Games people play... and play, and play, and play

Games people play ... and play, and play, and play

GenCon, the annual Indianapolis convention that draws more than 80,000 gamers from around the world, is the planet's largest annual gathering of "hobby game enthusiasts" -- more commonly known as D&D geeks. Actually, the scope of the event is much more ambitious, encompassing board games, strategy games, dice and collectible card games -- just about any game that doesn't involve sports or gambling.

I've been attending for several years now, and it's about as much fun as you can have if you're at all into this sort of thing. Gamers are an intense bunch, and many attendees spend all four days "in character," dressing up as elves, wizards, ninjas, storm troopers, vampires, what have you.

One of the great spectacles of the show is watching the gamer crowd and the downtown service economy collide.

At one point, a large group of passers-by stopped in front of the convention center to watch a squad of fully armored medieval knights try to pile into a cab. Trickier than you might think, what with the plate mail and shields and all.

At the Starbucks, I watched Darth Vader order a soy latte, and later joined a table of vampire dominatrixes in a round of Bloody Marys at the pub. Good, clean American fun.

GenCon really is the event horizon of contemporary game design, with hundreds of independent companies exhibiting their wares alongside industry heavyweights including Hasbro and Wizards of the Coast, publisher of Dungeons & Dragons and the collectible card game Magic: The Gathering.

Turns out the big success story at this year's convention has a local connection -- Durham game designer Jason Morningstar was awarded the prestigious Diana Jones Award for his literary role-playing game, Grey Ranks. The Diana Jones prize is awarded to the game, idea or initiative that best represents excellence and artistry in the field.

Morningstar's game is indeed a role-playing game, like D&D or a thousand other fantasy and sci-fi titles. But you won't find any wizards or lasers here.

Instead, Grey Ranks invites players to assume the role of a teenager during the 1944 Warsaw Uprising against the Nazis. The game's themes include love, death, adolescence and the horrors of war. Grey Ranks' selection for this year's prize highlights the potential of RPGs as an artistic medium.

"I'm very proud of Grey Ranks, but still just amazed at being recognized by my peers and the industry as a whole," Morningstar said. "The game is pretty far out there in terms of role-playing experiences."

Industry veteran Matt Forbeck, who served on the Diana Jones nominating committee, praised Grey Ranks' artfulness.

"This is not a game played just for enjoyment, but also for understanding. It's a work of art in every sense, and challenges other games and game designers to rise to its level of excellence."

Morningstar said the game represents a larger trend among independent designers that aims to expand the potential of the medium.

"There's a growing movement to use the role-playing game -- which is by nature powerfully interactive -- to accomplish interesting things beyond raw entertainment. I'm lucky to live in the Triangle, where there is a thriving group of independent game designers."

On the other end of the spectrum, GenCon is the place to track the next generation of big, loud, fun board and party games -- the titles their developers hope will supplant the moldy old standbys of Monopoly, Life, Trivial Pursuit and so on.

It's an incredibly competitive market. Earning retail distribution in big-box stores such as Target or Wal-Mart is just this side of impossible for smaller companies. A game typically has to prove its mettle for five years or more by generating sales online or via small hobby shops and conventions like GenCon.

Wits and Wagers is one such game ready to break through.

An ingenious hybrid of trivia game and Las Vegas style oddsmaking, the game has won a dozen or so industry awards and only recently landed a distribution deal with Target.

I played the game several times on the exhibit floor, and it's a great party game -- easy to learn and family friendly.

Probably the single game I was most impressed with at this year's con is The Continuum, a multiplayer online game from the Chicago startup company Seven Lights.

The game has a lot going for it. Hard-core gamers will appreciate its ambitious mash-up of strategy war game, RPG and collectible card game elements. But it's friendly for casual gamers, too, as the game can be played online from any Internet-connected computer.

The setting of the story, which takes a refreshingly casual approach to time-space conventions, is wildly inventive. Check it out at www.thecontinuum.com, and prepare to set aside the next few weeks of your free time.

What's Up will launch a new "At Home" page, in which we will cover the spectrum of new-school games, as well as other entertainment options for those nights you just want to stay at home. We'll highlight the best pop culture options for books, comics, graphic novels, TV, DVDs and home theater offerings. Stay tuned!

Inside

Michelle Moriarty Witt has fallen for the thrill of the chase. The car chase, that is. Read about her journey from "Wanted" to "Smokey & the Bandit" on Page 19.