The library isn’t just about books anymore. One of the newer resource offerings from the public library within Fishers (The Hamilton East Public Library) is the category of board games. That is correct, the library offers the ability to check out a variety of board games. Note that board games includes a variety of strategy games that include boards as well as card games.
The library system has well over 200 games currently available to be checked out. More importantly, many of these are more modern, current games. You can view the games at the library, or search for them online. If you do an online search, then just like with books, you can place a hold on a game and the library will set it aside for you. If the game is currently checked out, then when it is returned and your turn to get it, they will send you a notice and hold it for you to come get. The only real difference between checking out a game versus a book is that you must return a game to the desk inside the library and not try to stick it in the book drop. This should seem like an obvious difference since many of the games won’t fit in the book drop, plus you’d want to avoid the risk of a game opening and spilling.
As mentioned, the library has hundreds of games of a wide variety. I was impressed in seeing that not only are there are a lot of mainstream games such as Code Word and Ticket to Ride, but the library also carries a lot of the more abstract games that you’d find at a gaming conference such as GenCon. Being that many of these games can cost $30 or more, using the library’s copy, you can check out the game and test it before spending any money. If you like the game, you can buy a copy. If you don’t, then you aren’t out anything! Of course, you can always simply check out the game multiple times, but that would reduce the chance for others to check out games!
My family tends to collect a lot of games. While we have many that aren’t at the library, a few of our favorites were there. Some of these include:
- Catan – a popular game that most people are aware of. Great for older kids and adults.
- Hisss! – This is a color matching card game that younger kids can play. While my kids have outgrown it, this is a game we’ve held onto because it is mindless and kind of fun. It is extremely simple.
- Carcassonne – The library has this and an expansion. This is a tile game that isn’t too hard to play and requires a little strategy, but with randomized results.
- Codenames – This is a family and group game. The library as both the standard edition and the Disney version. My family is Disney buffs, so we enjoy the Disney version.
- Disney Villainous – This is a new game with a focus on the villains of Disney
- Qwirkle – A tile game
- Ticket to Ride – the library has the base games and many of the variants as well
Although it is long, I’ve included a list of games that were indicated to be at the library. This is pulled from the online catalog and is not complete (because my kids have checked out a game that I don’t see on the list). If you see one you like, then I suggest you go to the library site and see if it is on the shelf. You can also go into either the Fishers or Noblesville branches and browse what they have. The Noblesville branch tends to have a lot more games than Fishers. At the end of the day, there are a lot of great games to choose from!
The Game List:
- 7 wonders [game]
- A game of thrones [game]
- A game of thrones: Catan, Brotherhood of the Watch
- Above and below [game]
- Abyss [game]
- Alhambra [game]
- Arkham Horror [game] :the card game
- Armageddon [game] : from the ground up
- Ascension [game] : deckbuilding game
- Axis & allies & zombies
- Azul [game]
- Azul [game] : stained glass of Sintra
- Bananagrams [game].
- Bang! [game]: The Wild West Game
- Betrayal at house on the hill [game]
- Betrayal at house on the hill. Widow’s walk, an expansion [game]
- Between two cities [game]
- Biblios [game]
- Blokus [game]
- Blood rage [game]
- Bloodborne : the card game [game]
- Blueshift [game]
- Bob Ross [game] : art of chill game
- Boss Monster : the dungeon building card game.
- Bunny kingdom
- Camel up [game]
- Can’t stop [game]
- Carcassonne [game]
- Carcassonne. Expansion 2, Traders & builders
- Castelli [game] :
- Castles of mad King Ludwig [game]
- Catan [game] : Seafarers game expansion.
- Catan. Cities & knights [game]
- Catan. Explorers & pirates [game]
- Catan. Junior [game]
- Catan. Trade, build, settle [game]
- Century : Golem edition [game]
- Century spice road [game]
- Champions of Midgard [game] : a game
- Chinese checkers [game]
- Chupacabra : [game] : survive the night
- Citadels [game]
- Cities of splendor [game] : expansions
- Clank! [game] : a deck-building game
- Clank! In! Space! [game] : a deck-building adventure
- Codenames [game] : pictures
- Codenames [game] : top secret word game
- Codenames [game]: duet
- Codenames Disney [game]
- Colt express [game] : schemin’ and stealin’ to the end
- Concept [game]
- Concordia [game]
- Cosmic encounter [game]
- Cover image for Exploding kittens [game] 1
- Cover image for Go nuts for donuts! [game]
- Darwinning! [game].
- Dead of winter [game] : a Crossroads game
- Deluxe Pit [game]
- Descent [game] : journeys in the dark
- Dice Throne: Season one. [game]
- Dinosaur escape game.
- Dinosaur Island
- Dinosaur tea party [game] : a game of civilized deduction.
- Disney Villainous : the worst takes it all
- Dixit [game] :
- Dominion [game] :
- Downforce [game] : the game of high stakes speed
- Drop it [game]
- Dungeon! fantasy board game
- Elder sign [game] :
- Eldritch horror [game]
- Enchanted forest
- Epic spell wars of the Battle Wizards [game] : Rumble at Castle Tentakill
- Ethnos [game]
- Ex Libris [game]
- Expedite [game]
- Final act [game]
- Finn & Gage [game] : the lesson of the lost city
- Five crowns [game]: the five suited card game.
- Five tribes [game] : the Djinns of Nagala
- Flash point [game] : fire rescue
- Fluxx :
- Forbidden desert [game] : thirst for survival
- Forbidden Island [game]: adventure … if you dare.
