Fans of the Yu-Gi-Oh trading card game are gathering at Cessnock Library on Friday afternoons.
The informal club was established by Mount View High School year 11 student Ben Stevens a few months ago.
Ben had been playing Yu-Gi-Oh for about a year and was looking to expand his horizons.
A friend told him about previous Yu-Gi-Oh tournaments at Cessnock Library, so Ben took the initiative and approached the library about holding the “unofficial” weekly club there.
“Basically, I got bored. Bored with no challenge,” he said.
“There needs to be more awareness of the game.”
Ben said the group started off small in numbers, but now has up to 17 members that meet every Friday from 4pm to 5pm.
The Cessnock Library group is an informal, unofficial club – anyone who wants to learn about Yu-Gi-Oh and meet new friends is welcome to come along.
Bring your own cards, trade and battle with other players, and of course, make new friends.
A game of strategy, the idea of Yu-Gi-Oh is to reduce your opponents “life points” to zero.
The game was launched by Japanese publisher Konami in 1998, and was named the top-selling trading card game in the world by Guinness World Records in 2009.
By 2011, it had sold 25 billion cards worldwide.
Players in Australia can compete at national, Oceania and international tournaments.
The 2016 world championships will be held in Orlando, Florida on August 20 and 21.
