I’ve been thinking a lot lately about what it takes to build genuine community in 2025. Not the algorithmic kind where you’re fed content based on what keeps you scrolling, but the real, messy, face-to-face kind where you actually have to look people in the eye and remember their names.

There’s something happening in Wantirna South that’s been quietly growing over the past couple of years, and it’s exactly the kind of thing that gives me hope when I’m feeling particularly pessimistic about the state of human connection. Someone has been running a weekly board game group at Knox Library, and from what I can see, it’s become a proper community hub. They started small, advertising on Facebook and Meetup, and now they’re getting close to 70 people turning up on Sundays to play everything from Catan to Blood on the Clocktower.