Scott Tepper: The Gathering of Friends 2008 Part II

While the Gathering of Friends is a fantastic occasion to play rare games and recent releases, is also provides the opportunity to play some unpublished prototypes.  In fact, a competition called the Game Of The Afternoon takes place annually at the Gathering that challenges game designers, and game designer wannabes, to create a game out of a selected set of items. 

This past year, the components the designers needed to include in their game were: a ceramic ball that had differently sized holes cut out of it, a set of metallic stones that had the letters of the alphabet imprinted on them, and a white hand towel.  I remember thinking, when the items were revealed last year, “how in the world would anyone be able to make a game out of THOSE things?” But surprisingly, 5 people were able to incorporate those items into games that worked. 

Due to rules about discussing prototypes outside of the Gathering of Friends, I can’t go into detail about the mechanics of the entrants’ submissions for the Game Of The Afternoon, but I took pictures of each one to give you an idea of the amazingly diverse submissions by five talented game designers.

Andrea Meyer’s game involved creating poetry that fits certain variable critera.

Friedemann Friese’s game had a dexterity component

Joe Huber’s game, entitled Greg’s Brain, was about game rules and whose theme was based on the mine of Greg Schleosser

James Miller’s entry, which won this year’s competition was called Knot 5, and involved what he called the “Ball of Doom”

Nathan Beeler’s entry, titled Flowards, was arguably the most far-reaching game in that it had electronic components.  It was also the biggest tragedy of the afternoon.  In Flowords, the players use a medicine dropper of water to make electric connections between letters which are detected by a computer.  Unfortunately, an electronic component of the game, which Beeler had worked on for the previous 12 months, stopped working after the first set of judges reviewed it.

Another great thing about The Gathering is the flea market.  On the final Saturday morning of the week, attendees allowed to set up a booth to sell their games.  This was the second year that I brought games from my collection to sell, as my games have multiplied to the point that they are stacked so high on my bookcases that I can no longer reach them without standing on a chair.  This year I’m happy to report that the games I sold brought in enough money to cover the cost of my hotel room for the week.

Here’s a picture of the flea market before the doors were opened to the “general public”

This is what the crowd looked like during the flea market from the vantage point of my booth.

In the evening on the 2nd Saturday of The Gathering, the prize table takes place.  All attendees are required to contribute a game to the prize table, although many people submit more than one.  The prize table traditionally contains a wonderfully wide range of games including difficult to find, pre-release games, and unique home made game related items.  This year was no exception with a copy of Risk: Black Ops, the now impossible to find Pandemic, some hand-made animals for Agricola, and a handful of pre-release games such as Hanging Gardens, Airships, the wooden box version of Cuba, and the new version of Neuland.

After people who have won one of the tournaments during the week get first crack at the prize table, everyone else’s names are announced one by one and they get to choose a game from the tables.  This year, I was thrilled to walk away with one of the four advance copies of Ticket to Ride: The Card Game.

Although every Gathering provides me with many memorable moments, this year something happened that was a reminder about what The Gathering is about for me.  As I was playing a game of The Hanging Gardens, all of a sudden, a couple of tables away, a few people jumped up and started rushing around.  We figured out that something had spilled.  One of the people at our table declared that the affected game was a copy of Galaxy Trucker.  I looked over at the table where I had my games, saw that my copy of Galaxy Trucker was missing, and knew that the spilled-upon game was mine.

One of the people at the Galaxy Trucker table came over and explained to me that one of their group accidently spilled a cup of water on my game and that she felt awful, and wanted me to accept money so that I could buy a new copy of the game.  Of course I refused the money, then looked over to see that a woman from the table was crying.  I went over to her and she started apologizing profusely, but could not look me in the eye because she felt so bad.

