Telegraph photo by DEAN SHALHOUP Board game enthusiasts who attended the three-day Granite Game Summit in Nashua brought along a wide range of games with names like "Betrayal House on the Hill," "Thurn and Taxis" and "Terra Mystica."

“We booked a space, and hoped for 40-50 people to cover the cost and break even,” Mike Taylor, one of those three enthusiasts, said Sunday. “We got 200 people.”

Even Taylor, a longtime gamer who knows full well how popular board games have become over the years, was surprised at that turnout, he said while taking a break on the final day of this year’s three-day Granite Game Summit at the DoubleTree Hilton.

Sunday marked the third year Taylor and his two Summit co-founders put on a three-day event, drawing upward of 500 gamers of all levels and ages from across New England, plus more than a few from New York’s Long Island and the Hudson Valley, about 45 minutes south of Albany.

It’s in the city of Hudson that Kathleen Miller owns and operates the House Rules Cafe, which blends sandwiches, salads and beverages with panel discussions, demos, trivia contests and movies.

Telegraph photo by DEAN SHALHOUP Gamers from across the Northeast filled the ballroom at the DoubleTree Hilton in Nashua at times over the weekend for the third annual Granite Game Summit.

“I come here every year,” Miller said of Nashua’s Summit. “I’ve been to a lot of conventions, and this is one of the best in the industry.”

Miller and three other players sat at the end of one of the many long rows of tables arranged end-to-end in the hotel ballroom late Sunday morning.

They played a game called “Root,” which Adam Russell, a player from Connecticut, described as “very popular,” and similar to the long-established game of “Risk,” in which contestants battle for control of the world. In Root, the object is to fight for control of a vast wilderness.

Meanwhile, Taylor, the Summit’s co-founder, said a number of game designers, many from the Greater Boston area, visited the convention over the course of the weekend.

Though some of the visiting designers are quite well known in the industry, Taylor said, they prefer to stop by and chat informally with the gamers.

Telegraph photo by DEAN SHALHOUP A participant counts points at the end of a round in an elaborate board game called "The Quacks of Quedlinburg," that involves cards, tokens, chip-like space markers and dice, during the three-day Granite Game Summit in Nashua.

“It’s a unique way, a great way, for them to interact with their audience,” he said, referring to gamers who own their products.

Taking part in the world of board gaming isn’t a terribly expensive hobby, Taylor said. The more basic games run about $10-$15 each, while the most elaborate and challenging are in the $45-$50 range.

Telegraph photo by DEAN SHALHOUP Marc Zuckerman describes a move while playing the board game "The Quacks of Quedlinburg Sunday with his wife, Deborah, and Marc and Ruth Cannava, right.

Telegraph photo by DEAN SHALHOUP Youth division gamers – and brothers – Cory and Rory Zuckerman shuffle cards for the next round of their game on Sunday. They and their parents attended the three-day Granite Game Summit in Nashua.

Telegraph photo by DEAN SHALHOUP Clockwise from left, Adam Russell, Matthew Ellis, Sharon Rozines and Kathleen Miller play a game of "Root" Sunday at the Granite Game Summit in Nashua. The three-day event drew more than 500 board game enthusiasts from around the Northeast.