Spiel-a-thon 2016 - BGG
The 2016 Spiel-a-thon at BGG Con in Dallas, Texas was a resounding success! The driving force behind every Spiel-a-thon is to raise money by playing games so more kids and seniors around the country can play, too.
We raised $2,500 in less than 3 hours. The proceeds from each Spiel-a-thon fund our efforts to place bundles of quality games into children’s hospitals and senior centers around the country!
This Spiel-a-thon featured a new carnival format we tested earlier in the year at our Spiel-a-thon at Geekway to the West. Players earn stamps for each game played and paid $3 per stamp.
Here are some amazing pictures of the event from Debbie Ohi, the official photographer for the Spiel-a-thon. Even more pics are available here.
We have a tireless, energetic group of volunteers that make each Spiel-a-thon happen. The people listed in the photo below donate time, resources and creativity to make the event a memorable experience for all involved. Our cast of volunteers this year included (left to right): Francie Broadie, Patty Richardson, Stephen Conway Erin Green, Doug Richardson, John Knoerzer, Beth Heile, Ezra Denney, Jeff Ridpath, Carlos Hernandez, Roni Worley, Mark Smalley, Erin Davis, David Coleson.
At the end of the event, the top six scoring player competed against a panel of gaming celebrities to win prizes.
Here are all the finalists and gaming celebs, ready for the final round!
Celebrities competing in this year’s Spiel-a-thon:
Rich Sommer (actor, host of Cardboard!)
Matt Leacock (left; Game Designer – Pandemic, Roll Through the Ages, Forbidden Desert…)
Stephen Buonocore (Stronghold Games)
Lance Myxter (Undead Viking, TMG) | Michael Fox (Little Metal Dog) | Scott Alden (BGG)
The ultimate winner of this year’s Spiel-a-thon at BGG Con was Matt Tabak. Congrats to Matt and all the finalists!
The celebrities competed against each other for bragging rights and the honor of raising the jeweled meeple trophy aloft for the next year. This year’s celebrity Spiel-a-thon winner was Rich Sommer! Rich was a perfect 6-0, going undefeated playing Sticky Sticks against our finalists! Impressive! As you can see, Rich’s reaction to running the table and winning the Spiel-a-thon trophy was very understated.
Last but certainly not least, a massive thank you to our prize sponsors!
We had an amazing array of games to give away during the Spiel-a-thon thanks to the generous donations of our 27 prize sponsors. There were random prize drawings, plus six final contestants competed for juicy prize bundles!
Here’s an alphabetical listing of sponsors with links to the games or game accessories donated. Let them know you appreciate their support of The Spiel Foundation!
Bezier Games
Black Locust Games
Blue Cherry Faerie
Broken Token
Devir
Endless Spiral
Firefly Lasers
Formal Ferret
Funagain Games
Game Salute
Indie Boards & Cards
Matagot
MayDay Games
Mr. B Games
North Star Games
Perplext
Quick Simple Fun Games
R&R Games
Solar Flare Games
Stronghold Games
Thames & Kosmos
TMG
Vile Genius
Wattsalpoag
WizKids
Wyrmwood
Last but certainly not least a big THANK YOU to the entire BGG Con staff for allowing us to to host the Spiel-a-thon at the convention now for the past 7 years. We appreciate their support and willingness to work with us to make each year’s event better than the last. We’re already looking forward to next year!
