Summer GAX gathers gaming community in the Cultural Centre

The Moose Jaw Gaming Association (MJGA) is a not-for-profit charity whose purpose is to organize the twice-yearly Moose Jaw Gaming Expo (GAX), which unites a community of people who love to use their imaginations.

This year’s Summer GAX was held at the Moose Jaw Cultural Centre from July 22 to 24.

This year’s charity donation will go to Creative Kids. Creative Kids Saskatchewan has given nearly $5.5 million since 2010 to give children facing social and financial barriers the chance to participate in dance, music, art, culture, and theatre opportunities.

Past GAX charity contributions have been made to Hunger In Moose Jaw’s School Lunch Program, the Moose Jaw Pediatric Ward, Children’s Wish Foundation, the Saskatchewan Pediatric Auditory Rehab Centre via Moose Jaw Elks, the Canadian Arthritis Society, and the Moose Jaw Food Bank.

The MJGA Winter and Summer GAX(es) are the longest-running gaming expos in Saskatchewan.

Brooks Nancarrow, current president of the MJGA, said this year has been a bit challenging, but things worked out.

“Honestly, it went better than I was expecting,” Nancarrow said. “We had a lot of the old board retire. There were a few snags that come with the whole overhaul of an organization, but all in all it went pretty good.”

Nancarrow said the weekend's highlights included some very popular Dungeons & Dragons sessions; a full-bracket Super Smash Bros Ultimate tournament; virtual reality consoles being tried out; scores of board games ranging from hours-long, galaxy-spanning strategy games to rapid games requiring fast reflexes; Magic the Gathering; a Pokemon trading card game professor who taught collectors to actually use their cards; and epic war games in the basement.

“One of my personal favourite aspects in that we have so many different types of games that many people have never experienced before,” said Talon Regent, vice-president of the MJGA. “The first time I ever played Magic the Gathering was at this event, the first time I ever played Dungeons & Dragons was at this event, and so many board games, so many different forms of entertainment that would normally require so much time and energy and money to invest in.”

The event had a Saturday pizza party and was served for the weekend by the Vomiting Dragon tavern, which sold drinks and concessions.

“At heart, I’m a board game guy,” Regent said. “I’ve been playing Twilight Imperium all weekend. It’s a six-person game that take about five hours to play.”

Shay Wilford is an experienced Dungeon Master (DM) — DMs run D&D sessions and act to co-create the adventure with the players — who loves watching the story take twists and turns as players develop and make unexpected choices.

“Anyone can jump in,” Wilford said. “I like the whole role-playing aspect of it, how you can create a character and pretend to be someone you’re not.”

“Anybody who comes out is a gamer, it doesn’t matter who they are, what their background is, what their beliefs might be. In the 16 years we’ve been running, we’ve never had a conflict or fight or issue,” Regent said. “The inclusivity here is second to none. There’s always something we can find for people of any ability.”

The next expo is Winter GAX, expected to be held in February 2023.