It is a Saturday afternoon, and my mother is about to buy two more houses and two coal-fired power plants. Will she spend all of her money on them, leaving limited cash for emergencies? If I can keep her away from the second house, I know I can outmaneuver her - and the rest of the family - in the next two rounds. Biting my lip not to look too excited, I wait for her to get cold feet and purchase one house only. We stare at each other nonchalantly, muttering indistinctly. Knowing my family’s “sisu,” Finnish for stubbornness, nobody is giving up easily. A battle for the East Coast’s power generation monopoly is unfolding in our newest board game called PowerGrid.

As a family’s tradition, we relish the opportunity to find clever ways to beat those close to us in good-natured but fierce tabletop games. My greatest childhood adventure was playing with my grandparents in candlelight at their lakeside cottage without electricity in Eastern Finland. I was …show more content…
When in Finland for my internship, walking to a local board game night made me feel at home instantaneously. To expand the community and share the excitement, I have introduced games to the elementary-level classes I support at the Finnish School of New England. I have also founded two tabletop game clubs at my high school. Orchestrating, managing, and coaching the 20-person teams have been demanding, but igniting and nurturing new boardgamers’ enthusiasm has been rewarding and well worth it.

Over the years, I have developed six tabletop games for fun. Thinking rose-colored, I have wanted to create a perfect game if one does not yet exist. My current idea is an anti-monopoly about governing the world with increasing income disparity. I am studying recent game launches for their viral themes. Perhaps my tabletop game with a social message can be commercial successes,