Click the image above to view slideshow

It'll be a battle of the brains when mental athletes of all ages go cranium-to-cranium at the 2015 New Zealand Festival of MindSports.

Held over two weekends, the four day festival is jam packed with games, activities, entertainment, and mental agility when it returns to the Thames War Memorial Civic Centre this weekend.

The New Zealand Festival of Mindsports promises two weekends of gaming, fun, entertainment and competition and kicks off in Thames on Saturday. Photos: NZFMS

If you're after an event with more fun than you can wave a magically enchanted sword at then make sure you head along this Saturday and Sunday, plus the following weekend (June 6-7).

Last year's inaugural festival was a huge success says principal organiser Marleen Perry, drawing in 144 players and even more spectators.

'The festival drew a wide and varied group of people and based on feedback everyone thought it was a great idea,” says Marleen. 'Since then we've hooked up with the UK Pentamind licence so we can gradually attract more overseas people to come to this event over time.

'Like the UK Pentamind you can have whacky games, it's not all serious stuff. So it's good for people to come and watch and try out games that might be new to them. It's all ages which is great too.

'This year it's really good that more people from outside the area are turning up to play the games, which is the whole point behind having a major event.”

Games on offer include those old favourites like chess, draughts, backgammon, blackjack and poker, as well as newer games such as Dungeons & Dragons, Sudoku, Edo Jidai and much more.

This year features The NZ Pentamind World Championship where individuals and teams compete over numerous games and the person or group with the highest score in five events will be crowned champion.

Another big event at this year's festival will be the NICON 2015 War Gamers North Island Tournament which is waging war at the memorial centre this weekend.

Not into gaming but still want some fun? The festival has you covered with musical entertainment on the Friday nights and quizzes on the Saturday nights at Grahamstown Bar and Diner on Pollen St.

Children can also get in on the fun at a Prince and Princess Party taking place at Café Melbourne also on Pollen St on June 1.

A new addition to the festival this year is the Getaway Expo at the civic centre over both weekends to showcase 22 businesses from Thames and the surrounding areas.

'With a lot of people coming from around the Peninsula and from out of town we figured we'd make hay while the sun still shines and show them what our local businesses are all about.”

Marleen pays homage to Thames Bridge Club chairman Allan Barclay who she says was a driving force in establishing the NZ Festival Holding Mindsports.

'Allan thought the prospect of a whole town playing board games really suited Thames and wanted to get the idea off the ground,” she explains. 'The idea grew into a new event for Totally Thames in partnership with the Grahamstown Business Association.

'They then applied to Thames-Coromandel District Council's Major Event Funding to offer the festival as an annual event.”

The NZ Festival of MindSports is on May 30-31 and June 6-7. Registration costs $20, excluding the NICON 2015 War Games Tournament which costs $35. People aged 17 and under play for free.

Every registration will see $5 donated to the Thames Skate Park Fund.

For more information, full calendar of events or to buy tickets visit: www.mindsportsfestival.co.nz