MEGAGAMES @ Gen Con 2021
The Megagame Coalition are organizing six megagame events with three megagame designs at Gen Con 2021
Click the images below for more info!
Looking to volunteer and get a free badge? Click here!
The Gen Con 2021 Designs
Full Descriptions
Player Count: 18 – 43
Thursday September 16th 9am – 3pm
Friday September 17th 3pm – 9pm
Saturday September 18th 10am – 4pm
In this Battlestar Galatica-inspired megagame, a small fleet of interstellar vessels tries to survive while maintaining civil society, fending off a military threat from without and infighting from within.
It is the 27th Century, and freedom is under attack. The inhabitants of Wolf 1061C have ambushed and defeated all the fleets of the Old and New Nations of Earth, except for the Aegis, a lone battlecruiser, and its jumbled armada of mostly civilian vessels, drawn to the narrow band of safety the Aegis provides. That fleet, home to thousands and the Interstellar Council-in-Exile, must survive. Can you make the difficult political, military, and logistical choices to weather this long-term crisis?
Players will take on the roles of starship captains, politicians, and others trying to see the fleet through this harrowing time. The game has a focus on managing resources, as well as various units and assets – however, talking and negotiating with other players in a high stress environment will be crucial in order to achieve success. And one must always be on the lookout for The Wolf within.
Den of Wolves is a modern megagame classic from the UK-based megagame group, Southwest Megagames.
You’ll love Den of Wolves if:
- You like Battlestar Galactica or classic military sci-fi in general, and the Battlestar Galactica board game in particular.
- You’re looking to play a true megagame masterpiece and see how it works to help design your own games.
- You want to toss your friends out of an airlock while they shout at you about due process.
Sickle: A Scythe Fan-Made Megagame (NSDM-Style)
Player Count: 20 – 90
Saturday September 18th: 7PM – 11PM
Join 60+ other players to fight, negotiate, and harness powerful new technologies as prominent political factions, scientists, and industrialists involved in the power struggles of Eastern Europa.
At the center of the chaos is the mysterious Factory. Originally constructed by Nikolai Tesla, the Factory produced wondrous technologies utilized by the great armies of Eastern Europa to destroy each other during the Great War. And although the Great War is over, the power struggles are just beginning.
Sickle is a fan-made megagame set in the 1920+ Universe created by Jakub Różalski and is home to the award-winning board game Scythe by Stonemaier Games and the upcoming video game, Iron Harvest by King Art Games. We thank Stonemaier Games for their support and encouragement in this and other fan-made projects!
This will be the third major convention for Sickle after successful runs at Gen Con and SHUX 2019!
You’ll love Sickle if:
- You love exploring interesting alternate history settings
- You like settings driven by bizarre technological breakthroughs like Fallout or Crimson Skies
- You love the lore of board game Scythe and the broader 1920+ art universe
- You like games with tonal limits but freeform gameplay, like modern matrix games
- You love forcing your frenemy to collaborate with you in order to accomplish a common goal
- You love National Security Decision Making (NSDM) Games at Gen Con, whose systems greatly informed this design
As Thou Commands
Player Count: 18-54
Thursday 6pm – 10pm (History but Inclusive Edition)
Thursday 7pm – 11pm (Fantasy Edition)
The King sure looks dower these days. Maybe it’s that borscht he had? Maybe it’s the plague of bulbous pustules among the knights? No matter – you may not know the workings of the King, but you certainly know the workings of the Kingdom. A handshake here, a side-eye there, and soon the wool smuggling operation undercutting your tax revenue is no more! No need to bother the King’s overburdened shoulders. Heavy is the head that wears the crown after all. Good thing the Kingdom has his Loyal Retainers to lighten the load.
As Thou Commands is a rules-light mass player experience (megagame) where the players procedurally generate and run a series of fictional feudal Duchies which combine to make-up an entire medieval Kingdom. After collectively crafting a Kingdom’s worth of narrative content, the players will run the component Duchies and the Kingdom as a whole through a series of rules-light council sessions – where the scions of prominent noble houses attempt to influence the Duke/Duchess/Dux or King/Queen/Monarch to endorse the policies that increase their wealth, influence, glory, or otherwise support their ambitions. They will also be freeform sections of gameplay which will emulate congregative events like weddings or war councils.
Gen Con 2021 will be the first in-person runs of As Thou Commands after several online playtests.
There will be two runs of As Thou Commands, each with different tonal scope. The History but Inclusive Edition run of the game will have a more grounded narrative and focus the narrative content more to what is historically realisitic, with exceptions made to increase the inclusivity. The Fantasy Edition run of As Thou Commands will also be inclusive, of course, but by contrast, focus the tone of the narrative universe being created towards a more high-fantasy route.
You’ll love As Thou Commands if:
- You loved the hit board game, The King’s Dilemma, by Horrible Games
- You love creating your own narrative yarns and combining them with those of others to create a collaborative narrative tapestry
- You love bartering, bluffing, and bickering with your best frenemies!
- You love LARPing as a noble with the most noble of intentions, I assure you
Megagame volunteering
We’re looking for
EMPATHETIC,
QUICK-THINKING,
OR OTHERWISE AWESOME
NERDS
to join the Megagame Volunteer Corps @ Gen Con 2021!
Volunteer for two events and get fun perks! Including:
- A free four-day Gen Con badge (>$100 value)
- Free tickets to megagame events!
- The endorphin rush of being the one who actively brings joy to people’s lives
- Experiencing megagames & Gen Con from the other side
- Meeting and hanging out with a bunch of super cool people!
- Our eternal gratitude
Words from Previous Volunteers
I LOVED being part of the team at Gen Con, everyone was so welcoming and friendly and awesome, and getting to see the games being played and talk to the designers/control players before, during and after the games was a fantastic insight.
It was an awesome time!