Gaming at Boskone includes a variety of tabletop games, video games, game demos, and tournaments.

Boskone Gaming Schedule

  • Location: 2nd Floor, Harbor I
  • Game Room Hours:
    • Friday 3:00 pm – 12:00 midnight
    • Saturday 10:00 am – 12:00 midnight
    • Sunday 10:00 am – 3:00 pm

FRIDAY

2:00 PM (free to public)
Splendor
Harbor I · 120 min · Gaming

2:00 PM (free to public)
Moonquake Escape / Leaf Me Alone
Harbor I · 240 min · Gaming

3:00 PM (free to public)
Istanbul
Harbor I · 120 min · Gaming

3:00 PM (free to public)
My Favorite Game
Auston Habershaw, Walter H. Hunt (M), Carlos Hernandez, Dan Moren, M. C. DeMarco
Lewis · 60 min · Panel
Join us as we explore the wonderful world of board games. Our panel of expert gamers will discuss their favorites from the past 10 years. We’ll compare bragging rights, and swap tales of our victories (or defeats). Let’s include our top ten lists — feel free to bring and share your own!

5:00 PM (free to public)
St. Petersburg
Harbor I – Gaming · 120 min · Gaming

7:00 PM
Puerto Rico
Harbor I · 120 min · Gaming

8:00 PM
Munchkin
Harbor I · 120 min · Gaming

8:00 PM
Girl’s Got Game
Brianna Wu
Lewis · 60 min · Solo Talk
We’re tired of talking about what we can do. It’s time to start talking about what we have done. This gamer girl shares what it’s like working in the gaming field, both pros and cons, and boasts a bit about the games she’s created and designed.

9:00 PM
Robo Rally
Harbor I · 180 min · Gaming

SATURDAY

10:00 AM
Classic Dungeons & Dragons Game
James Cambias (M)
Harbor I · 180 min · Gaming
Game on! Author James Cambias leads a classic game of Dungeons & Dragons as Boskone 55’s Dungeon Master.

10:00 AM
Jump Drive
Harbor I · 120 min · Gaming

11:00 AM
Objection! The Game
John P. Murphy
Harbor I · 60 min · Discussion Group
The Phoenix Wright series of visual novel adventure videogames has used a blend of science fiction and fantasy tropes to explore ideas about law and justice. What makes a game about lawyers and lawcourts so fun and exciting, and how well does it get its ideas across?

12:00 NOON
Moonquake Escape/Leaf Me Alone
Harbor I · 360 min · Gaming

1:00 PM
Guru of the Game Room Tournament
Harbor I · 300 min · Gaming
Join the Boskone gaming tournament — and see if you have what it takes to be named the Guru of the Game Room!

2:00 PM
Learn to Play: Wicked Apples
Brenda Noiseux
Harbor I · 60 min · Gaming
Learn how to play Wicked Apples, the game of strategic chaos! This quick 15-20 minute experience is fun for veteran gamers and folks new to gaming alike. Wicked Apples was the winner of the 2016 Tabletop Audience Choice Award at the Boston Festival of Indie Games.

6:00 PM
NMBR 9
Harbor I · 120 min · Gaming

6:30 PM
Munchkin
Harbor I · 120 min · Gaming

8:00 PM
Bang: The Dice Game
Harbor I · 60 min · Gaming

8:00 PM
Beyond Pokemon Go: Writing For Augmented Reality Games
Heather Albano
Marina 1 · 60 min · Solo Talk
Location-based augmented reality games are becoming increasingly popular in the mobile marketplace, and their unique structure offers new and exciting storytelling opportunities to writers and game designers alike. But AR games are not the first to incorporate the real world as a design element; live action roleplaying games have been doing this for decades. Veteran LARP designer Heather Albano will discuss how the best practices of live action design are being applied to early augmented reality games right now, and how game writers can leverage these design principles to create memorable (and successful!) AR games in the near future.

9:00 PM
Power Grid
Harbor I · 180 min · Gaming

SUNDAY

10:00 AM
Lords of Waterdeep
Harbor I · 120 min · Gaming

12:00 NOON
Lego Robotics Demo & Programming
Michael Sharrow (M), Chris Ernenwein, Siavesh Safarizadeh, Matt Brown, Dan Gessel, Chenyu Lin, Karl Twelker
Harbor I · 180 min · Event
Have you ever wanted to build a robotic arm? A remote controlled racer? A mechanical monster of doom? Here’s your chance! Using Lego NXT kits, we will build the project of your dreams. Guaranteed to destroy Jupiter! (Scale model of Jupiter not included.) Designed for members from age 10 to adult.

12:00 NOON
Ticket to Ride: Rails and Sails
Harbor I · 180 min · Gaming

12:00 NOON
Munchkin
Harbor I · 120 min · Gaming

* * *

Game Room Information

Guru of the Game Tournament Rules

It’s 4 games in 5 hours. Points are awarded based on your position at the end of the game. Top 4 winners pick prizes off the prize table. You must be in Harbor I by 12:30pm on Saturday to participate in the tournament. The first game will start at 1:00 pm.

Times, Timing, and Breaks
Each game is given 60 minutes. If the game doesn’t end in 60 minutes then at the end of 60 minutes each game will stop and points will be awarded based on players position at that time.

There is a 15 minute break between each game. You can leave gaming during this time but you must be back before the start time of the next game.

Scoring and Prizes
First place gets 10 points, second gets 9, third gets 8, and so on. Max points one can earn is 40. The top four players at the end of the fourth game get to pick prizes off the prize table until all prizes are gone.

Once you pick a game it belongs to you. You are free to keep it, trade it, or give it away. Due to legal reasons, however, you cannot sell the game whilst on hotel property.

Questions and Help
Although you can ask other players for help to clarify rules, keep in mind that the players do not have to tell the truth. Judges are impartial. You can ask the judge for help with a rules issue, but the judge will not play your game for you. The judge has final say on any issues that arise.

Game Room Rules

  • No swearing, fighting, or cheating is allowed. You will be asked to leave if caught.
  • Games marked as prizes or placed on a shelf marked ‘prizes’ are not to be opened.
  • You are free to pick any game not designated as a prize and play it in gaming. You may not take the game into another room or outside the game room.
  • Remember, these games belong to other people and they are being loaned. Please respect the games and return them in the condition they were in when you took them off the shelf.
  • If you damage a game, you bought it.
  • Please clean up after yourself. You can eat and drink but don’t spill anything.

Video Game Area Rules

  • No cheating. You will be asked to leave if caught.
  • You are not allowed to change the volume on the televisions.
  • If you need to change a battery, tell a GM.
  • No food or drink is allowed beyond the Red Line of Death.
  • All systems are off-line. You cannot download content.
  • There are no save cards.
  • Please use a guest account (not Nagasn on the Xbox, for example) on the 360.