Calendar: Seminars

In Spring 2018, a group led by Dr Vikki McCall at the University of Stirling held a series of events with practitioners, older adults and policy makers from Scotland, England and Wales to consider challenges in housing and ageing over the coming decade. We used a megagame-style bespoke ‘serious game’ called Hopetown, designed by Jim Wallman of Stone Paper Scissors, to engage a diverse group of people in thinking creatively about the challenges in delivering housing for ageing, and how they might be overcome.

In this session we will describe the game and discuss how it was effective in producing a creative and participatory approach to identify challenges and explore potential solutions. We will reflect on the role of serious games in this megagame style both as a research tool and as a way to engage diverse viewpoints from a broad audience in a collaborative process. We will talk about our future plans for using this game (including perhaps running it as a megagame!) to explore the issues further, and would welcome the views and suggestions of the megagame community.

Signing Up

To attend this seminar, you will need to purchase a MegaCon ticket.

Patrick Rose talks through the challenges and potential solutions in porting an in-person megagame to an online format. If you have an offline game or access to one that you’d like to bring online and run during the pandemic or even after, this talk is for you!

Signing Up

To attend this seminar, you will need to purchase a MegaCon ticket.

It’s a game changer, or is it?

The core gaming audience is described as ‘heterosexual, white, and male’. Attempts to challenge this focus on female players which has created a barrier to inclusion. This session looks instead at the key components of game design practice as a pathway to greater equality and inclusivity.

Signing Up

To attend this seminar, you will need to purchase a MegaCon ticket.

Megagames are brilliant one-off events where we often build a memorable experience of collective storytelling. In fact, one of the most important outputs from a megagame are the anecdotes told and re-told down the pub not just after the game, but whenever megagamers are gathered together. Over the years there have been many calls for sequel (or legacy) megagames, where the players get to see how the stories they started in their first game turn out over time.  And Jim has run a few himself, with varying degrees of success over the years. But there are some elephant traps and things that designers need to take into account when designing a legacy megagame that don’t appear so much in the conventional game. This session is intended as a very short workshop on creating legacy megagames.

If time permits, Jim hopes to be able to involve participants in actually doing some creative thinking on the subject rather than just sitting through a talk.

Signing Up

To attend this seminar, you will need to purchase a MegaCon ticket.

Table-spanning maps are inherent to many megagames. They act as a focal point for players across the game and form the core of most mechanical player’s experience. However maps can be difficult to design. Which software product(s) do you use, what resources are available and how do you use them effectively? Just as importantly, how do you make sure the map works well with your design, and helps the players play the game?

In the Map Design for Dummies workshop, John Keyworth will walk through finding and updating maps, which software he uses and how he overcomes problems in the design process.

John needs YOU! Are you a megagame designer that needs a map for your megagame? Well this workshop is for you!

Simply e-mail the MegaCon team to let us know you would like to be involved and provide the following information:

• Information on your megagame (background and how many players)
• A copy of the combat/map rules (a draft copy is fine)

The team at MegaCon will work with John and pick a couple of maps that have been submitted that he will help develop during the workshop.

Signing Up

To attend this seminar, you will need to purchase a MegaCon ticket.

Alex Vince, Chair of the Civil Service Fast Stream Wargaming Network, talks about how his experiences within Megagames led to getting involved in the Wargame profession at work, and chats through things you might want to consider if you want to explore wargaming as a career.

Alex is on Twitter – say hello!

Signing Up

To attend this seminar, you will need to purchase a MegaCon ticket.

Alex Beck presents ‘From Memphis Mangler to Watch the Skies – a History of Megagames’.

In this 20 minute talk, which will be followed by questions and audience discussion, Alex will cover what he’s learnt from indepth research and interviews with key people from the megagame community. Alex is bound to clear up some misconceptions and provide fascinating details on what led to today’s megagame community!

Signing Up

To attend this seminar, you will need to purchase a MegaCon ticket.