Game Departments

Board & Card Games Collectible Cards & Miniatures LARPs Miniatures RPGs Video Games

Board & Card Games

Strategicon is pleased to bring you a great selection of Boardgames. Boardgames come in a huge variety, from light family games, and Eurogames, to strategy games, historical simulations, and much more! Boardgames are very social, so you're guaranteed to meet people and make new friends. We offer events for a fun pick-up game feel and, for those with competitive streaks, intense tournament action. You're sure to find a boardgame that suits your play style, and our staff is ready to assist you. Boardgames are one of the oldest pastimes, so come be a part of history and join the fun!

REMEMBER that the order people get to play a game is: (1) People who bring a copy of the game, (2) people who have pre-registered online, and (3) people who signed up at Boardgames HQ. We will try to get everyone into a game, but the # of games brought will limit this.

If you have any questions about the Boardgames & Card Games Department, please contact:
Supervisor of Board Games, Shane Sauby

Return to top of page

Collectible Card & Collectible Miniature Games

These types of games are relatively new and are every bit as popular as older games. Everything from fantasy, science fiction, and superheroes to historical and horror are presented.

Collectible miniatures include various games that deal with collecting plastic prepainted miniatures and playing them on mapboards. Collectible miniatures include Heroclix, Mechawarrior, Pirates, and Star Wars, among others.

Tradable Card Games are generally easy to play, but are not always easy to master. They offer a degree of creativity and strategy unique to this genre. You build a deck from a variety of cards available to each game and hope that your deck has the edge to win! Anachronism, Magic: the Gathering, Pokemon, Universal Fighting System, Warlord, and Yu-Gi-Oh! are just a sampling of the many card games available for play.

Strategicon strives to bring you many different games to enjoy.

If you have any questions regarding Collectible Game events, please contact:
Supervisor of Collectible Games, Brandon Weiss

Return to top of page

LARPs - Live Action Roleplaying Games

Roleplaying games let you play a character. Live Action Roleplaying (LARP) games let you BE the character. LARPs give you a chance to dress-up in costumes and interact with other people in a story that has more in common with acting, and is much more physical. Body language is just as important a tool in LARPs as speaking. Improvisation and creativity flow with ease in a LARP. Besides, who wouldn't want to be a vampire or something else for an evening of intrigue, drama, suspense, and action? Ham it up or be serious, it's all up to you. Strategicon offers a variety of LARPs ranging from murder mysteries to modern horror, with vampires, werewolves, and much more! If you've never played in a LARP, they are very accessible and easy to learn and get involved in.

If you have any questions regarding LARP events, please contact:
Supervisor of LARPs, Tara Leederman

Return to top of page

Miniatures Games

If you want to see an explosion of wonderful sights, visit the Strategicon Convention's Miniatures Room. All around you will see a visual smorgasbord of amazing things. One area might have a titanic battle between two forces of robots fighting it out on a blasted land, while another might have a heroic struggle between U.S. Army soldiers holding out against all odds in a French town, fighting off the elite of the German Army. Everything from science fiction and fantasy to Napoleonics, Ancients, and American Civil War can be found in the Miniatures Room. Miniature gaming is as much entertainment as it is a hobby. Painting, sculpting, building, modeling, and much more come into play when you take up this challenging and rewarding endeavor.

If you have any questions regarding Miniatures events, please contact:
Supervisors of Miniatures, Frank Vassallo and Mike James

Return to top of page

RPGs - Roleplaying Games

Welcome to the RPG department of Strategicon! Roleplaying Games can fire your imagination. They let you be a superhero, a knight, a spy, an intrepid investigator, or just about anything else. We offer a great variety of RPG games running over 100 events every convention for your entertainment. We are located in the San Lorenzo rooms on the second floor adjacent to Convention Registration. Our HQ is at the Chairman's Boardroom on the second floor opposite the Games Library. The RPG department has a standard set of start times for games as follows.

  • Friday  - 2 pm, 8 pm, Midnight
  • Saturday - 9 am, 2 pm, 8 pm, Midnight
  • Sunday  - 9 am, 2 pm, 8 pm, Midnight
  • Monday  - 9 am, 2 pm

On rare occasions, a game may start at a non-standard time.

