Silly Goose Board Game Club

Silly Goose Board Game Club We’re Hannah and Ben! We run Pop-Up Board Game Nights at local venues South Gloucestershire, and bespoke gaming ‘retreats’ at hotels.

Our nests are:

- The Folly, Emerson’s Green

- The White Hart, Iron Acton

Love, team Silly Goose!

🪿SAVE THE DATE🪿It’s official - our next Board Game Retreat will be taking place from March 18th - 21st 2027.We can’t wai...
22/05/2026

🪿SAVE THE DATE🪿

It’s official - our next Board Game Retreat will be taking place from March 18th - 21st 2027.

We can’t wait to bring together new and old members of our flock for an awesome few days of board gaming!

By popular request, we have extended this retreat to run from Thursday to Sunday, giving you more time for gaming! We will also be offering reduced night stays for those who can only make the weekend.

We’ll be back at the in Llandrindod Wells, in Mid Wales. It’s the perfect venue for a bumper weekend of board gaming, with spacious gaming rooms, a spa, and beautiful surroundings.

Register your interest by emailing [email protected] and you’ll be the first to know when booking opens!

11/05/2026

A little update (Featuring Arcs)

Hello! It’s Ben here!

This is just a little waffle to fill you in on what we’ve been up to!

The truth is - not much board game related! With our twins due any day we’ve been busy getting things as ready as we can for our players three and four. This means we’ve had little time for playing, let alone posting on our social media!

We have been working away behind the scenes, and we are aiming to have our next Board Game Retreat take place in March 2027. Our team has grown with two more amazing team members, and , who we are so grateful to have on board. Together, we will make our next event the best it can be, whilst retaining the special community feeling and friendly atmosphere of our previous retreats.

Meanwhile, Han hasn’t been playing games for the last few months as it’s just not comfortable for her to sit at the table for hours on end! I have been trying to squeeze in as many games as I can before our little ones arrive, which recently involves making my friends play Arcs by as often as possible!

I could waffle on about how much I love this game and how it’s strategic depth evolves the more you play it. Personally, I prefer digging into games frequently to really learn their systems and intricacies, instead of playing different games only once or twice (and barely feeling like I’ve touched the surface). Something tells me that I won’t have time to try the Arcs campaign for quite some time though (despite how excited about it I am)!

Anyway. I’m hoping to post a few bits and bobs here and there but rest assured that we’re still busy working on our future events, using our precious time to enjoy the magic of playing games (like this one)!

Here’s part 3 of what was played at our board game retreat! These games were brought, taught and shared by our guests! C...
19/04/2026

Here’s part 3 of what was played at our board game retreat!

These games were brought, taught and shared by our guests!

Castles of Burgundy by . This classic was brought by and saw everyone competing to build their castles and settlements to expand their own princedoms!

Joyride (Turbo) by . This awesome and chaotic racer was brought by Russ, who kindly taught it a number of times, getting everyone stuck into the action!

Koi by . This meditative pond building game was enjoyed by several groups, and was also kindly brought and taught by .

Deep Regrets by . Mac brought his copy of Deep Regrets, a hilarious push your luck fishing game with fantastic art and components.

Portals by .games. Kelly and Pete brought a number of games and were amazing at teaching them! We enjoyed seeing Portals hit the table, being an Azul like puzzler where you play on shared boards.

SETI by . Kelly and Peter also brought the chunky euro game of SETI, seeing players race to find and communicate with aliens!

Slay the Spire by . Charlotte brought her copy of Slay the Spire, the big box dungeon crawler! This was excitedly shared and played several times over the weekend!

There were so many more games that made it to the table during the retreat - these posts only show the ones we took pictures of!

Keep your eyes peeled as we share more about our previous board game retreat and our plans for 2027!

Part 2 of the games played at our Board Game Retreat in March! Fromage by . This was by far one of the most played at ou...
14/04/2026

Part 2 of the games played at our Board Game Retreat in March!

Fromage by . This was by far one of the most played at our retreat! In this simple Euro game about making cheese, players take their turns simultaneously, making the play time nice and snappy!

Cathedral by . This classic was on our table of ‘play before you travel’ games, offering a few quick challenges on the Sunday before our guests departed.

General Orders: Senguko Jidai by . This chess-like 2 player skirmish game set in feudal Japan always delivers. It’s very satisfying setting up your moves with your generals each round, and often leads to an explosive finale!

Duel for Cardia by . As another snappy 2 player experience, this colourful card game sees both players carefully time their moves to outplay each other, each using a symmetrical deck.

Ayar: Children of the Sun by . This Inca mythology themed Euro game certainly satisfies on an artistic and gameplay level! With a lovely production, relatively simple actions and interesting scoring mechanics, we were happy to see this on the table!

