THE LONGEST ROAD. V1 staffers got together one afternoon over lunch (which of course had to be from Toppers pizza) for resource gathering, leveraging probabilities, building roads and more humorous moments – all over a game of Catan.

As a commuter from the edge of Eau Claire County, my lunch breaks offer a world of possibility. While most of my colleagues head home to enjoy some time away from the office, I often find myself searching for a way to occupy my time. 

My daughter has been on a board game kick lately, and as a proud owner of a severely underused copy of the Klaus Teuber classic, two words came to me: Lunch Catan. What better way to fill an hour than by building roads, settlements, and trading sheep for wheat (aka “hay”) with your pals? I can’t think of many.

So, I sent a company-wide invitation (to the dozen of us) to play board games in the conference room over the coveted lunch hour, not knowing if I’d get any bites. Four folks enthusiastically answered the call, so we ordered some pizza and set up the hexagonal board to become the first settlers on the Island of Catan.

What is normally a pretty solitary time for me was much more that day thanks to my coworkers (dare I say, “friends?”) as we battled for territory on a resource rich island. Good times were had by all as we learned of Matt’s “infinite road” theory or the other Matt’s desire to build a sheep empire (we have two Matts at Volume One).

Over the course of an hour, we enjoyed each other’s company, shared some laughs, traded jabs, and from roughly noon to 1pm on North Dewey Street… The world finally knew peace. 

Check out even more folks in the Chippewa Valley have found connection – through the love of the game – in V1’s annual Gaming Culture section online and in print beginning on page 56.