Steven Buchholz and his 8-year-old son Jacob bowled a bunch of virtual strikes and then sat down for a game of Red Sox checkers.
The Hampstead father and son, who enjoy playing video and board games together, turned out for a celebration of National Gaming Day at Hampstead Public Library yesterday. Sponsored by the American Library Association, the event involved hundreds of libraries across the country, where children, parents and seniors enjoyed a variety of games, including cards, board games and video games.
Locally, Hampstead Public Library and Kimball Library in Atkinson participated.
"Wii Fit," a popular video game in which participants can jog, snow ski and spin a hoop around their midsections, drew most of the interest at Kimball Library.
Mike Trasatti and his 7-year-old son Tim were among the Atkinson residents who came to Kimball Library to enjoy some games.
"I came because I heard they had Wii here and I wanted to play 'Mario Cart,' a racing game," Tim said.
"Wii definitely overpowers the board games," his father said.
Some others played board games, including "Pictureka!" at Kimball and Hampstead libraries.
One of the goals of yesterday's event was to set the world record for the most people playing the same game — "Pictureka!" — on the same day, said Patty Falconer, children's librarian at Hampstead Public Library.
Six people wound up playing the game at Hampstead Public Library, while a total of 31 played it at Kimball Library.
Louise Sears and her friend Cheryl Capelle, both of Hampstead, spent part of the morning playing games at Hampstead Public Library.
"I'm a game person," Sears said. "I'm always doing puzzles and playing 'Scrabble,' games on the Internet, cards, 'Boggle.' You name it, I play it."
