The Mayday Games Blog

I came to gaming late in life. It’s not to say I never played board games growing up, because I did. We played the occasional game of Monopoly – with some of the rules completely wrong, of course (the way most people do these days – you know, with out putting properties up for auction and putting money in the center of the board for Free Parking). I don’t think we ever finished a game of Monopoly that I remember either, not that I ever wanted to.

I remember playing Chutes & Ladders, Candyland…the staple kids games. I also don’t remember particularly liking them. One game I do remember playing a lot as a kid was a Bible board game my parents got us called Ten Commandment Bible Game.  

Now, stick with me here, because this story is going to get a little odd. There was a neighbor girl I used to play with all the time and we had big imaginations. We got up to all kinds of strange and odd things. I remember these little resource chits in the game: grapes, grain, fish, olives and a piece of silver (and apparently the artist couldn’t portray a piece of silver so they just wrote “piece of silver on the chit”).

On this particular day when we were playing the game, we decided that every time we acquired resources it made us rich and we had to declare our riches to the whole of the neighborhood so we would rush to my bedroom window and scream it out for all to hear. My mother finally had enough and told us we needed to stop. We did not. In fact, we didn’t stop screaming out of my window until my neighbor friend’s mother came storming out of her house and screamed loud enough at us, from their driveway, for the entirety of the neighborhood to hear.



Looking back, it should have been a sign that I would eventually become a board gamer who would take my gaming seriously, but with a side of humor.

By the time I was a teenager, I wasn’t playing that Bible game anymore – or any board games. I didn’t find my love of board games until I was in my early 20’s…in a bar. I met a guy who played Dungeons & Dragons. He hesitated to tell me of his life adventuring through the Forgotten Realms because he was trying to impress me and he thought that would make me think him a big dork. However, when he told me I was excited and wanted to hear more about it. After all I was an avid reader of sci-fi/fantasy novels, my favorite television shows were science fiction…so why not try a roleplaying game? He invited me to try it and I thought it was fun. I’ll admit, Dungeons & Dragons isn’t my niche as far as roleplaying games go…but D&D led me down a path that eventually led me to my first GenCon and that? That place is like Disneyland for dorks! (Ok, not dorks, but I like alliteration, so forgive me). That first GenCon was where I discovered the existence of the vast variety of board games. I think I just went from booth to booth that year, demoing every board game I could. I was really like a kid in a candy store.

That first GenCon for me was in 2004 and I have been a gamer ever since. I first got involved in the gaming industry in 2009. I’ve worked as booth support for various companies including Japanime Games, Upper Deck and Mayday Games. I was “other Ginger” in Ginger Ale Games, the company that developed “Bring Out Yer Dead” – which was published by Upper Deck Entertainment. I also do a bi-monthly podcast called “Eat Chit and Dice” – about board games and sometimes food (because who doesn’t like board games and food, right?

Outside of gaming? I am still pretty much a geek/nerd…whatever you want to call it. My favorite shows are Stargate SG-1/Atlantis and Star Trek and, well, most other sci-fi. I like to crochet and sew. I am what you would refer to as a “crazy cat lady,” as I do have four cats.

I like to post pictures of them on my Instagram a lot, along with pictures of the games I am playing and other various pictures including my nephews, my daughter (when she visits from her nice warm home in sunny San Diego), sometimes my husband, selfies and other silly things. Feel free to follow me @gingerjondi