St. Albert-area gamers will defuse bombs, dodge monsters, and serve coffee to capybaras this weekend to raise money for veterans in need.
Up to 100 people will be in Edmonton this Sept. 25–27 for the 22nd annual Game-A-Lot charitable board game convention. First held in 2001 at St. Albert’s Mission: Fun and Games, the event sees participants gather for 2.5 days of gaming in support of various charities.
This year’s convention will once again raise funds for the Veterans Association Food Bank of Edmonton, said Game-A-Lot Society treasurer Tracy Engel. Last year’s event raised about $5,000 for that group.
Participants will play the latest board games at this year’s convention, such as Bomb Busters (a game about bomb disposal), Café Baras (a game about running a café for capybaras), and the yet-to-be published Human Hunter Monster Cannibal. They’ll also get to bid on auction items — including a very geeky painting created live during the event — and win prizes. The first 100 people to register for the event will get a free copy of the game Cutthroat Ninja.
“It’s a great way to meet fellow gamers, support a worthwhile charity, and have some fun,” Engel said.
While Game-A-Lot technically stops for the night at 11:30 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, some players will keep gaming until 4 a.m. then come back when the convention restarts at 9 a.m.
“Some also refer to [Game-A-Lot] as ‘Sleep-A-Little’” she joked.
Some veterans are left broken by military service, which can lead to isolation, homelessness, or incarceration, said Jan Adshead, volunteer co-ordinator for the Veterans Association Food Bank of Edmonton.
“We want people to break those cycles to get healthy again,” she said.
The food bank distributes about 280–340 food hampers a month (about 3,336 last year) to veterans in need and hosts sessions to help veterans do taxes, deal with Veterans Affairs Canada, and socialize, Adshead said. Funds raised by Game-A-Lot help the food bank support the roughly 13,000 veterans in the Edmonton region.
“It really promotes brining people out to do things in the community,” she said.
Board games bring people together, and exercise your math, reading, and critical thinking skills, Engel said. She believed the world would be a better place if people spent more time gaming and less time fighting.
“Play games, not war!” she said, while acknowledging that there were games about war.
Game-A-Lot runs this Friday, Sept. 25, from 4 p.m. to 11:30 p.m.; Saturday, Sept. 26, from 9 a.m. to 11:30 p.m.; and Sunday, Sept. 27, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Veterans Association Food Bank of Edmonton building (18504 111 Ave NW Edmonton). Tickets range from $25 (Friday only) to $65 (the full event), and can be purchased at the door or at gamealot.ca.
