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Go Play Northwest 2011

“Seventy people? That’s not a convention, that’s a house party.”

That’s what a friend of mine said when I estimated how many people had been at Go Play Northwest two weeks ago. I’d heard about this con from some of my friends in the local gaming community, including Eric of Gamma Ray Games, the raddest game store in Seattle. If Eric recommends it, it’s probably a good time, and having missed my chance last year I got my ticket a month or so beforehand in anticipation of discovering indie games I would never otherwise have heard of. While a small con, it’s become known locally for having a lot of homemade games and indie game designers showing off their latest prototype.

When I found the small cluster of rooms at Seattle Center where the con was held, there were a handful of nametags on a table and a sign that said: “Welcome. Please find your name tag and come join us.” Hmm. Ok. I grabbed my name tag and a lanyard and wandered into a room with a bunch of people I didn’t know. I was actually late, after almost forgetting when the con was, and everyone was well into the swing of things. I looked around nervously before spotting Eric playing Microscope with some people. I went over and said hello, then looked around and tried to peek at what other tables were playing, but felt like I was interrupting.

I shouldn’t have worried. While a description of Go Play NW might sound a little on the hip side, it is in fact a casual, friendly event where everyone feels welcome, newbies included. Phillip LaRose, one of the original founders and current organizers, sums it up nicely:

One of the cool things about Go Play NW is that we have a lot of game designers among our attendees, which means that people get a chance to try out some cool new games as they’re in development. Another is the utter lack of pretension or snobbishness among everyone: we’re all here to have fun playing games and hanging out with friends old and new, no one cares whether you’re a well-known game designer or a new casual player, whether you’re into the hip new not-yet-published game that the indie forums are raving about or a big fan of D&D 4e.

I think two of the more popular games at this year’s event were Ben Robbin’s Microscope, which he was still playtesting at last year’s Go Play NW and just recently published, and Sage SaTorra and Adam Koebel’s Dungeon World, which is still in the final stages of development and preparation for publication. But we also had a draft Magic: The Gathering tournament on Friday evening and at least one game of old-school AD&D scheduled as well. And maybe the coolest thing is the strong sense of community and friendship that comes with the event. A lot of attendees have known each other for years only through online forums, and this is an opportunity for them to hang out in person; but everyone welcomes new people as well, people who’ve never even heard of the Story Games forum and maybe have just picked up dice for the first time in the past few months. Having those people say what a great time they had, how they made new friends, how much they’re looking forward to next year- that’s what’s cool about Go Play NW.

I really don’t think I can say it better than that.

I was trying to decipher the scheduling board when Phillip walked up and introduced himself. I told him I was new and that I might sign up for the next session. “Well, you might be able to jump into something before then. I’m playing this card game with some people right now.” “Oh? What game?” “A game called Dominion.” “Oh I KNOW me some Dominion.” So, the first game I played at this tiny indie gaming con was Dominion. I played with Phillip and some other laid back dudes, whose names unfortunately escape me. It was a great ice-breaker game that made me realize this con wasn’t as daunting as it sounded.

For the next session, those who weren’t signed up for anything heard some descriptions from GMs running games and picked what we wanted to play in. I immediately jumped at the chance to play Freemarket, a transhumanism Sci Fi role-playing game with a heavy emphasis on story and character development and less focus on combat and number crunching. Wealth is based on popularity points, similar to “liking’ someone on Facebook. (It’s also been called Down And Out In The Magic Kingdom—the role playing game.) The game comes in a box with everything you need to play, similar to the D&D 4e core box set. Instead of dice, the game uses a card mechanic to determine conflict results. It’s a very interesting game that I’ll definitely be picking up. My group was a hack talent agency, looking for people with lots of cool points (wealth) but not necessarily any talent. Why we wouldn’t want both escapes me currently. Choice moment: when we discovered the band “Cylon and Garfunkel.”

After a quick break for sushi, I finally got to try out David Fooden and Chris Adam’s “Oh My God! There’s An Axe In My Head.” The Game of International Diplomacy, an alternate history of what could have happened at the 1920 Geneva Convenion if, say, a troup of axe jugglers had gone insane and started throwing axes at the crowds of diplomats. Game mechanics include variable player powers, variable phase order, bartering, and many different ways of earning points, all of which are void if you don’t rescue certain diplomats from death by juggler-thrown axe. This was a fun game with a bunch of people I didn’t know, and enough variety in gameplay that I am definitely interested in playing it again to try out different strategies.

This was a really fun con where I discovered some cool homemade and indie games, and met some awesome people. GPNW has been around for five years, and it’s gone from about 55 people to over 120 this year. Original founders are local Seattle game designers/ gamers Phillip LaRose, Tony Dowler, John Harper, Brandon Amancio, and Portland area gamer Mike Sugarbaker. If you’re anywhere in the PNW, I highly encourage you to come on up to Seattle next year and make some new friends, and I’ll never turn down a game of Dominion.