I told her that I learned a long time ago from some events in my life that possessions are just things and that what truly matters are people.  Games can be replaced.  People can’t.  I wouldn’t leave her until she told me that she was okay and she understood that I was okay.  It actually took several minutes before I could get her to promise that she could let this incident go.  Happily, we ended up playing a few games of Uptown together the next day, and had a great time doing so.  Before I attended The Gathering of Friends the first time, I thought this event was about games.  But I was wrong. 

It’s about the people.

© 2008 Scott Tepper

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Comments:

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Well done, Scott! I had a similar incident recently when my daughter tore a section off of a board while trying to “help” her brother fold it up. Of course, it made it easier that the game was a Disney Princess game, rather than Galaxy Trucker.... Posted by Jeffrey D Myers on Apr 21, 2008 at 10:22 AM | #

"It’s about the people.” Very true, Scott.  I continue to be amazed and more than a little humbled at the generousity of the folks at the Gathering.  Kris Gould must take two hours each day out of his precious gaming time to make the run to buy and lay out his incredible “snack” table (far from just being snacks, it provides meals and munchies for 50 or so people).  He accepts contributions, but even so, the effort and time commitment is tremendous and really helps the rest of us maximize our playing time.  One night, about 3 dozen pizzas from Dominos appeared at the front of the room, for whoever wanted some--I have no idea who picked up the bill for that.  I was a “Pop Star” this year and one night, James Miller plopped down $15 and told me to tell the next 20 people who showed up to buy a soda that they were on him; I understand this is an annual occurance for James.  And, of course, Alan picks up the tab for a wonderful meal on Sunday night for anyone who stays that long; this year, over 100 people attended.  These are just a few of the heart-warming incidents that happened over the course of the week.  It’s ironic, considering the popular stereotype of gamers as socially inept, that this hobby includes some of the nicest people I’ve ever met. Posted by Larry Levy on Apr 21, 2008 at 10:23 AM | #

Great report, Scott! Posted by Surya Van Lierde on Apr 21, 2008 at 10:24 AM | #

Larry, I was a Pop Star (someone who watches the bank of money for drinks) as well.  James Miller contributed money on my watch as well to buy drinks for random people.  Little and big things like that happen all during the week, and make me grateful that I have had the opportunity to get to know some of these incredibly nice, fun people. When I read comments from people (who have obviously not attended) who denigrate The Gathering it bothers me that they don’t understand what it’s all about.  I wonder if they ever even want to. Posted by Scott Tepper on Apr 21, 2008 at 11:47 AM | #

And what are the things for the Spiel des Afternoon 2009 competition? :-) Posted by Jesús Torres Castro on Apr 21, 2008 at 03:40 PM | #

Jesus, I wasn’t there when they revealed those (I think it was later in the week).  Does anyone know what they were? Posted by Scott Tepper on Apr 21, 2008 at 03:49 PM | #

Scott, Thanks for your reports!  Also, thank you for greeting my wife and me with a big friendly smile and a “Hello!” as we walked through the doors for our first, incredibly overwhelming moments of the Gathering this year.  It made us feel very welcome, as we knew very few people there, and it remains one of my favorite moments from the Gathering. Derek Posted by Derek Jung on Apr 22, 2008 at 10:30 AM | #

Derek, it was my pleasure!  I’m so glad that you had a good time. Posted by Scott Tepper on Apr 22, 2008 at 01:14 PM | #

The pizzas were courtesy of GAMA. Larry and Scott, James Miller sprang for sodas on my Pop Star watch as well. I was so touched by the offer that I drank them all myself to fully appreciate the depth of his gift. Eric Posted by W. Eric Martin on Apr 22, 2008 at 10:08 PM | #

Henning revealed the components for next year’s competition later that week.  I believe they are:  An eye patch An earring A bag of poofy pom poms and a lovely fake flower (daisy? rose?) There might have been more, but that’s all I remember. Posted by Nataline Viray-Fung on Apr 23, 2008 at 12:09 AM | #

Thanks, Nataline.  I sense a pirate themed game in the future… Posted by Scott Tepper on Apr 23, 2008 at 08:43 AM | #

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