Kingsbridge Library Invites Bronx Adults to Learn Magic: The Gathering
- TalkTeaV
- 2 hours ago
- 2 min read
Players take part in a Magic: The Gathering game during a 2014 tournament in Rouen, France. Image Courtesy of Tourtefouille/Wikimedia Commons
What to Know
Kingsbridge Library offers free Magic: The Gathering lessons every Tuesday.
The program begins Sept. 1 and welcomes beginners and experienced players.
More than 30 years after Magic: The Gathering first put players across the table from one another, Kingsbridge Library is giving Bronx adults a place to learn the game from scratch. The free beginner sessions run Tuesdays in September from 4 to 5 p.m. at the library, 291 W. 231st St., with no cards or previous experience required.
The first session is Tuesday, September 1, followed by programs Sept. 8, 15, 22, and 29. The New York Public Library lists the program for adults 18 and older, including college and graduate students and adults 50 and older.
For longtime players, the cards on the table may bring back some memories.
Game designer Richard Garfield created Magic: The Gathering in 1993, introducing a format in which players could collect cards and build their own decks rather than play from an identical set of pieces. The idea helped establish the modern trading card game, a format that would eventually become a major part of gaming culture.
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Players gather around a table for a game of Magic: The Gathering in a 2004 photo. Image courtesy of Andre Engels/Wikimedia Commons
Magic's beginnings were surprisingly modest. Garfield originally approached the young Wizards of the Coast with a board game called RoboRally. The company wasn't in a position to produce it and instead wanted a portable game that could be played relatively quickly. Garfield returned with the idea that became Magic.
The game found an audience quickly. Magic cards went on sale at Gen Con in 1993 and sold out at the convention, according to Wizards' account of its early history.
Today, Hasbro says Magic has reached more than 50 million players worldwide. But the Kingsbridge program brings the game back to its simplest form: people sitting together, learning the cards and figuring out their next move.
That also makes the library's invitation broader than a lesson for complete newcomers. Adults who played years ago can return without needing their old collection, while someone who has never held a Magic card can start learning without buying one.
For five Tuesdays in September, all they need to bring to Kingsbridge Library is themselves.
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