Barnsley vintage board games exhibition ‘celebrates being quirky’

A board games trader who owns more than 600 titles has put her vintage collection on display as part of an art exhibition.

Ann Jones’ 155 classic games are on show at Barnsley Civic.

Ms Jones, who was a teacher at a Barnsley college before launching her business in 2017, said the games were a great way to “bring people together” – and were of particular benefit to people with neurodiversities.

She said: “For me, having been diagnosed [with autism] for a year now, it feels like a nice positive thing to do that celebrates me and my being a bit quirky.”

Ms Jones, who says she knows the rules for every one of her games by heart, said: “I’ve always said board games are great for autistic people, which now includes me.

“Most of the chat is around the game in some way, and any other conversation comes more naturally.

“There’s reduced expectation of eye contact too – it’s not rude if I don’t look at you when I speak, because I’m looking at the board.”

Crochet collections, anime figures, drag outfits and a display of rare Barnsley FC memorabilia are also on show at the exhibition.

After spending 17 years as an English teacher, Ms Jones moved to Horsforth in Leeds, and launched her business Cards or Die in the hope of a more “flexible and forgiving” work life.

“My main focus is on social isolation, so events might be aimed towards people with mental health difficulties, learning difficulties, or people who are disabled or neurodivergent,” she said.

“It’s about bringing people together. People say they’ve made friends who they wouldn’t have met otherwise.”

She also holds sessions in pubs and corporate settings.

The oldest item in her collection is Hearts from 1918, which people often request at weddings.

She also has multiple copies of Connect 4, Battleship and Guess Who, all “classics” from the 1960s and 70s.

“People get talking, saying ‘we used to play that at my grandma’s’, or ‘I had that when I was a kid’,” Ms Jones said.

Older games appearing at the exhibition include Find the Fault and Jumbles, both from the 1940s.

Ms Jones said: “In Jumbles, you have to find the actors and countries in the letters which are all mixed up.

“The trouble is, it’s countries that don’t exist anymore and actors you’ve never heard of.”

Her love for board games runs in the family, she said, although her mum would tend to only play things she saw as educational.

“She bought me one called Equality – it’s like scrabble but with numbers. It was the hardest thing in the world.”

Equality remains in Ms Jones’ collection, although she described it as “horrific”.

Some of the older items will have to stay on shelves or podiums at the exhibition, which runs until August, due to them being so fragile.

Ms Jones added: “I really love my vintage collection.

“I hope if people see them, maybe they’ll want to play them more.”

The exhibition is part of Come As You Really Are, a national showcase of hobbies set up by artist Hetain Patel and Artangel, a group which produces “extraordinary art in unusual places”.