Guy Blomberg and Shay Leighton have started a book club. It's called The Game Club, because it's not really about books, it's about games. But it's not really about games, it's about friends.

With loneliness on the rise, these two excel at bringing people together. Blomberg has been behind several conventions such as PAX and DreamHack, as well as GIG, the Games Industry Gathering. Leighton is a community organiser who gives talks to unions, activists, and more.

Using the standard book club model, The Game Club sends members an interesting game every month with prompts, for people to meet up and discuss. So far, so normal, but behind it all is extensive research into loneliness and community building, and I had a few discussion prompts of my own, about how a hobby with automatic guild invites and elo matchmaking can ditch the mantra of "alone together", and simply be together.

Timecodes:
00:00 - Intro
01:33 - Why don't we play together anymore?
03:52 - Our cognitive limits for friendships
09:35 - How important is it to meet in person?
11:30 - The health benefits of friendship
16:09 - What makes the friendships high quality
18:25 - We don't play the same games anymore
21:48 - The technical limitations of a game club
27:26 - The quiet part
30:15 - Articulating why you hate something
31:30 - Having tough conversations
37:09 - How male friendships differ
40:00 - How do we replace missing institutions?
44:22 - Size limits on chapters
45:56 - The AI companion space
50:30 - The next business venture
51:09 - Joining The Game Club