Moving to New York in 2022, Ye was looking to make friends but struggled to meet people in a nightlife setting. \u201cI found that New York City was really lonely at times; it was really tough to make new friends,\u201d said Ye. \u201cGoing out and meeting people was expensive because you had to go to bars and clubs. I was very introverted, so getting outside of my shell was really, really tough.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/1771879088_185_image.webp.webp\")
\nPhotograph: Courtesy of The New York Games| Mahjong night at The New York Games
<\/p>\n
For Ye, it was board games that helped bridge the gap. \u201cI remember there was a sale for board games. I was like, \u2018let’s pick up like 10 of these games, and see if I can invite my acquaintances to come and play.\u2019\u201d On the first night, he invited five people to a Catan board game night. Following the good turnout, he decided to host another, then another, as the group steadily grew by word of mouth.\u00a0Ye soon outgrew his apartment, eventually moving the event to the lounge inside his friend\u2019s apartment complex. But soon, the hundred-strong guest list overwhelmed that space too. Ye attributes the organic growth to the simple fact that everyone is looking for connection, specifically one that is organic and outside the use of social media.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Maggie Li was also looking for a connection. A gamer in her own right, Li organized one of San Francisco\u2019s largest board game meet-ups<\/a> in tandem with her tech company, Salesforce, inviting the whole city to play. However, when the pandemic shut down the city, game night also came to a halt, and eventually Li moved back to her home in New York. Looking to find her own game-friendly community in the city, she attended one of Ye\u2019s meet-ups\u00a0at a friend’s urging. Bonding over their shared love of gaming culture, the duo now run The New York Games, Ye as chief of fun and content and Li as chief of fun and events.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Since 2022, the two have organized weekly tournaments and free-giveaway game nights from the basements of food halls to Central Park. Last year, the two hosted one of their largest nights yet, inviting\u00a01,200 souls to Grand Central Station for an evening of board games and Bananagrams. <\/p>\n This month, the duo is going even bigger.<\/p>\n In celebration of the Lunar New Year, The New York Games is attempting to break the record for the largest mahjong game night<\/a>. And it is all going down at Time Out Market New York, Union Square<\/a>. <\/p>\n According to Ye, the number of tables at a formal mahjong event in America is around 40. Ye plans to bring 48 modern sets, hoping to attract 500-1000 people. Tickets will be available for two separate seatings, one from 5-6:30pm and the second from 7-8:30pm. Guests can come with a group or fly solo to join up and meet new people. New to the game? Volunteer hosts will be floating around to teach the rules and guide people through the game. And when you get hungry, tickets include a $5 gift certificate for the Market’s food and drink.\u00a0<\/p>\n But beyond the potential to break a record, the\u00a0goal of the night\u00a0for Ye and Li remains the same: to meet and connect with others over the simple love of the game.<\/p>\n “I hope to invite people who are just looking to celebrate the holidays and have good connection. [We want people from all walks of life, whether it’s seasoned veterans or beginners who walk into Time Out Market because they saw something cool,” says Ye.\u00a0<\/p>\n Lunar New Year Mahjong Celebration<\/a> will be held at Time Out Market New York, Union Square, on February 24 from 5-9pm. Tickets are $15 and include a $5 gift card redeemable at the Market. Reserve your ticket here<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Richard Ye is slowly running out of room in his apartment. The issue isn\u2019t an overflow of clothes…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":143098,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[1739,1733,2520,9,24,55,54,2529,56,904],"class_list":{"0":"post-143097","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york-city","8":"tag-categories-things-to-do","9":"tag-good-for-good-for-going-in-a-group","10":"tag-good-for-good-for-going-with-friends","11":"tag-new-york","12":"tag-new-york-city","13":"tag-new-york-city-headlines","14":"tag-new-york-city-news","15":"tag-news-events-festivals","16":"tag-ny","17":"tag-things-to-do"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/143097","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=143097"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/143097\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/143098"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=143097"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=143097"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=143097"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Maggie](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/1771879089_877_image.webp.webp\")
\nPhotograph: Courtesy of The New York Games| From left to right, Maggie Li and Richard Ye of The New York Games
<\/p>\n