#FEATURE | Club Spotlight: Balamesa
by Michael Donila
Tensions are running high among the group. Everyone watches everyone else, fearful of what is to come. Any movement or action is viewed with suspicion and hostility. Few words, if any, are spoken — those sitting down are far too wary and experienced to attempt conversation with the others. For the longest time, nobody has dared to break the silence reigning supreme among those warring at the table.
Until one brave soul turns the entire battlefield on its head with his final gambit.
“I play communism.”
Predictably, the entire table erupts in a cacophony of groans and swearing.
“Welp! Anyone got neighs?”
“Bro, I was this close to winning! This close!”
“Man, why’d you have to put down the shuffle?”
As the bickering continues, the playing field gets shuffled around. New cards are drawn, and the game continues.
Say hello to Balamesa, Pisay’s Tabletop Games Club.
Welcome to the Club: Your Ticket To Ride
Balamesa (also known as the Board Games Club) was founded three years ago by Cameron Cervania, Pia Feliciano, and Joey Escueta. Its name is a portmanteau of the words “balasa”, meaning shuffle, and “mesa”, meaning table, an allusion to the start of the club as a casual chat on card games.
“Balamesa started as a discussion with Pia about card games, and how I wanted people to be able to play my TCGs with. After sharing with a few friends, they kinda started exposing me to the vast world of board games beyond the traditional scrabble and monopoly,” said Cervania. One day, he had the idea to form the club, and the rest is history.
Balamesa is headed by a High Council consisting of the officers, core members and the adviser. The officers are the key members of the club, tasked with managing and keeping the club alive. Core members are essentially club members who aren’t officers but contribute directly to the management by dint of either their record of service to the club or influence in it.
Members are surprisingly numerous, with the majority consisting of Grade 7 and 8 students, with some of the higher-years either core members or officers. The club meets at the fourth floor auditorium, where their board game collection is stored.
Game sessions are usually independent, with members splitting up into groups depending on what they want to play. Other times, the club bands together to learn a new game taught by the member/s introducing the game.
However, most of the time the club functions as a hangout, in line with the founder’s wishes. When asked about his vision for the club back then Cervania said, “Honestly, it was just a place where people could hang out and learn each other’s games,” — implying a certain level of chill and calm in the club.
Currently, there are five Balamesa officers: the President, the Vice President, the Secretary, the Treasurer, and the Auditor. They are Drew Ybud, Danielle Jorge Malantic, Matthew Dofitas, Cyd Santos and Michael Diomel Donila, respectively. They are tasked with maintaining the club’s daily activities along with the core members: Lian Manalo, former President, and Sam Moya, former auditor. Overseeing the club’s operations is Ma’am Judah Tolosa, from the Chemistry unit.
Quirks and Quarks: One Of These Is Not Like The Other
While Balamesa is an officially registered club, the organization had one unique oddity that used to make it quite unusual among the various clubs of Pisay: its formerly irregular meeting schedule.
Chris Jason Porciuncula, one of the members of the club, estimates that Balamesa held 2–3 regular sessions in the last year. Fortunately for the club, there exists no club meeting quota, allowing it to stay solvent despite the shockingly small amount of meetings.
With the introduction of a new club advisor, the club has managed to shift back to some semblance of a regular schedule, meeting every Tuesday and Thursday, barring any special events or mandated breaks.
Still, the question remains: why did the club meet so seldomly in the past years?
Matthew puts things into perspective and explains why Balamesa rarely ever got together for a group session in the past years. “By their very nature, board games are demand-based. Most of us are casual players. Simply put, if the players don’t want to play, they don’t,” he states.
Essentially, this means that there’s a low demand for board games in general, which in turn was the reason for the club’s rare meetings.
The members didn’t mind it much — after all, the year is long, they said. There’s a lot of chances for them to show off their club’s mettle.
Roll d6 for initiative: This year’s plans and happenings
Despite the infrequent meetings between members, Balamesa regularly holds a variety of events, including workshops for teaching and making games, a megagame, and a partnership with Cosplay Cafe during the Fair.
This year, the officers have decided to introduce a new event to their lineup: Dungeons and Dragons campaigns. Jorge says he and the others were inspired to try and make it happen after trying it out once last year with Ron Padilla, a then-Pisay student well-versed in the art of tabletop role-playing games.
Details are scarce, but there’s a rumour floating about that the first campaign may be the Feast of Legends campaign, the one Wendy’s released in response to KFC’s dating simulator/visual novel.
The Feasts of Legends campaign, while not part of the Dungeons and Dragons series per se, plays using what appears to be a slightly modified version of the d20 system it and many other tabletop roleplaying games use, thus allowing those familiar with the series to play it without much hassle. Here, you play as a band of heroes adventuring in the land of Beef’s Keep, currently divided on how best to treat the realm’s people. More details here.
However, it’s not all sunshine and rainbows for the club.
When asked about the club’s situation Drew cryptically stated, “We’re having problems with securing an adviser.” Jorge explained their situation further, saying, “We’ve had trouble sorting out our adviser, meeting schedule and venue, and as a consequence, we’ve had to delay our general assembly.”
He added that he has “been delegated by the president to handle these matters at my own discretion, and thankfully, we’re going to be meeting soon to discuss the direction the club is taking.”
I’ll Trade You Bow Street For Mayfair: Thoughts and Insights
Despite the relatively short lifespan of the club, members and officers alike have stated that it’s done them good, and that they did not regret joining Balamesa.
For Lian Manalo, Balamesa is “a club that helped me become better in ways that acads can’t.” He expounded on this by saying, “I was able to learn about leading a club that wasn’t academic, thus it isn’t a big priority to a lot of people. It also taught me responsibility for the club.”
Cervania also expressed a similar sentiment: “It was both a friendship builder and a learning experience. It forced my introverted self to come face to face with a lot of people, and it exposed me to so many of my strengths and limitations as a leader and a person.” Both of them felt like the club allowed them to grow as a person and as a leader.
Uno Turno, another member of the club, says that he liked playing board games, and as such, felt that the club was suited to him. He added that Balamesa helped him meet new people and make new friends, expanding his social circle.
“Balamesa is an opportunity to share board games with others,” says Matthew, a statement Jorge agrees with. To him, “Balamesa is a place where I can play board games with other people who enjoy them, and a way to further my passion for the hobby by playing board games outside of my comfort zone,” which is an echo of what club founder Cervania envisioned.
A Winner Is You: Final Thoughts
Balamesa has been through some unique experiences throughout its lifespan. As the club enters its fourth year, club members and officers alike look forward to what the future has in store for them and the organization. This club may only be starting, but it seems it has no plans to stop any time soon. Remember: if you’re in need of a place to sit down and have fun, the Board Games club is ready to welcome you with open arms.
Happy playing!
