The games people play: Ptarmicon 2024 hosts gaming extravaganza

The games people play were on full display during the Ptarmicon 2024 convention held in Yellowknife last weekend.

From medieval dungeons and dragons warriors to modern superheroes, it was an extravaganza of the underlords and the overworld.

Reigh Foster DeBaie, president of the Ptarmicon Society, said the popularity keeps growing for the “world’s most Northern” gaming and pop culture convention, with last year drawing more than 600 attendees to the event.

“We do a comic-con style event that mostly focuses on video games, board games, costumes, tabletop gaming and that sort of thing. We also usually have five to 10 vendors every year. This is our 12th year,” Foster DeBaie said.

Part of the recent upsurge of interest in the gaming culture came about during the Covid-19 pandemic, according to Foster DeBaie.

“Young people started playing board games and, you know, there's a drive — for especially parents — to try and get their kids out of their obsession with electronics and that sort of thing. So, we try to help families and people who like tabletop gaming in general to find ways to get together and have some good old-fashioned fun around the table and find ways to build community when it's been a little bit hard after Covid to start opening up your friend circles and stuff again.

“So, I think that's another reason why our popularity has grown over the last few years, for sure.”

Battling the foes

Chris Bessey, a member of Yellowknife Live Action Role Playing (LARP), was demonstrating live action role-playing during the convention.

Both Bessey, dressed in medieval garments and brandishing a long spear, and Phil Anderson, a knight in shining armour, appeared to have stepped out of a Dungeons and Dragons game and onto the battlefield during an impromptu faceoff.

“Part of the reason we put these costumes together, and that we trained with these foam weapons, is because we actually run adventures for the group members every couple of weeks throughout the summer,” Bessey said.

“So with Dungeons and Dragons, you might be sitting around a table and you're telling people what you're doing — you're narrating it so that everybody understands what you're doing.

“In our case, we just do it. We're physically there to do it in person.

“So it takes a little bit of training. It certainly means that you do need to be prepared, especially if you're going to be out and about 30 degrees and it's hot and smoky as it is. But we'll still try to do it every opportunity that we get,” Bessey said, adding that new members are always welcome to join the fun.

Foster DeBaie said Dungeons and Dragons has become especially popular over the past decade, and the Ptarmicon event is a chance for everyone to try out the games with others.

“A popular event that we put on, too, is all our different video game tournaments, and it's kind of a fun place.

“For people that might play together from home, they can come together at a big event and hang out with other people and meet new friends, try new games, things like that.”