One day your kid comes home and they are speaking a different language. You’re trying to find out what they want for dinner but instead you hear words like Zapdos, Arbok, and Snorlax. What does it all mean?!
It means that your child has discovered the all-consuming, decade-spanning cultural megalith that is Pokémon. You want to support this incredible enthusiasm but don’t know where to start.
That’s where Jess comes in.
Since 2023, Jess Hurtgen has been creating a one-of-a-kind space for kids with her Pokémon and Board Game Club.
The club features Pokémon cards to collect (piles of bulk cards freely available for deck-building), trade (each attendee can make up to 3 trades with Jess per session and unlimited trades with one another), and play (build on skill sets and learn strategy with each other).
But in addition to the trading cards, Pokémon and Board Game Club also offers:
- Multiplayer video games such as MarioKart and Super Smash Bros.
- Board games for all ages
- Intergenerational connection
Unlike the adult-focused spaces of trading card shops or unpredictable pockets of the internet, Pokémon and Board Game Club is a safe, kid-focused gathering of people who all love the same thing. And unlike other Pokémon clubs, no one is excluded. Everyone from toddlers to teenagers to grandparents can walk through the door and find a game to play.
Jess fondly acknowledges that the Pokémon universe was “extremely formative” for her and that it began as a way for her to connect with her brothers. She still remembers the joy she felt as a young child being handed the Game Boy with permission to “run around” in the game, or the feeling of piling onto her parents bed with her siblings to watch Saturday morning cartoons on a tiny television.
Her favorite memories from the past 3 years of Pokémon and Board Game Club have all revolved around making connections with young Pokémon enthusiasts. Jess’s face lights up as she shares a handmade Valentine she received, as well as a prized entry in the Draw Your Own Pokémon Card contest.
“Pokémon has value to people for different reasons. I want to know what that reason is,” Jess says. Whether it is building a collection through the card or video games, enjoying the stories through the books, movies, and television shows, embracing the competitive side, or sharing the passion of a parent who grew up with it, Jess is there to talk to kids on their level.
Luckily for you, Jess is also bilingual–she speaks English and Pokémon and is a wonderful resource for parents and caregivers to learn how to enter that conversation with their kids. 💙🧡💛