PAX Unplugged 2025
Philadelphia, PA
megagame coalition
2025 PAXU Event Schedule
Megagame Coalition is proud to produce five megagame events for PAX Unplugged 2025. This year featuring GODS! MECHS! ROMANTASY! AND MORE!
Tickets will go on sale 10/31 @ noon EST – click here to get a reminder (<-Partiful invite)
Full Event info available on Philly Megagames website
Friday 11/21
Saturday 11/22
Sunday 11/23
Full Game Descriptions
Gods of the Ancient World
Player Count: 60
Friday 9am – 3pm (6 hours)
The Gods from high atop Mount Olympus meddle in the mortal affairs of the ancient Greek Empire and rising Roman Empire in their contest to control the Mediterranean.
The Event
The Megagame Coalition is proud to present Gods of the Ancient World – the hit Gods-will-be-Gods design by Tony Dougherty of The Dukes of Highland. You can see more information about the game from their website.
The Setting
What if the Kingdom of Macedonia (Ancient Greek Empire) did not fall apart and what if the Roman Republic became the Roman Empire 100 years earlier. These changes could have been arranged by the machinations of the Gods. Let’s imagine what that world might have been like, under constant threat of war, the dawn of democracy and the Gods reining supreme high from their thrones on Mt. Olympus, playing the mortals against each other in a narcissistic cosmic game. Megagames are huge games that contain multitudes – role playing, combat mechanics, bluffing, negotiation – but unlike most games they’re mostly driven by you, the player. The umpires, called the “Control Team,” will be on hand to answer questions and come up with rulings your creativity inspires. While you have agendas and goals laid out for you, megagames allow players to invent their own win conditions and pursue those as well.
Gods
Around eight players will be slotted into the roles of Gods. Their gameplay will be more individually focused (i.e., not team-focused) than their mortal counterparts. Additionally, many of the Gods are sequestered to the side of the megagame for much of the game in relative isolation. We’ll cast player roles after a questionnaire is sent out closer to the con.
Den of Wolves: Infinite Domain
Player Count: 60
Friday 5pm – 11pm (6 hours)
60 players! 6 hours! 100% fun! Inspired by the pilot of Battlestar Galatica, Den of Wolves is a cooperative megagame that combines elements of board games and diplomacy. Players cooperate to allocate resources while fending off waves of attacks from the vile “wolves”. Beware! These wolves are tricky, and a traitor may roam amongst us.
Infinite Domain is an expansion to the original Den of Wolves which increases the player count and incorporates new ships as well as several bonus roles.
The Event
The Megagame Coalition is proud to present Den of Wolves – the modern megagame classic by the UK upstart designer, John Mizon of SW Megagames. The Infinite Domain expansion was designed by Chris Perry & Cle Diggins of Portland Megagames, who will also be gamerunning the event!
This is part of the PAX Unplugged 2025 suite of megagame events being hosted by the Megagame Coalition. Badges to the PAX Unplugged convention are required to attend the event and can be purchased here.
Den of Wolves is one of the most-played megagames of all time, sporting strong themes common in military sci-fi (like the Alien series or The Expanse) and satisfying resource management mechanics. Folks familiar with the pilot of Battlestar Galatica will find very similar themes and setting.
The Setting
A small fleet of interstellar vessels tries to balance survival, politics and military challenges as they attempt to stay one step ahead of their pursuers.
It is the 27th Century. After a catastrophic attack on humanity, one battleship and a few civilian vessels must fight to survive, govern themselves and maintain order, as they flee from their pursuers. Den of Wolves is a game about difficult political, military and survival choices in a long-term crisis scenario. Players will take on the roles of starship captains, officers, and engineers, as well as politicians and military personnel. The game has a focus on managing resources, as well as various units and assets – however, talking and negotiating with other players will be crucial in order to achieve success. The game also seeks to represent political and military systems, and their decisions, and so players should expect some political simulation.
Wolves
Beware! There may be secret traitorous roles among us!
Sickle: A Scythe Megagame
Player Count: 64
Saturday 9am – 3pm (6 hours)
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.
This is a megagame set in the 1920+ Universe – the art universe that served as the foundation for the smash-hit Scythe board game by Stonemaier Games.
The Event
The Megagame Coalition is proud to present Sickle: A Scythe Megagame by Riley Nixon (with permission from Stonemaier games!).
This is part of the PAX Unplugged 2025 suite of megagame events being hosted by the Megagame Coalition. Badges to the PAX Unplugged convention are required to attend the event and can be purchased here.
Sickle is a mechanics-light megagame inspired by the National Security Decision Making (NSDM) genre of serious games that emerged from the US Naval War College and spread to various gaming cons via the NSDM crew, but set into the alternate history setting of the 1920+ Universe. Megagamers who like to ground themselves in board game mechanics may be more comfortable playing our Gods of the Ancient World, Den of Wolves, or Touched by Darkness PAXU 2025 events.
Sickle has been run several times to great effect. Pictures and a debrief of a previous run of the game (with not-so-great audio) can be seen here!
