Golden Revolution and the Board Game Club are teaming up to host the first-ever TAHS Board Game Tournament on February 24, 2020. Any TAHS student is welcome to sign up and play.

“The members of Board Game Club want to host a tournament, hopefully monthly, for several reasons. One, to get more students involved in extra-curricular activities. Two, to introduce higher-level board games to students at Tyrone High School.  And three, to promote teamwork and positive social interactions,” said Golden Revolution advisor and Board Game Club host Micheal Funicelli.

There will be a $2 player registration fee for each contestant. The registration money will be used for prizes for the first, second and third place winners of the tournament.

The game for this inaugural competition will be Codenames, a team-based word association game.

“It’s a very well-made game. You really have to be clever and take a second to think, and you and your teammate(s) have to be focused and on the same page,” said board game club member and game connoisseur Nicholas Vasbinder.

In Codenames, there are two teams, red and blue. One player is the “spymaster” and the other is the “field operative.”

The object of the game is to guess all the “codenames” (words) that are laid out on the table, respective to their team.

The spymasters look at a card that shows where his/her team’s words are. The spymaster’s job is to look at which words are theirs and give a one-word hint to their field operative, followed by a number. The number is how many words the hint can relate to and also how many guesses the field operative can make.

For example, say that one spymaster is looking at two cards on the table. One card is “tree” and another is “grass.” The spymaster could say “green, 2.” The field operative would know that there are two words that can relate to the word green, to which he would most likely choose “tree” and “grass.” Field operatives select words by touching the card, and once selected, the spymaster will place a team marker on the card symbolizing that they were correct.

It is recommended to check out this short video for a brief explanation of how to play.

If you would like to watch a full playthrough of people playing the game, watch this video.

This is a four-player team game so each player will need a partner.

Round 1 matches will start on February 24th and conclude on February 28th. Matches should only take about 20 minutes.

Interested students can sign up in Mr. Funicelli’s room 224 until February 21st.