I arrived at Usdan Conference Room C at 6:59 p.m. I emerged two-and-a-half hours later, immensely muddled from the complicated game instructions and slightly queasy from the various food smells that had filled the room. I was not sure what to expect going into the Brandeis Society of Creative Fantasy, which meets weekly from 7 p.m. until sometimes past midnight, and even after the meeting, I'm still not sure exactly what happened.Only a couple members were there when I first arrived, but there was already a table

covered in a large array of games, with names ranging from Evo to Pirate's Cove to For Sale. When a couple more people came, we began a game of For Sale. I notice that the box indicates the game is for ages eight and over. I was a little reassured by this fact, but soon realized that intellectually, I didn't deserve my age. Go Fish is a struggle for me. Add to that money chips, cards with numbers and varying properties and check cards, and you've lost me.

From what I gather, For Sale is a bidding game. There are 30 property cards and five people can play. The goal is to get the best properties without running out of money. First round, and Chad Bergeron '00 (yes, six years ago) puts down six cards. I go first, and put down two $1,000 chips. Don't ask why. Somehow, I end up with the sewer card. Completely oblivious to what I'm doing, I end up with a castle the next round. My initial rejoice is stifled when I am informed that I'm all out of money. Soon I find myself in possession of a tree house, a teepee, a sewer and a castle. I find out that there is strategy involved, though I don't know what it is.

"Three rounds down, two to go," Bergeron says excitedly as he lays down the next round. I see a cave, a sky scraper and a space station. I'm told that because I can't pay enough, I get the cave by default. I'm OK with the cave. There's a little mountain lion playing on top. Maybe I can make friends with him.

"Last round!" I hear. Dealer puts down a $1,000 chip. I put down a $2,000. Why? I

haven't a clue. I get a log cabin.

A little while later, and after we play the second half of the game which involves check cards or some such, I put down a card- my cave. What is going on? I want to scream. I squint in concentration when it's my turn, and even when it's not my turn, to appear like I'm thinking long and hard about my moves.

"That there was a nice steal," I hear Bergeron say, but I don't know what I did.

When the game is finally over, the group votes to play it again. Not wanting to be a wet blanket, I don't object. I feel like I'm being judged by my bids, when in actuality I have absolutely no clue what I'm doing.

"Interesting way to play," someone says. I chuckle to myself.

Finally, after For Sale is finished I find out a little bit more about the club.

"Once a week, we get together, we hang out, we forget the stresses of the real

world," Bergeron tells me.

"For those of us who are students, it really helps take the stress of work off," Sharone Horowit-Hendler '09 agrees.

I learn later that the majority of the club is made up of alumni, employees

and spouses.

As the hours rolled on like the dice in Diamant, more and more players trickled in, toting Rubbermaids and bags of board games upon board game. Between 12 and 20 people usually show up, depending on what theater productions and other club happenings are going on. Bergeron owns one hundred games, he told me.

At 8:30, when the club seems to be at its peak, there are around 13 people scattered about the room, eating their dinners and playing their games. Finally after some chatting, it is decided that a group of us will start a game of Diamant which someone describes to me as, "Very quick, and very easy." I like the sound of that.

More people come in, which means more games.

While the rousing game of Diamant rages on, Nat Boudin '05, one of the many alumni who can't stay away from this game-loving group of people tells me his history with the club.

Boudin has been a member of Brandeis Society of Creative Fantasy since his

freshman year. Noticing my confusion over how a graduate who no longer attends

the school can be part of a club, Bergeron tells me that the Constitution

makes it clear that alumni are welcome. That's when I realize Bergeron himself is a graduate, who still works for Brandeis.

After Diamant is finished, the group argues over what game to play next and finally settles on a game of Evo, which is quite possibly the most confusing game

I have ever played or heard of. There are phases inside phases, turns inside turns. From what I understood, which wasn't a lot, you had to try to keep your species of dinosaurs alive. All I know is that there were parasols involved, and lots of jokes involving the phrase, "get more tail."

When I look at my watch and see it's past 8:30, I realize I have to go. A fellow club member graciously takes my space, and I stumble out trying to figure out what just happened.