The gaming community in Yellowknife was buzzing with excitement as Ptarmicon hosted its annual FreezeCon event on Saturday.
The one-day mini convention focused on board games.
“We like to try and bring people together and do what I say is like good old-fashioned fun. We’re sitting around a table together, playing a game or telling a story together,” said Reigh Foster, the president of Ptarmicon.
The event featured a variety of games, including Magic: The Gathering; tabletop war games, such as Warhammer 40K; and Nintendo Switch games, with Smash Brothers being a crowd favorite.
If there are enough participants, the organizers plan to hold tournaments for Magic and Smash, with prizes for the winners.
In addition to these games, FreezeCon also offered tabletop role-playing games (RPGs), similar to Dungeons and Dragons. These RPGs allow enthusiasts to role-play as characters and engage in group storytelling around a table.
The event ran from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., and typically attracts around 50 attendees.
“People might come and just play a game with their friends and then leave,” said Foster.
Freeze Con, along with Thaw Con, has been a staple of the Ptarmicon event calendar for six to seven years. The main event, Ptarmicon, takes place during the last weekend of July every year and has been running for 12 years.
The organizers see these events as an opportunity to bring devotees together and encourage them to try new games.
“A lot of people want to try new board games or want to try a role-playing game like Dungeons and Dragons or one of those, but they just don’t know how to go about it,” Foster explained.
She said she has been involved in these events for more than 10 years and is passionate about bringing tabletop gaming to more people. She cited the mental health benefits of social interaction, especially in a place like Yellowknife, where it’s cold for much of the year. She also mentioned research into the impact of games like Dungeons and Dragons on neurodivergent individuals.
Yellowknife Live Action Role Play (LARP) also attended the event and did a demonstration.
“It’s like a fantasy role playing game, like the tabletop role playing game, like Dungeons and Dragons, but you do it live action in the woods or anywhere,” said Phil Anderson, one of the LARP members.
Anderson was at the event to attract new members to their group. They set up a slideshow display of pictures of members and had props on hand for people to hold and play with. Anderson believes that FreezeCon is good for the community, especially for those interested in gaming, role-playing games, video games, and sci-fi.