stay in Seoul, Sinae – a Korean traveller and writer – kindly invites me to sleep at her place. We only briefly met at a guesthouse on Jeju Island, but the way she welcomes me into her home makes it feel like we‘re old friends. Sinae is a self-proclaimed Otaku (nerd) and has plans to go to a board game event the day after my arrival. She asks if I want to join – which I obviously do. As a kid, I spent many rainy camping days playing all kinds of games with my family. (Settlers of Catan was a staple before it became famous).

After a short night, Sinae and I wake up early to meet her friend Shin who will drive us to the board game event. So we walk to the meeting point and arrive just at the moment his white car shows up at the corner. He‘s playing Swing Jazz and greets us energetically. Shin works as an illustrator and is even more of a nerd than Sinae and me. He has a whole room dedicated to video games and owns over 200 board games. We talk about his collections while slowly approaching the North Korean border.

Suddenly I notice the wire fence we‘re passing at the seaside. There are lots of military outlooks too. I check Kakao Map, and we’ve indeed passed Incheon long ago and are very close to the inner Korean border. Next thing I know, we pass a restaurant called something with „DMZ“ and finally stop at Heyri Art Village. Once Shin parks the car, we get off and walk through the rain to the somewhat European village. We walk towards the city hall and are kind of surprised when we see a lot of people queuing. We join the people waiting in line for their free games until it’s finally our turn a half hour later.

Sinae and Shin register and pick up their bags with a set of Halli-Galli, a new quiz game and 2 Korean board games each. Afterward, we head over to the market area covered with a large white tent. Here, game nerds of all ages and genders unite to get their hands on classics like Settlers of Catan including extensions or new hits from the Korean board game association. We run into another member of the group through which Shin and Sinae met too. As Shin doesn’t have more space in his entertainment room, and therefore doesn’t want to buy anything, I make him explain all the games I don’t know.

To my surprise, a lot of the games are manufactured by the German companies I was used to see on the boxes at home. But I also find some Korean special editions like “BTS – UNO”. Meanwhile, Sinae is on the market for a starter kit of 4 board games. Friend number 2 is kindly making suggestions while picking out a few collector’s items for himself. When we reach the cashier’s desk, Sinae is carrying a whopping 8 boxes (in addition to the 4 in her bag). However, this doesn’t stop her from going after the 2 free ones offered in a corner. Everyone pays and on the way back to the car, I am trying to cover Sinae and her new game collection from the rain with the umbrella we bought at the convenience store that morning.

We drop all the bags in the trunk of Shin’s car when Sinae announces that we have to go back to get another one of the free games for a guy who can’t make it to the market today. With 5 copies of the mediocre adventure game in tow, we finally drive to a nearby Korean restaurant for lunch. You can find it on Instagram at @daekil4929 and let me tell you: the fried tofu steak is well worth the drive. Once everyone is fully stuffed, we return to Seoul. On the way, I watch the blooming cherry blossom trees growing next to the wire fence. I try to grasp the fact that the people living just a few kilometers north from here, probably have never heard of “Settlers of Catan” and most likely won’t be eating fried tofu steak today.