In pictures: The great board game revival in Telford

The Telford Boardgaming Club has seen its numbers soar since organisers decided to uproot from a member's home and into a nearby pub, where the club now meets once a week.

1. Chess has its roots in India way back in the sixth century. It is played with 16 pieces of six different types which move differently. The ultimate test of strategy, it can take an age to play and a lifetime to master.

2. Draughts, or checkers, has been around since 3000 BC and was mentioned by the likes of Homer and Plato. The game is for two players, in which they make diagonal moves with the aim of capturing pieces.

3. Excavations in Shahr-e Sukhteh in Iran show backgammon has been around since at least 3000 BC. The dice game is a combination of strategy and probability, with plenty of tactical manoeuvring involved.

4. Scrabble has been around since 1938 when Alfred Mosher Butts designed the word game. It remains popular and has spawned new contenders like Words with Friends. Nothing beats the original though.

Paul Bryant, who plays board games with friends and club members at least three times a week, helped to organise a day of games in Wellington Civic and Leisure Centre on Saturday.

The Table Top Day concept was originally thought up by American actor Will Wheaton of Star Trek and Big Bang Theory fame in 2008 as a way of getting board game lovers together.

The Telford event ran from 11.30am to 10pm and was free for people to simply walk in and have a look or settle down for a four-hour marathon.

Sales of boardgames remain buoyant, despite the rise of online and smartphone games.

And while the traditional titles like Scrabble and Trivial Pursuit still sell well, there is also a new breed of concept and adventure games that have a huge adult following.

Club member Mr Bryant, who also runs online company gameslore.com, said: "I think board games are so popular at the moment because they are much more social than computers.

"People are sitting round the tables and talking to each other. Some of the games here take four hours to complete whereas other are card games that can be finished in 10 to 15 minutes.

"Some of the games focus on co-operation, such as Pandemic, whereas others are more competitive with one person aiming to win.

"For instance we have Cthulhu Wars here, which was inspired by the works of H P Lovecraft, a horror writer from the late 18th and early 19th century. He inspired modern day writers like Stephen King.

"On another table there's an economics game, which was made by UK designer Martin Wallace, who now lives in New Zealand.

"Games are mainly split into two categories. The American style games influenced by themes, characters, heroes or factions whereas the Euro games are more about strategy.

"The UK is very mixed with lots of club members enjoying both styles of games."

The Telford Boardgaming Club has been running since 2004 in Mr Bryant's own Telford home.

Once the numbers reached in excess of 18 the decision was made to move to Horseshoes Inn in Ketley, where members now meet every Thursday.

Club chairman Biff Ellis said there were now up to 30 people playing in the pub each evening and more and more people were showing an interest in joining.

"We're growing exponentially because between us we have up to 500 games that people can play," he said.

"We go over to Germany once a year to play the latest games, which we bring back for the other club members. The event is organised by the company After Essen and can attract 250,000 people.

"Within our club we have subgroups where members can organise a specific day to take on Twilight Imperium for example, which can last for 12 hours.

"The club brings more people together and some are now meeting four times a week to play games.

"We've had a family come from Coventry for the day today and another man even travelled all the way from Edinburgh.

"We also have companies exhibiting here such as Geeknson, which has started designing tables specifically for certain games. They look really impressive and I'm sure they will take off."

Mr Bryant, who is also founder of Spiral Galaxy Games, has helped launch games by new and ambitious gamers.

"Paul Buckle, who lives in London, came up with Omega Centauri in 2003 but the firm pulled out of the deal," he said.

"We came in and helped produce it and the game is now available to buy.

"Our members also get to test and others have also gone to design their own games.

"A lot of people now rely on crowdfunding or kickstarter online platforms, where fellow gamers can contribute money if they feel a person's game is worth supporting."

Ashley Beardsall, 26, a lab technician from Dawley, has benefited from the kickstarter revolution and now has his very own game, Grim End Manor, on the market.

"It's a card game, which can take about 15 minutes to complete," he said.

The next Table Top event will take place in November.

For further information about the Telford Boradgaming Club visit www.telford boardgamers.co.uk