"What’s this “game circle” business about then, eh? What do you, reader and presumably gamer, get out of it?

A game circle takes what you already have - a network of gamers known not just (or even necessarily) to you, but your immediate crew - and adds some more regular contact and a little organisation. The intent behind this is threefold:

* To give roleplaying hobbyists the opportunity to get to know and game with more than a single group’s worth of fellow hobbyists at once.
* To encourage campaign play that takes the vagaries of real life and real people into account.
* To make an interesting campaign idea the first step in making a campaign and making a group the second step."

This article talks about how to get players to show up to game sessions regularly.


Give players a sense of investment
Get players to contribute something to the game group as a whole. There are many ways to do this. These are at the level of player, and character.


Players: The Geek $ Jar
Instead of each person bringing their own munchies, put $5 (or whatever) in a common jar each week, and have one person be responsible for buying munchies with that money. This saves money (as buying for five or so people as a group is cheaper than five or so people individually) and time (as individuals don't have to rush to the store just before the game). Though it's less money than people would spend individually, it feels like more of an investment as the person physically puts money in the jar in front of the whole group. This is especially true if they pay a few weeks in advance. And people always value what they pay