A Festus Middle School sixth grader has started his own “Magic: The Gathering” trading card club at the Festus Public Library in hopes of attracting gameplay enthusiasts who are his age.
“I wanted to introduce more people my age to (‘Magic: The Gathering’) and not have to go to Farmington to play,” 11-year-old Radley Dean said.
Dean’s mom, Erin Hardin, said Dean wished there was somewhere he could go to play the card game with people his own age.
“My husband started bringing him to a game store in Farmington to play and (afterwards) he said it’s all older people there playing,” Erin said. “He said he wished some of his friends knew how to play, and I said, ‘Why don’t you teach them how.’”
Dean and his stepdad, Adam Hardin, visited the Festus Library to inquire about starting a club.
“We talked to (the library staff), and we asked if it was possible to start a club there because we knew that the chess club had done that,” Dean said. “They said yes and gave us this paper to fill out.”
Festus Library director Elizabeth Steffen said the library staff members were excited about Dean’s idea to start a club for pre-teens.
“We’re always happy to get kids, especially those like tweens and teens in the library,” she said. “We were excited about it, and the library board approved it.”
Once the library board approves a club, Steffen said she usually calls the group right away to let them know whether their application has been approved or not.
“Magic: The Gathering” is a collectible trading card game that welcomes world builders, narrative lovers and gameplay enthusiasts, according to the game’s website.
Dean said his stepfather introduced him to the game.
“Whenever I started playing chess, that led me to get into other more complex board games and then I tried Pokemon,” he said. “Then my stepdad introduced me to ‘Magic: The Gathering’ because it was similar to what I had already been playing.”
Adam said he was about 10 or 11 when he started playing.
The club Dean started meets on the first and third Wednesday of each month, and the group takes time at the first meeting of the month to teach the game to new players.
“We teach people how to play on the first Wednesday,” Dean said. “People can still come into play on the first Wednesday, but on the third Wednesday of each month, we’re going to be less likely to teach someone.”
If someone is a new player, Dean said he and Adam can provide cards at the meeting for someone to use and learn with.
Sophia Kalter, 14, is an eighth grader at Festus Middle School. She found out about the club from a poster on her teacher’s door. She said she hadn’t played the game much before the club.
“The people are nice and (the club) is not huge so it’s not super stressful,” she said.
Kalter said this club is good for the community.
Since Dean has started his club at the library, another “Magic: The Gathering” meet up has started in Festus.
Neat Stuff & Things LLC on 34 E. Main St. in Festus holds meet ups at 5 p.m. every Friday. Owner Andy McKoy said the store remains open for an indefinite amount of time for the meet up, depending on how many people attend and how long the attendees are willing to play.
The meet up is for casual and non-competitive playing. New and returning players are welcome to attend.
McKoy said he knows Dean and Adam because they frequent the store.
Dean’s Magic: The Gathering club meets from 5-7 p.m. every first and third Wednesday of the month at the Festus Public Library, 400 W. Main St.