Machi Koro 2 by . This game is one of the most played from our library. Seeing gamers come together to enjoy the simple and enjoyable challenge of building their own cities is always a treat!

Blood on the Clocktower by . Across two evenings of the retreat, we ran some fantastic Clocktower games, including an epic win for the evil team in one large-group session. The characteristic location certainly helped the vibe!

AD / GIFTED - some of these titles were provided by and for us to share with our guests, and we are so grateful that we were able to!

Let’s take a look at what was played at this year’s Board Game Retreat! Dewan by . This fast paced area control game wit...
12/04/2026

Let’s take a look at what was played at this year’s Board Game Retreat!

Dewan by . This fast paced area control game with beautiful illustrations gained a fair amount of interest. Being easy to learn with different scenarios providing interesting replay-ability, it often made it to the table as a warm-up before our guests got stuck into heavier titles!

Parks by . This proved to be one of the most popular games of the retreat, with its gorgeous illustrations and charming theme bringing people together for several unique journeys. Parks was expertly taught several times over the weekend by our very own .

Aspens by . This quick, cosy 2-player game about spreading your forests faster than your opponent was frequently on the table. It acted as a fantastic first game for pairs to relax into after journeying to the venue, and as a snappy and relaxing experience in between those heavy group game sessions.

Pandemic by . This classic, world saving co-op acted as a great way to bring people together to combat the often punishing gameplay. Amongst other co-op games played at the retreat, Pandemic was perfect as a way for strangers and friends to play together without being overly competitive with each other - sharing an experience as they win or loose as a team.

Namiji by . As a spin-off from the popular Tokaido, Namiji sees Japanese fishermen set off for a productive fishing season. Along each players journey around the board, they work to fulfil a variety of activities from collecting panorama cards to filling out their boats with matching marine catches! As a very chill experience, Namiji again helps to bring people together with its charming gameplay.

Mapominos by .games. Sometimes the games that make it to the table might surprise you! This classic card game of dominos design was enjoyed by one group (although it was pointed out that it wasn’t the most educational from a geographic perspective)!

AD / GIFTED - this post includes several games that have been kindly gifted to us. Thank you to and for some of these titles!

We’ve only got one more games night before we take a break! Join us on Saturday 11th at The White Hart, Iron Acton from ...
09/04/2026

We’ve only got one more games night before we take a break!

Join us on Saturday 11th at The White Hart, Iron Acton from 6pm - 10pm!

For £5pp you can access our library of over 30 games!

Book a spot via the link below, or just turn up!

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/goose-board-game-club-the-white-hart-april-11th-tickets-1980654504942?aff=ebdsoporgprofile&_gl=1*foec1i*_up*MQ..*_ga*MjUzNDk0NDM4LjE3NzU3Njc1MTI.*_ga_TQVES5V6SH*czE3NzU3Njc1MTEkbzEkZzAkdDE3NzU3Njc1MTEkajYwJGwwJGgw

Looking forward to seeing you there!

Join us at the The Folly tomorrow night in Emerson’s Green for our last board game evening here before we take a break! ...
06/04/2026

Join us at the The Folly tomorrow night in Emerson’s Green for our last board game evening here before we take a break!

For £5 per person, we’ll have over 30 games to choose from and get stuck into!

You can find us from 7pm - 10pm

Book a spot via the link below or just turn up and grab a table!

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/silly-goose-board-game-club-the-folly-emersons-green-april-7th-tickets-1980653663425?aff=ebdsoporgprofile&_gl=1*1fq8st4*_up*MQ..*_ga*MTg3MDk0MjYzNS4xNzc1NDgyMjUx*_ga_TQVES5V6SH*czE3NzU0ODIyNTAkbzEkZzAkdDE3NzU0ODIyNTAkajYwJGwwJGgw

See you there! 🪿

29/03/2026

Let’s talk about The Curator.

This game is currently in its final days on kickstarter and Gamely Games kindly sent us a prototype version to get stuck into.

This is certainly a unique game that fits Gamely’s vibe of bringing people together to create joy through conversation and connection.

In this game, you play as curators of your own small photography exhibit. In short rounds, you choose four photographs which fit a secret theme.

Success means the other players correctly guess your theme from four possible options.

Despite being a light game, we found this a great experience with family and friends who are normally scared of any board game we bring to the table.

The inclusion of world renowned mangnum photographers combined with the variety of themes, makes you read each image differently every round.

This truly fits the game’s theme of discovering how everyone sees the world differently. I think it would be a great game in schools and for education, and is a title I would instantly be drawn to in a gallery shop.

In a world bombarded by imagery that we instantly consume and discard, the experience of sitting down to really discuss and analyse photographs from different perspectives makes the Curator stand out as a game we truly recommend.

Find the kickstarter link in Gamely’s Bio!

Address

Bristol

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Silly Goose Board Game Club posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Shortcuts

Share

Category