Three friends in Maple Ridge, B.C., are trying to break a world record for time spent continuously playing a board game by playing Settlers of Catan for 72 hours straight.

The game, which requires players to collect resources to build settlements and cities, started at 9 a.m. on Thursday morning. As of 6 p.m. that day, they had played 15 games.

"We're playing it by ear to see how we manage to survive the experience," says Dan Ruimy, the owner of Bean Around Books in Maple Ridge.

The current record sits at about 61 hours. Another attempt made it to 68 hours, but it didn't make it into the Guinness Book of World Records.

As part of the official Guinness rules, all three players must be present around the game at all times. They have to have two official witnesses, and record the whole attempt on video.

"We have lots of people coming in to support us as well," says Ruimy.

The players, Ruimy, Matthew Baillie and Leah Burnell, are allowed to take a five minute break every hour, says Ruimy, and those breaks can accumulate if they're not taken, leaving the contestants with six hours to "play around with."

Ruimy says they're making the attempt a fundraiser for Iron horse Youth Services, which had its funding from the federal government cut late last year.

People can donate through the events page on the Bean Around Books website.