Whether they involve a deck of cards, a television screen or just some brain power, games are a popular pastime.
Although board games have been around since ancient Greece and Rome, there's enough variety nowadays to pique almost any interest.
Gamers gather at The Battlezone, 2311 Wakarusa Drive, to play Magic: The Gathering, a popular fantasy card game. Clockwise from lower left are Battlezone employee and player Marshall Slaughter, Lawrence; Scott Stidham, Lawrence; Zach Thompson, Kansas University freshman from Topeka; and Brandon White, Lawrence High School senior.
During the past decade, Magic: The Gathering card games have become an enjoyable activity for the teen and college-age crowd. The Battlezone, 2311 Wakarusa Drive, offers Magic tournaments every Friday and Saturday night, and winners can earn new cards and store credit.
"There's quite a few people who are interested," said Scott DeCoursey, the store's assistant manager.
Zach Thompson, 18, a Kansas University freshman from Lawrence, started collecting Magic cards in 1994 and has been steadily building his collection since. He said new cards are produced every few months.
"I like that it constantly changes because I get bored easily," he said.
During the game, Scott Stidham, 30, Lawrence, said players are able to act as "wizards" and use the cards which depict creatures, powers and spells to overcome their opponent. Although there are various strategies, the main goal is to defeat an opponent by reducing his life points from 20 to zero.
"I like the strategy," Stidham said. "I like being able to put the different cards together and figure out different combinations."
DeCoursey said the store's other popular games include Dungeons and Dragons, a role-playing game; Legend of the Five Rings, a card game; and Warhammer, a military strategy game.
Trivia games also have a following in Lawrence. Several local bars such as Old Chicago, 2329 Iowa, Emerson Biggins Sports Bar and Grill, 3512 Clinton Pkwy., and Kaspar's Bar and Grill, 3115 W. Sixth St., regularly play host to these knowledge contests.
Tom Conroy, owners of Kaspar's, has even created his own trivia game. Every week, he writes 125 questions and answers after searching through newspapers, magazines and other sources. He said about 10 to 12 teams show up to play at 8 p.m. Wednesdays.
Brandon White flips through his Magic: The Gathering cards during a game at the Battlezone.
"Everyone gets a dry-erase board and you get to pick a category," he said. "If you get the question right, you get points. If you miss, everyone else can guess and if they get it right they can steal the points."
Conroy said the questions cover a range of topics including sports, history, current events, movies and TV shows.
"I try to make it so people have fun and I also try to make it challenging," he said. "It's academic, but it's also entertaining."
A few times a month, Glenn Rice and his fianc Kim Peckler, tackle the TV trivia game at Old Chicago. During the game, a question is displayed with multiple-choice answers. Through a network, players compete with others in bars and restaurants across the country. Rice said he used to play once or twice a week.
"I'm just a trivia fanatic, I guess," he said. "Math is my area, and science is one of my favorite areas in general. I'm not so good at some of the date questions."
When friends come over, Rice likes to play board games such as Scrabble, Trivial Pursuit and Taboo. Sometimes they pull out a deck of cards for a game of spades and hearts.
"It's just fun to do when we get together with friends," he said.
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