Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
West Chester’s Kyle Hudson is out and about
Almost everyone I write about gets a title, whether it’s “resident,” “councilwoman,” “state rep” or “company president.”
I refer to West Chester’s Kyle Hudson in print as a “man about town.”
The 33-year old has already lived the equivalent of at least seven lives.
Hudson ran for borough mayor, attends and films borough council meetings, hosts a talk show on WCHE 1520, is a TV game show winner, was married by Mayor Carolyn Comitta and is a member of the popular local board game community. He also recently fathered a baby girl, which has slowed him down just a bit.
We recently met to play board games at The Games Keep on Gay Street in West Chester.
We built a giant map of a city. Hudson helped me win the 90-minute game. He said he plays to win.
“That wasn’t a board game; that was war,” said our opponent Nate Valdez.
The Games Keep is a Mecca for board game players, with 3,000 unique titles ranging in price from $10 to $150. Owner Karl Kemmerer opens up his store for enthusiasts to play for free and said that the games use thought processing and problem solving.
Hudson is a self-described nerd.
“Board game players and the nerd culture are the most welcoming group of people I know because we’re all weird and everyone is welcome here,” Hudson said.
Hudson is a big video gamer and said that before there were video games people competed in sports.
“Video games are the great equalizer—they encourage better problem solvers—its solving puzzles for fun,” he said.
Hudson waited tables at many restaurants including Penn’s Table before he hit pay dirt on “Who Wants to be a Millionaire.” He wore a Spock Star Trek shirt to the game show interview in a bid to be remembered.
He rose to the $250,000 level, missed the question and returned home with a $25,000 stake to start this own business.