The Call of: Pandemic: Reign of Cthulhu

HARLINGEN — Whatever happens, Cthulhu must not escape.

The players yesterday at the Harlingen Public Library had joined forces to keep humanity safe from the forces of evil. They worked strenuously to collect enough cards to close the gates as they played “Pandemic: Reign of Cthulhu.”

“We are trying to close the demon gates before they release an ancient evil,” said Sarah Munoz, youth services associate at the library. About 30 gamers descended on the library where they spent the day playing Dead of Winter, Dungeons and Dragons, Big Book of Madness and Betrayal at House on the Hill — to name a few.

Munoz and a library volunteer, Jose Reta, organized the event as part of International Games Day, an initiative run by volunteers from around the world. The IGD website says the global event is supported by the American Library Association’s Games and Gaming Round Table.

The event is coordinated in collaboration with Nordic Game Day and the Australian Library and Information Association. Its purpose is “to reconnect communities through their libraries around the educational, recreational, and social value of all types of games,” says the website.

Several players surrounded a board on a table. Cutouts of small human figures with glowing eyes stood on different parts of the gray board which had sections labeled “School,” “Police Station” and “Gas Station.” Cards labeled “Secret” intrigued the imagination; small piles of chips in different colors — light brown, rectangular with red strips, and maroon circles — waited for the next move.

“These cards have the main objective,” said Joel Hansen, 14, dressed as Link from the Legend of Zelda, a video game. His light green tunic, brown belt and peaked hat brought him right into character.

He and the four men were closely strategizing to remove all the cards from the board without getting anyone killed. A marker on the board counted down the fatalities all the way to zero.

“It’s different than a normal game,” Joel said, moving smoothly around the table.

“I love games,” he said enthusiastically. “It’s going really well.”

Some gamers, like Hunter Dicus, stuck to more traditional games like chess.

“I had nothing to do,” said Hunter, 14. He gestured across the chess board at Olivia Coronado.

“She invited me,” he said.

“I had nothing to do,” Olivia, 14, seemed to mimic. “I invited him.”

At the next table, several members of the Teen Advisory Group played Jenga.

“We are here volunteering just to help out, and it’s fun,” said Julissa Carbajal, 15. “I think it’s a good turnout. It’s fun activity.”

Munoz said TAG is a leadership group for teenagers. On this particular day, they were helping to make the day a success in a variety of ways.

“They are playing the games,” she said. “They are walking people through the different games.”

Fantasy Flight Games, which makes several of the games at the event yesterday, contracted Eric Silva to teach new aficionados how to play.

“This is Arkham Horror,” said Silva, 41, who sat across a table facing two players.

“This is a cooperative game based on the writings of H.P. Lovecraft,” he said. “We’re trying to solve a mystery challenge.”

The game’s cooperative nature, meaning everyone was playing together to achieve the same goal, also appealed to Eric Garza. He was one of the players trying to shut the four gates in the game “Pandemic: Reign of Cthulhu.”

“This gives people the opportunity to try out games we might want to purchase later on,” said Garza, 37. “The cooperative nature of it, playing with others without worrying about who is winning, you have the stress.”

The ghouls and phantoms and sinister apparitions that once roamed the world have now been captured and exiled to the outer reaches of the imagination. In their new strongholds, they are granted temporary reprieve, indulging in a brief but deadly reign of terror across the game boards populating the world.