- Formula D [game]
- Friday
- Fuji Flush [game]
- Fuse [game]
- Grand Austria Hotel [game]
- Great Western Trail [game]
- Greed [game]
- Guillotine
- Hail Hydra [game]
- Hanabi [game]
- Harry Potter Hogwart’s battle [game]
- Herbaceous [game] : a flavorful game
- Here, kitty, kitty. A crazy cat collecting game
- Heroes & tricks [game]
- Hisss [game]: the colorful snake making tile game.
- Hoot owl hoot! [game] : board game
- Imhotep [game] : builder of Egypt
- Isle of Skye [game]: from chieftain to king.
- Istanbul [game]
- Jumanji [game]
- Jump drive [game]
- Karuba [game]
- Kill Doctor Lucky [game]
- King of Tokyo [game]
- Kingdom Builder [game]
- Kingdomino [game]
- Kings in the corner [game]
- Kingsburg [game]
- Kodama [game] : the tree spirits
- Lanterns [game] : the emperor’s gifts
- Las Vegas
- Last Front [game]
- Last night on earth [game]: the zombie game
- Latice.
- Legendary [game] : a Marvel deck building game
- Legends of Andor [game]
- Legends of the hidden temple [game]
- Libertalia [game].
- Lost cities [game] : the board game
- Love letter [game]
- Machi Koro [game]
- Mansions of madness [game]
- Memoarrr! : a matching game
- Mighty monsters [game]
- Monikers [game]
- Monopoly Disney [game].
- Monopoly Star Wars [game].
- Munchkin deluxe [game]
- Murder of crows [game]
- Mysterium [game]
- Near and far [game]
- Nefarious : the mad scientist game [game]
- Neptun [game]
- One more lie : a novel
- Orléans [game]
- Outfoxed [game] : a cooperative whodunit game
- Pandemic [game] :
- Pandemic expansion : On the brink [game]
- Pandemic. Iberia [game]
- Parfum [game]
- Paris connection [game]
- Parks. [game]
- Phase 10 [game]
- Photosynthesis [game]
- Pina Pirata [game]
- Pocket pharma [game]
- Potion explosion [game]
- Power grid [game]
- Power grid [game] Expansion China/Korea
- Puerto Rico [game]
- Quadropolis [game]
- Queen domino [game]
- Qwirkle [game] : travel size
- Qwixx deluxe [game]
- Race for the galaxy [game]
- Race to the treasure [board game]
- Rat-a-tat cat
- Reef
- Rise of Augustus [game]
- Rising sun [game]
- Risk [game]
- Rook [game]
- Sagrada [game]
- San Francisco Cable Car [game]
- Scythe [game]
- Secret Hitler [game]
- Sentinels of the Multiverse [game] : card game
- Shadow Games [game]
- Sheriff of Nottingham [game]
- Sherlock Holmes, consulting detective [game]
- Sherlock Holmes, consulting detective. The Thames murders & other cases [game]
- Sidibaba [game]
- Sleeping queens [game] : a royally rousing card game
- Smallworld [game] : it’s a world of slaughter after all!
- Smallworld [game] : River World.
- Smash Up [game]
- Snake oil [game] : it cures what ails ya!
- Space Alert [game]
- Space base [board game]
- Spaceteam [game]
- Spirit Island [game]
- Splendor [game] :
- Star fluxx [game]
- Star Realms [game]
- Star wars : outer rim [game]
- Star wars : rebellion [game]
- Star Wars : rebellion. Rise of the empire [game]
- Stay [game]
- Suburbia : [game]
- Super Mario Bros. power up card game [game]
- Super tooth [game] : a dino-mite card game
- Tales of the Arabian nights [game]
- Terra Mystica [game]
- Terraforming Mars [game]
- The castles of Burgundy [game]
- The fox in the forest
- The Godfather [game] : Corleone’s empire
- The great states of America [game]
- The Grizzled [game] : can friendship be stronger than war?
- The mind [game]
- The quest for El Dorado [game]
- The resistance [game]
- The resistance: [game] : Avalon
- The scrambled states of America [game]
- The siblings trouble [game]
- The sneaky, snacky squirrel game! [game]
- The Tea Dragon Society [game] : card game
- The Wimpy Kid 10-second challenge [game]
- There’s a moose in the house [game]
- Tic Talk [game]
- Ticket to ride [game] : Europa 1912
- Ticket to ride [game] : Europe
- Ticket to ride [game] : first journey
- Ticket to ride [game] : Germany
- Ticket to ride [game] : India + Switzerland
- Ticket to ride [game] : Nordic countries
- Ticket to ride [game] : the cross-country train adventure game!
- Ticket to ride [game] : USA 1910
- Tiny epic galaxies
- Tokaido [game]
- Too many monkeys : a totally bananas card game
- Treasure hunter [game]
- Trivial Pursuit [game] : horror movie edition.
- Truck off [game]
- Tsuro. of the seas [game]
- Tsuro. The game of the path [game]
- Twilight struggle : the cold war, 1945-1989
- Tyran [game]
- Tzolk’in [game] : the Mayan calendar
- Ubongo : sprint to solve the puzzle [game]
- Uno moo! [game]
- Unstable unicorns
- Urbanization [game]
- Warhammer quest [game] : The adventure card game
- Werewords : the hidden identity word game
- Whistle stop. [game]
- Wingspan [game]
- World’s Fair, 1893 [game]
- Yeti in my spaghetti [game]
- Zombicide [game] : black plague
- Zombies!!! [game]
This is the first of a series of articles I’m working on that highlight some of the amazing things happening at our library. Our library is way more than just books!
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Like games? Like the City of Fishers? Consider buying a copy of my book, Spot the Difference in Fishers, Indiana: City Parks Edition. It’s available on Amazon now!