Sign up sheets are color coded to reflect maturity levels.

  • Kids = Green
  • Family = Blue
  • 13+ = Yellow
  • Adult = Pink
  • Any = White

All games can fill up to 50% of its availaible player slots on our pre-registration system. All other players must sighn up during the convention. Binders with sign ups are available at the RPG HQ on the second floor outside the Chairman's Boardroom. Binders for upcoming events will be out for the current and the next two time slots only. This is to allow people with day passes to be able to sign up for games that would otherwise fill up immediately on Friday. These binders will come out promptly at 12 pm on Friday. We ask everyone to line up in an orderly fashion to sign up. Once a time slot starts the next binders will be put out at that time.

If you have any questions or comments, before the con please contact the Supervisor of RPGs, Jim Sandoval, and during the con, please feel free to speak to one of our friendly volunteers at the HQ. The RPG HQ is manned between 12 and 8 pm on Friday, 9 am to 8 pm on Saturday and Sunday and 9 am - noon on Monday.

Indie Games on Demand

Games on Demand is an open-gaming event that focuses on small press and independent role-playing and story games. These games often feature unusual mechanics or ideas, sometimes with no formal game master, from creators and publishers who may be less known in the broader industry. The “on demand” part means that we’ll help you match your interests to a game and facilitator who is ready to go.

To help ensure enough gamers, most sessions start at the same time as many of the scheduled RPGs. However if scheduled games have filled up, or the schedule doesn’t work for you, you can just come by and play (or run!) new and interesting games throughout the convention. There is no need to pre-register, simply drop by.

If you have any questions before the con, or want to get involved, please contact Tomer Gurantz through the RPG department.

RPG GMs

We would appreciate games to be scheduled for one of the time slots listed above. If that is impossible for any reason, please contact Jim Sandoval and something can be worked out. Games generally run from a 3 to 5 hours and should accomodate at least 4 players with no real maximum. Tables generally accomondate up to 8 people. When entering games, please be sure to check these settings to ensure your game will be approved as quickly as possible.

  1. Please make sure you are in one of the time slots listed above. If listed for the Saturday 2pm and Sunday 2pm slots, please provide a secondary time slot. These time slots fill up quickly!
  2. Please be sure to keep your game description within the character limit (the character counter on the bottom right will turn red to alert you if you are over character count) If you do not do so, your description will be altered to fit.
  3. Make sure to list the maximum number of players in your game. 0 = unlimited!
  4. Make sure to set the "Private Game" toggle to no, or your game will not show on the website and you will not get any pre-reges for it
  5. Make sure to set your maturity level appropriately. Categories are (Kids only, Family, Any, 13+ and Adult) please be mindful of minors in an adult oriented game.
  6. If you are running a Tournament that requires prize support, set the Event Type to Tournament. If you are running demos, please list it as a 101.
  7. You are required to run 48 player-hours worth of events in order to obtain a free badge. Take the number of player slots filled times the game duration.

Pathfinder Society and the Adventurers League are roleplaying groups that run a number of events at our cons. For Pathfinder Society information please contact Jon Merriex or ask someone at their HQ in Los Angeles Ballroom A on the second floor. The D&D Adventurers League is the Wizards official ongoing campaign for Dungeons & Dragons, using the fifth edition (5E) Dungeons & Dragons rules. For more Adventurers League information please contact Felix Rodriguez or ask someone at their HQ in Plaza A on the lower lobby next to Open Gaming.

Adventurers League Code of Conduct (pdf)

Return to top of page

Video Games

Every convention there is a chance for something new to happen. Stop by and check us out!

We have PC's, consoles, and games to go with them. In addition, we often bring in other arcade-like experiences. Come see what we have going this convention.

Scheduled events vary from one convention to another. Recent tournaments have included Smash Bros, Street Fighter, Marvel Snap, and Injustice.

See the event schedule for days and times of specific events. Most tournaments last one to two hours. Awards will be given only for tournaments having sufficient participation, so bring your friends.

If you have any suggestions or questions regarding video game events, please contact:
Supervisor of Video Games, Jason DuVall

Return to top of page

Become a volunteer today!

For other convention questions please check the staff list for the appropriate person. Contact Convention Coordinator, Eric Aldrich, or call the number at the bottom of the page.