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Get that grey-matter fired up people because the New Zealand Festival of MindSports is returning to Thames next month.

The festival features games of all sorts, including old favourites like chess, draughts and blackjack, as well as newer arrivals such as Dungeons & Dragons, Sudoku, Edo Jidai and much more.

The New Zealand Festival of MindSports is returning to Thames on the weekends of May 30-31 and June 6-7. Photo: NZFMS

A number of venues across Thames will play hosts to the festival, and mental-athletes of all ages will go cranium-to-cranium across the weekends of May 30-31 and June 6-7.

MindSports organiser and Thames-Coromandel District Council's community development officer Marlene Perry says the festival is a true community endeavour with the games run by volunteers.

'There has been wide interest from outside the Coromandel,” says Marlene, 'with people coming from across the Waikato and further afield to compete.

'I'd also like to acknowledge the role Allan Barclay played in bringing MindSports to Thames in the first place.

'He took the high road and called it the New Zealand Festival of MindSports, making it a national project instead of purely local.”

Alan, the former chairman of the Thames Bridge Club, liked the idea of a whole town playing board games and the project grew from there.

This year's big draw card is the NICON 2015 War Gamers North Island Tournament which takes place held during the first weekend.

Participants muster their armies of carefully painted model soldiers, which are either historical or fantasy, and battle it out over large tables adorned with landscape features.

Kiwi Wargamers recently received a big nod of recognition when Sir Peter Jackson asked them to paint thousands of WWI Anzac and Ottoman troops for the Gallipoli diorama at Te Papa.

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 18 and under play for free.

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

For more information and the full calendar of events visit: www.mindsportsfestival.co.nz

. Photo: NZFMS