Schedule

Come join us for freeform gaming!

Online, visit the gaming channels on Discord.   

Onsite, visit the gaming room, which is the Blue Room Prefunction space on level one. Stop by for a pickup game, or to see the schedule of games people are looking to run.

Want to run a game?  Fill out our online form to share the details for both onsite and online games. Or simply leave a note in person on the message board in the gaming room.

Dungeons & Dragons is the 800-pound gorilla, but what are some other cool role-playing games? Panelists discuss their favorite RPGs, what sets them apart, and what is needed to play them.

Come join us for freeform gaming!

Online, visit the gaming channels on Discord.   

Onsite, visit the gaming room, which is the Blue Room Prefunction space on level one. Stop by for a pickup game, or to see the schedule of games people are looking to run.

Want to run a game?  Fill out our online form to share the details for both onsite and online games. Or simply leave a note in person on the message board in the gaming room.

When video gamers create a character, we often want it to resemble us in gender, body type, age, and ability. However, the options in character generation are often limited by design choices that can be influenced by prejudice, assumption, or lack of anticipation of need. What companies are doing a good job? What could be done better?

Werewolf, Mafia, and other social deduction games based around uncovering evil players have been mainstays of sleepovers and school trips for decades. One of the more recent video game versions, Among Us, became a pandemic phenomenon. How have social deduction games developed over the years, and how have their mechanics been incorporated into other genres of gaming?

Come join us for freeform gaming!

Online, visit the gaming channels on Discord.   

Onsite, visit the gaming room, which is the Blue Room Prefunction space on level one. Stop by for a pickup game, or to see the schedule of games people are looking to run.

Want to run a game?  Fill out our online form to share the details for both onsite and online games. Or simply leave a note in person on the message board in the gaming room.

For the first time in its history, the Hugo Awards will honor a video game, using DisCon III’s discretionary Hugo Award. A trial best interactive video game Hugo Award was attempted in 2006, but was dropped due to lack of nominations. Since then, science fiction and fantasy video games have continued to evolve and generate intense interest from both reviewers and the wider fan community. This panel will discuss what we can learn from this year’s nominations for best video game.

The authorities always said games would rot our brains. But these days there are tons of games and gaming techniques, both online and offline, that teach skills such as math, science, language, and critical thinking. Our panel of educators, game experts, and parents will provide input on how to navigate the gaming waters with an eye toward learning.

What are the best video games of each year from 2010 to 2019? What about for the decade as a whole? What games should have been nominated for a Hugo Award, if a Hugo for video games had existed in the year of their release? Panelists and audience members will make the call together.

Come join us for freeform gaming!

Online, visit the gaming channels on Discord.   

Onsite, visit the gaming room, which is the Blue Room Prefunction space on level one. Stop by for a pickup game, or to see the schedule of games people are looking to run.

Want to run a game?  Fill out our online form to share the details for both onsite and online games. Or simply leave a note in person on the message board in the gaming room.

For a long time, video game writing was seen as a separate discipline from, and often inferior to, more “serious” speculative media. As video game narratives become increasingly complex, and gameplay becomes more sophisticated, is it still useful to define video game writing as a separate discipline? If so, why?

Live action role-playing games, or LARPs, have developed a rich repertoire of practices across many communities. How can newcomers get involved? How have these communities adapted their practices in response to COVID-19? What innovations do we hope will carry forward into the future?  Panelists will discuss what is next for LARPs.

Random elements are a design tool used in many video game plots and progressions, whether it be procedurally generated enemies or quests, or large-scale reordering of the game logic. There are similar, but different, dynamics in tabletop role-playing games’ use of dice and random generation tables. Why does randomness in game progression work? What are the consequences when it doesn’t? How do random plots change the way players experience agency in the game?

The last year has caused droves of tabletop role-playing gamers to migrate to the internet. Moving online has brought with it a myriad of advantages—and some disadvantages. Our select group of gamers will share their best tips for running your gaming group in an online format.

Come join us for freeform gaming!

Online, visit the gaming channels on Discord.   

Onsite, visit the gaming room, which is the Blue Room Prefunction space on level one. Stop by for a pickup game, or to see the schedule of games people are looking to run.

Want to run a game?  Fill out our online form to share the details for both onsite and online games. Or simply leave a note in person on the message board in the gaming room.