A long-running charitable board gaming conventions will be in person this weekend in Edmonton for the first time in five years.
About 60 people from across the Edmonton region will be at the Queen Alexandra Community League hall (10425 University Ave., Edmonton) this Oct. 4-6 for the 21st annual Gamealot board gaming convention.
Started in 2000 by John Engel (then owner of St. Albert’s Mission: Fun and Games), the convention sees gamers teach and play board games to raise money for charity. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, it typically drew some 200 people to the Kinsmen Banquet Centre for two-and-a-half days of gaming.
St. Albert resident and Gamealot spokesperson Tracy Engel (wife of John) said Gamealot went online in 2020 because of the pandemic. The event just wasn’t the same, so organizers decided not to hold it again in subsequent years.
About eight months ago, Tracy said her daughter Christa rallied the organizing committee to bring Gamealot back, and established a non-profit to run it. A whirlwind of organization followed, all leading up to this weekend’s in-person event.
Tracy said organizers moved Gamealot to Edmonton this year as all of them (save herself) now live there, and it was tough for many participants to bus into St. Albert on the weekend. Mission: Fun and Games is still the event’s lead sponsor, however, and has provided many fabulous games as door prizes.
Gamealot lets players sign up to play or host whatever board games they care to bring to the venue, Tracy said. Guests should expect a fun, inclusive, family-friendly environment with an emphasis on trying and learning new games, rather than competition.
“We’re all gamers running it for gamers, and raising money for a good cause,” she said.
Tracy said the convention will feature a silent auction, door prizes, and (on Sunday) free pizza from Royal Pizza. Organizers hope to raise $2,000 for the Veterans Association Food Bank through ticket sales to this year’s event.
“The food banks have never been busier, sadly,” Tracy said.
“All the more reason to come out and play.”
Tickets to Gamealot range from $20 to $60. Games run from 4 p.m. to midnight Oct. 4, 9 a.m. to midnight Oct. 5, and 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Oct. 6. Visit gamealot.games for details.