Build it and they will play it, hopes Collingwood author-photographer George Czerny-Holownia, as he launches his newest creation, a locally-focused and locally-made board game.
Describing Collingwood…The Game! as “fun for curious minds and a mixture of a local board game and shareable souvenir” Czerny (commonly known as George Czerny) hopes players will find the game entertaining and educational.
Collingwood…The Game! comes with a folded, “like a road map”, glossy-paper board, measuring 28-inches by 22 inches (71.12 cm., by 55.88 cm.) and 110 cards which carry questions and multiple-choice answers. The game board features eleven colour photographs showing Collingwood scenes, which, according to Czerny, make it a bit souvenir-like. At this point, a limited edition of the game is available for purchase only through Czerny at his email [email protected].
“If you know somebody who used to live in Collingwood, it’s a good thing to send them to remind them of home,” said Czerny. The set, which costs $40.00 (plus shipping, as applicable) comes with one dice, and instructions. Players are asked to use their own moving pieces, said Czerny. At some point, Czerny says, a game board that is not folded will be available, “but that costs more to produce” and he wants to keep the price of Collingwood…The Game! affordable.
“I figure most people have something they can use as moving pieces, from coins to small tokens such as Canada Day pins,” said Czerny, who is proud that he has been able to produce the game set locally.
Collingwood…The Game! was produced with the assistance of Mike Donovan of The Print Shop on Ronell Crescent and both the game board and the box it comes in feature a line “Proudly made in Collingwood, Ontario, Canada!” alongside a red maple leaf symbol.
“I realize that with this game I am swimming upstream against an electronic tide in an internet world,” said Czerny describing himself as “so old-school that I don’t have a website yet”. But that could come soon, he said. His game is not yet available in stores, but anybody interested in Collingwood…The Game! can contact George, as he prefers to be called, at email: [email protected]. He says he will deliver purchases in Collingwood and within a 15-kilometre radius of it, or, “meet me in Collingwood.”
Czerny started out making a game board which focuses on Georgian Bay which he describes as his “centre of the universe”. Communities around Georgian Bay are Czerny’s “stars”.
He decided that he would focus first on making Collingwood…The Game! because he and his wife Nancy consider Collingwood their adopted hometown. A retired newspaper publisher, Czerny is an author, photographer and historian who has published books which include: The Collingwood Shipyards, a travel guide George’s Georgian Bay, Our Changing Collingwood (a book of aerial photographs), and Kiss The Ground You Walk On, Canada!. The latter carries a subtitle: “The A,B,Cs of how to be a better Canadian”.
Czerny hopes that as people play his game they will want to know more about their community and what makes it tick. He hopes that will encourage people to get more involved in their communities saying “that would be good for democracy”.
Collingwood…The Game!’s cards carry questions which touch on daily-life topics ranging from geography to history, from business to landmarks. Each card carries multiple-choice answers; four of them. The correct answer is boldfaced. The game board carries a 35-spot trail and the winner is the first person to reach the 35th spot. Along the way, with each move, players have to answer a Collingwood question correctly before they can roll the dice and move.
As he moves toward 2025, Czerny suggests that once finished playing his game, people should recycle it by giving it to a friend, or family member, as he brings people together one move at a time.
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