Hi you're listening to Rumbull Strip, Vermont. This show is called Magic The Gathering.

I do really well with green because that involves building up a lot of

manna using a lot of spells, elves. I've just naturally drawn to elves.

A few months ago, my 11 year old son went to a friend's house and came home different.

His friend introduced him to a card game called Magic, The Gathering. It's sort of a cross between

Dungeons and Dragons and Chess. It's a trading game that involves spells and enchantments and

creatures and math and strategy. and or understand it, you're probably never going to understand it.

And I'm in this category.

But what I do like about this game is that it happens between real people and in person.

And every Friday night in Montpelier, Vermont... between real people and in person.

And every Friday night in Montpelier, Vermont,

people pack into the book garden on State Street

to play three rounds of magic.

The people are mostly boys and men from ages around 7 to 45 and these are epic nights.

Battles are won and lost, cards are traded, and there seems to be a lot of talk about Lord of the Rings.

My first night I sat for about four hours in a fold-out chair in a kind of closet in the back

of the bookshop.

The next time I took my son to Friday Night Magic, I took my recorder and I asked people why they play this game, where this passion for the game comes from.

Here's some of what they said. Round one pairings.

A lot of different people get into the game for different reasons.

And maybe it's sometimes just the the spark of seeing a

friend who has a really cool card and it's wow it's a goblin with a sword and he does

...