Nerds and noobs alike will descend upon Newtown this week for GameFest 2015 – the epic five-day gaming festival at the Old 505 Theatre that aims to combine interactivity, theatre and gaming into one big celebration of inclusiveness.
Boasting free and ticketed events, GameFest is a hub for both seasoned veterans and new players alike.
The initial inspiration for GameFest – and this is something that any con-goers can probably understand – is the universality of games and how they bring people together. There’s far more to them than what may initially meet the eye.
“Last year I ended up in a conference in Turkey for people who travel for work,” says GameFest founder Jon Gracey of Moonshot Games. “I ended up with a bunch of people from all over Europe and we all needed something to play or do in the evening. Everyone spoke English, but of varying degrees, and two of the Germans were really into board games. They brought up the idea of playing Werewolf and so we thought, ‘Fuck it, there are 15 of us, we have a massive conference table, let’s get some tea lights and run a game!’
“I have a background in comedy and have done some improv so I ran this really theatrical game with relative strangers. I had some creepy music playing on Spotify and a YouTube clip of a fireplace on my laptop and it just went down so well.”
This experience enlightened Gracey on the unique and incredibly special ways games can affect people, even those who wouldn’t consider themselves to be fans.
“All of us didn’t really know each other and a lot of the people there just weren’t really into gaming, so it opened my eyes to how many people would do this kind of stuff,” he says. “The gameplay is basically just interacting. You don’t have to learn a bunch of complicated rules. Like in Werewolf, you just don’t show anyone your card and you lie; everyone knows how to do that. That kind of thing just made me realise that there are so many people out there who love this stuff and if you give them a character or something to do in a game, they’ll go for it and play. It’s so good to see what different people will bring to a gaming experience.”
Unless people are into gaming, they may not be aware that there is a whole world beyond your stock standard Monopoly and Scrabble sets. GameFest aims to help people discover and fall in love with something new.
“I myself am still relatively new to tabletop games; I’ve only been playing maybe for the last three or four years. I’ve been playing video games for as long as I remember, but this was like discovering a new genre. I suddenly realised that we’ve all been lied to,” Gracey laughs. “Things like Monopoly aren’t board games, they’re just random games of chance and there’s very little skill involved. The more I’ve played, the more I’ve realised there’s just so much great stuff out there. There are so many people who love video games, roleplay, tabletop or theatre, and I really want anyone even with a passing interest to come down. I really want people who love games and those who are new to them to hang out and encourage each other to bring their own stuff to the table.”
Although there will be ticketed events in the evenings, the majority of the festival will centre around the fact that it is, for the most part, free.
“We have a free space that is open from midday to 6pm, when the first talk starts, and it’s there for anyone to drop in,” Gracey explains. “It’s going to be a really safe, friendly space where we have a bunch of video and board games set up. It’s basically just a chance for anyone who’s around to come along and just play, watch, experiment and have fun.”
The evening talks and events are more suited to those who want to jump a little further into the gaming world.
“On Tuesday we have some great Intro to D&D [Dungeons & Dragons] talks and games with top-notch DMs [Dungeon Masters] David Hollingworth and Nick Irving, both who have very different styles but who are fantastic,” says Gracey. “Wednesday we’ll have a talk by architect and gamer Claire Hosking and a 20-person game of Werewolf with some great settings and actors. Thursday is our only [all-live] gaming day, where instead we’ll just be doing escape rooms from midday to 9pm.
“On Friday there’s a talk by Unpub Mini creator Paul Sztajer and a large-scale game of Two Rooms And A Boom. It’s an amazing hidden role game where one team tries to sneak a bomber into the opposite team’s side, but no-one knows who each other is. That’s going to be run as a cocktail party complete with a live jazz band.
“On Saturday we’ll be running our very own game called Bring Them Home that sort of combines FTL: Faster Than Light, The Martian and Space Cadets. One person plays an astronaut who has been cut off from their crew whilst everyone else represents different space agencies trying to get them back to Earth safely… so they get the credit.”
With such a comprehensive intro, there’s only one thing left to do: get gaming.
[GameFest photo by Victoria Nelson]
GameFest 2015 is onuntil Saturday December 5, at the Old 505 Theatre.
