Having a place to gather with others who share similar interests is important when you want to advance in your field. Salt Lake City (SLC) had its first ever ProtoCON this month, an event bringing board game designers together along with play-testers to showcase and improve their artful creations.
 |
| Play-testing at ProtoCON 2020 |
Some people play and collect board games because of the art used in the game. But game designing is, in itself, an art form. And, in at this one day event around a hundred designers came together to share what they were working on, and gain insight on how to make their games even better. Game enthusiasts were there to share in the gaming event and give their insights and thoughts.
David Gonsalves was a driving force in bringing this event to SLC. He had a lot of support from the Board Game Designer Guild of Utah (Facebook), local game companies, and other board game events, but it was his idea to make this happen in SLC this after attending a similar event in Toronto. As he was bring the event together we had talked and he told me what he felt ProtoCON was about in an interview (link). After the event we talked again about the outcome.
There was enough interest from developers that two showcase sessions were done. Each showcase was a time for developers to set up and give a pitch about their game to get people to play during the scheduled play-testing sessions and the open gaming time. The showcases had to flow into two rooms. There was a lot of excitement and interest from the developers and the play-testers. And there was good reason for it.
There were many different types of games. Some were designed to be completed in less than fifteen minutes while others would take well over an hour. Some were designed for younger players and others were higher strategy that were for experienced players. There was something for everyone in attendance, and that was a group of wide ranging interest.
Individuals and families were in attendance, as both play-testers and designers. This gave everyone the opportunity to play something they liked, and insightful feedback to the developers from the audience they are creating their games for. There were many comments being made that were clearly encouraging to the creations being displayed and played.
Some games were early in development while others were further along. I had the opportunity of playing games that were still bits and pieces being put together in their early stages. There were others going through final run-throughs before going to a Kickstarter campaign or pitching to a publishing company (in fact after the event I heard that at least one designer was invited to make a private pitch to a publisher). No matter what the stage of the game they were enjoyed.
Game designing can be a career and a hobby. The age of the designers was clearly covering several generations. Some of the developer's feet didn't touch the floor when they were sitting and showing their game. The creativity of these younger developers is impressive and ProtoCON was an excellent event for them to be able to showcase their creativity in their games.
Through the sponsorship there were prizes being given to both play-testers and designers. There were several tables of games, supplies and research material that were given out during breaks.
This first ProtoCon gave clear indications there is plenty of interest in SLC for game design. I am sure now Mr. Gonsalves and his supporting committee have successfully completed their first year this can be an annual event. To me it is clear that it is something that will attract more designers and players. For many gamers in the Rocky Mountain region SLC might be a more accessible.
I am not writing any specific reviews about the prototypes I played. I want to give the designers the opportunity to look over their notes. They might not make any changes to their designs, but I want to make sure I don't misrepresent what they have coming—and I am looking forward to seeing some of these games make it to market.
My thanks to being invited to attend ProtoCON. I will keep an eye out to see when this event will be coming around again to make sure I have it on my calendar. I recommend board gamers, who are interested in designing or even seeing what is on the horizon, to check out ProtoCON next time.
I'm working at keeping my material free of subscription charges by supplementing costs by being an Amazon Associate and having advertising appear. I earn a fee when people make purchases of qualified products from Amazon when they enter the site from a link on Guild Master Gaming and when people click on an ad. If you do either, thank you.
If you have a comment, suggestion, or critique please leave a comment here or send an email to guildmastergaming@gmail.com.
I have articles being published by others and you can find most of them on Guild Master Gaming on Facebookand Twitter(@GuildMstrGmng).
No comments:
Post a Comment