NEW Game opens offers annual home for board enthusiasts from around the state
Northeast Wisconsin Gameapalooza, NEW Game for short, welcomed board game enthusiasts for their tenth anniversary. Since 2013, NEW Game has served as a place for gamers to meet new people and try different adventures. NEW Game is held at one of the UWO buildings every year in October. It began when organizers of the former Oshkosh game convention, OshCon, decided to stop the yearly convention after 10 years running. Four friends, who had been going to OshCon for some time, decided to keep the tradition rolling.
“We all enjoyed coming to OshCon so much that we decided that we should start NEW Game in place of OshCon, and then we had ideas on how to make it bigger,” organizer Jim Stevens said.
NEW Game had a steady influx of visitors until COVID-19 in 2020. The convention has been recovering and growing in popularity ever since. The biggest convention was in 2019, with around 550 attendees.
“People come from all over, Milwaukee, Michigan, Minnesota, and Illinois,” staff member and organizer Jennifer Ruetten said.
The event caters to all game enthusiasts by offering a variety of pricing options.
“Badges vary in price, weekends are $30 per person, Friday is $15, Saturday is $20, Sunday is $5, visitors are $2 per day, and students are $5 per day with a student ID,” Stevens said.
Anyone can bring in their own games or borrow games from the game library provided by Jamey Philipp of the Milwaukee Company of Gamers, also known as MilCog.
“I have about 30 racks of games at home, but I only bring four racks to NEW Game. On those racks, I have about 3,000 games,” Philipp said. “People ask one of us for a game, then they get to borrow that game in exchange for their drivers license. Once they return the game, they get their license back.”
This system is much appreciated by attendees like James McGee, who has been coming to NEW Game for three years running.
“I like that there’s so many choices of games to play from the gaming library,” he said.
Apart from the vast variety of games to choose from, NEW game features a consignment shop available for all visitors.
“ Attendees can bring in games or gaming related items and pay a low fee for each lot that they enter, and sell their games,” Stevens said.
The Con offers concessions, chips, drinks, candy, and raffle tickets for the chance to win games. The West Brewing Futures truck was hired this year to provide food for all attendees. Merchandise is also available for purchase, such as shirts, bags, water bottles, dice, and dice bags with the NEW Game logo. However, all money made goes right back into NEW games because it is a non-profit; all money made goes to pay for the next convention. However, NEW game supports more than just itself, reaching out to the community by offering local vendors to sell their art, games, dice, jewelry, and other products.
“NEW Game is a great place for nerds to come together and get to know each other, and I make kind of nerdy art, so I thought this would be a great place to sell my work,” local artist and entrepreneur Kelly Coutley said.
Every year, organizer Heath Ruetten constructs an escape room available for all attendees. Usually it's $3 per person to sign up for a time, although this year, Ruetten did something different. Instead of one big escape room, he made 3 mini escape rooms, all free to do. Participants try to figure out the puzzle and find the three hidden words, and once found, they get a ticket for a chance to win a game.
Unique to this year's convention, NEW Game celebrated its 10 year anniversary, which included free treats, and a gathering for attendees on October 14.
“These are my people, these are the people that I'm very comfortable with, some of them I only see once or twice a year at conventions,” volunteer Brett Baumgarten said. “I like that games offer a very structured way to interact with people, and I find the community very welcoming.”
by Tenna Ruetten
Published October 30, 2023
Oshkosh West Index vol 120 issue II