Opttacon 2019
What: Tabletop gaming convention
Where: Guy Cole Event Center, Carrie Blake Community Park, 202 N. Blake Ave.
When: Aug. 16 (VIP night), Aug. 17 (general admission)
More info: opttacon.org
The Opttacon gaming convention returns to Sequim this weekend, and tickets are still available for the second-year event.
Opttacon 2019 is being held at the Guy Cole Event Center at Carrie Blake Park at Aug. 17 from 10 a.m.-10 p.m.
Many tickets were pre-sold through a Kickstarter funding campaign earlier this year, but tickets will also be available at the door or at opttacon.org for $13.
According to event organizer Jeff Tinglestadt, people who haven’t been to an event like Opttacon will be welcome to come in for free to see what it’s like, then purchase a ticket to stay.
“Being able to bring so many young people together in an area like Sequim that isn’t known for giving them things to do was great,” Tinglestad said, noting that some of last year’s 150 visitors said they’d come from as far as Ellensburg to attend.
This year, Tinglestad is hoping to get closer to the 200-person limit of the Guy Cole facility.
As in 2018, the convention will be sponsored by Anime Kat, a gaming and comics store in Port Angeles. Opttacon will also include a number of vendors, artists and demonstrations, including the return of Cherry Picked Games, a Seattle-based company that develops a number of role-playing games.
Other notable guests will include Cammry Lapka of Port Angeles-based comic company Pugmera Studio, as well as Donna Barr, a comic author and cartoonist.
Volunteers will be on-hand to help play and teach games to gamers of all kinds — from experienced board game veterans to those who have only played a game or two of Monopoly and want to learn more. There were some learning sessions last year but Opttacon will offer more learning opportunities in 2019, Tinglestand said, after getting suggestions from last year’s attendees.