The Setting
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 more recently, the Iron Harvest video game by King Art Games. We thank Stonemaier Games for their support and encouragement in this and other fan-made projects!
Touched By Darkness
Trenton Greyoak (Midwest Megagames)
Chai Cherkasski & Hal Royce (Baltimore)
Player Count: 46
Saturday 5pm – 11pm (6 hours)
Darkness is coming! Gather resources, light beacons, and survive with up to 4 friends. But beware! Darkness may have claimed a teammate, and they cannot be trusted!
Can you hold this last bastion of humanity together and banish the Eclipse? This is a Den of Wolves inspired Megagame with gameplay tweaks and a new setting.
The Event
The Megagame Coalition is proud to present Touched by Darkness – a semi-cooperative dark fantasy megagame by games designer Ben Kanelos (BK Game Design)
This is part of the PAX Unplugged 2025 suite of megagame events being hosted by the Megagame Coalition. Badges to the PAX Unplugged convention are required to attend the event and can be purchased here.
Touched by Darkness is a fantasy re-design of the extremely popular, sci-fi megagame, Den of Wolves, by John Mizon of Southwest Megagames. Players famaliar with the board game mechanics of Den of Wolves will recognize many similarities.
The Setting
Centuries ago, the Dark One shrouded the world in perpetual night with their Eclipse. They were defeated, and you believed they would never return… You were wrong. Somehow the Dark One has returned. Darkness has swallowed the Empire as well as the minds of its citizens whom the Dark One has corrupted into its thralls.
Only your frontier settlement, Cleaveslind, managed to relight the ancient Beacons. You are the last bastion of light in a world of darkness. Now the forces of the Dark One are massing on your borders, and rumors swirl that there are those within Cleaveslind who have already fallen under the Dark One’s sway. Will you be able to survive the onslaught and restore light to the world?
Players will work with their Faction teammates toward their common goals by managing resources, passing legislation, and fighting the forces of the Dark One. Cleaveslind might survive if players keep the Beacons lit by performing Rituals to end the Eclipse. There will be different tables and play areas for different activities: faction tables for members of a team to meet and manage their Locations, an area for members of the council to meet, and a Battle Map to resolve combat.
Shadow Agents
You may be secretly contacted by Control before or during the game to become a Shadow Agent. Keep this a secret! Shadow Agents are not members of their Faction’s team, but a secret team of their own. Their goal is to undermine the other players, preserve the Eclipse, and usher in the Dark One’s rule. How they do this is up to them. Note that players will never be told if and how many Shadow Agents are in the game.
Touched by Darkness
Player Count: 70
Sunday 10am – 4pm (6 hours)
Become a character in a romance novel! Woo your desires, challenge your rivals, and craft your story in this rules-light roleplaying-heavy megagame.
For the less romantically inclined, there are still diamonds to steal, family legacies to secure, vampires to slay, gossip to spread, inheritances to fleece, parties to throw/crash/explode, and so much more!
The Event
The Megagame Coalition is proud to present the Courting Trouble by Benjamin Kanelos of BK Games – the first ever romantasy megagame (citation needed). Courting Trouble premiered recently at Gen Con 2025 (under the title of Bound by Desire) to great acclaim! The game was the second highest-rating megagame of the convention (behind the recent expansion of the Den of Wolves megagame, Den of Wolves: Infinite Domain – that’s also coming to PAX Unplugged).
This is part of the PAX Unplugged 2025 suite of megagame events being hosted by the Megagame Coalition. Badges to the PAX Unplugged convention are required to attend the event and can be purchased here.
Courting Trouble is rules-light megagame with a focus on melodrama, role-play, and interpersonal transactions/alliances/negotiations/trades/wedding proposals.
The Setting
Romance + Fantasy = Romantasy
Pride & Prejudice + Lord of the Rings = Counting Trouble
Bridgerton + A Game of Thrones = Courting Trouble
Twilight + Chronicles of Narnia = Courting Trouble
Vampires and werewolves and fey, oh my! If you’re a fan of fantasy or regency romance novels (Twilight, ACoTaR, Fourth Wing, Bridgerton, etc.) and have ever wanted to be a character in one of those books, Courting Trouble is the megagame for you! Team up with up to 5 friends and enter a fantasy roleplaying world brimming with romantic possibilities. Who’s heart will you pursue? What rivals will you challenge? What storylines will you create? The choices are yours in this sandbox game of courtship, intrigue, and adventure. The plot is for you and 20+ players to drive forwards in this rules-light roleplaying-heavy megagame.
Note: This is a ‘closed door’ romance game. No explicit sexual content will be a part of this game. Safety tools will be employed. No touching above the elbow!
VOLUNTEER WITH MGC @ PAX Unplugged
Volunteering with the Megagame Coalition is a great way to experience PAX Unplugged while enjoying some sweet perks!
This will be our first time at PAX Unplugged so we don’t have the logistical span to organize group housing.
Check out the volunteer benefits below.
Once you’re ready to orchestrate some narrative chaos, sign up to volunteer here.
