A local YouTuber is winning attention online from the board game community.
Jenna Beasley is a Guelph resident who began posting blogs and home decor videos on YouTube in her main channel, Jenna Rose, eight years ago.
In May, she launched a second channel called, The Board Game Garden, which combines lifestyle and board game content with the ultimate goal to get more people into board games.
“There’s so many people who would love to get into the board game hobby, but don’t know where to start,” said Beasley, who considers herself a 'board game newbie.'
Most of Beasley’s board game content on YouTube and Instagram provides reviews of games, or lists recommending different games for people to try, or based on other hobbies. She also has an ongoing series she calls 'Board Game 101,’ which teaches people the basics of board games, from what they are to where to buy them.
“I noticed on YouTube, there weren't a lot of people making videos to get people into the hobby, because when you look at the board game hobby, it’s really overwhelming with that, I don’t know how many board games, but the thousands upon thousands,” she said.
Beasley’s partner, Francis Chang, also notes other board game YouTuber have been referring viewers to check out her channel.
“I did notice other YouTube board gamers refer to her as the gateway (YouTube) channel, because she vlogged (video blog) before she got into board gaming and just seeing her make that entryway into it, was very welcoming,” said Chang.
“Someone mentioned that my channel was really refreshing because it was a mix of the board games and lifestyle, and it’s combining those two and making it more approachable, and really showing the games being played, rather than just the games themselves," adds Beasley.
Beasley recalls playing board games with her family as a child, but she and Chang got into the hobby in 2019. Today, the couple owns over 130 board games, which is considered a small collection compared to longtime board game hobbyists.
Beasley said she likes that board games allow her to use her brain, apply different strategies and be social. She also often plays board games designed for a single player.
“Everybody is very different in the board game community, because you look at me and you wouldn’t think, ‘Oh, this girl really likes board games,’” said Beasley. “There’s so many people who love board games. There’s families that love board games and play with their kids, couples like us, and so many different people who love board games.”
In November 2021, Beasley posted a video she made called ‘My Top 10 Board Games’ after people noticed she was playing board games in her vlogs.
She said that the video was viewed 63,000 times, the most of any video she has posted.
“That was crazy, I didn’t even realize there were so many people on YouTube that were interested in board games. I didn’t realize how big of a community it was,” said Beasley, “so at the beginning of 2022, I was like, ‘Okay, I’m going to start posting board game content on the channel,’ and I haven’t looked back since.”
Since then, The Board Game Garden has gotten a lot of engagement.
“The engagement within the board game community is crazy,” said Beasley, noting creators have reached out to her. “It makes me really happy to talk to people about something that we have in common.”
