Why Megagames?

The final battle map from my first Megagame, Watch the Skies

“So…what exactly is this Megagame thing?”

I am one of countless Megagamers who found the hobby by way of a YouTube video (the best 43 minutes you can spend on YouTube, if you ask me). This video shed light on an underground British gaming scene and I was immediately drawn into the dream of playing in one. I wish I knew when I first watched the video but I found it again in 2019. On a whim, I googled 'megagames Dallas' and, much to my surprise, there was a group based in Dallas and there was a game of Watch the Skies coming up!

Looking back, it's almost eerie how it all came together.

Fast forward two games, a pandemic and a handful of games since and I'm all in. It's hard to quantify the experiences and memories I've had while playing them. They're, without question, the best gaming experiences I've ever had.

Now, back to the original question:

What exactly is a Megagame?

This question is far more difficult to answer than it should be, but here it goes.

A Megagame is part role-playing game, part board game, part social deduction game where 30+ people are separated into teams working towards specific goals.

One game you could be a Knight, fighting for glory and working to carve out a bigger realm for your noble house. The next you could be the Prime Minister of a country, navigating the hazardous waters of first contact with extra terrestrials. And so much more.

The way you approach your team's tasks and how that aligns with, or gets in the way of, other teams is where the magic of Megagames happens. Unlike a game of Dungeons and Dragons or Risk, you aren't dealing with how three other people react to your actions. You're dealing with how tens of other people react and how they perceived your actions. It's incredible.

So how long does this take?

Honestly, a long time!

Megagames are usually broken into phases; one where you go off and do the role that was assigned to you and another where you come back together with your team to discuss what happened and plan for the next turn. It's a purposefully breakneck pace where there's not enough time to really do everything you want to do.

And the game takes place over the course of about sixish hours. Yeah, six hours of breakneck speeds and there's not enough time to do everything you'll want to do. Which is why you come back and try it again.

You mentioned roles. What is that?

That's another hard to answer question, since it varies so much game by game. I'll do my best to explain some general roles that I've seen:

My collection of Megagame role badges

Team Leader - This one is pretty self explanatory. The Team Leader is the one who gathers the information their team collects over the course of a round, processes it and sets about priorities for the next round. They usually get to interact with the other team leads to find help or navigate any potential road blocks.

Military Person - If the game has a battle map, this is the person whose job it is to go make your team fight the good fight (hopefully). The Military Person will also be tasked with reporting back to the team what happens at the battle map and mingling with the other Military People to figure out what their goals are.

Diplomat - This role is exactly what it sounds like. There's usually someone on the team whose job it is to work diplomacy and maneuver the team to be well regarded by all the other teams in the room. They could be forging trade deals or trying to institute a new form of government.

Resource Person - The Resource Person could either be the team member who is specifically assigned to keeping up with the teams resources or is trying to invent ways for the team to do better through game mechanics. This role is highly variable depending on the game; so you could be an Engineer who ensures your ship keeps flying or a Scientist who is striving to create the next Mars rocket.

Your day will vary wildly depending on the role you choose (or are assigned). One of the incredible moments after a Megagame finishes is sitting down with your friends and really hearing about how their day went; because they just played the same game you did but experienced the day in a radically different way.

Woah, this seems like a lot, Greg. I don't think I could handle something like that.

A shot of the battle map from Den of Wolves (picture from the DMG GNN Twitter)

I get it. It sounds like a lot and there's a lot going on during a turn. However, the specific rules you play with and the tasks you will be given are laser focused.

As the Resource Person, you don't need to know the Diplomat's rules. You just need them to tell you what they did in a turn and see if any of it helps you accomplish your goal.

The magic is the intersections between the different roles, between the different teams. As the Resource Person from Team A, you might learn that the Military Person on Team C discovered something you want during a recent mission. It's entirely up to you and your team to determine how to get you that something.

So, it seems like you have to talk a lot?

The way I play Megagames, I basically talk for 6 hours straight. This will come as a huge surprise to most of the people who know me, because I'm usually a very quiet and reserved person.

In Megagames, communication is everything. That's how you learn what's going on, that's how you find out information, that's how you create those magic moments. If you aren't talking to someone in a Megagame, you might be playing it wrong.

No one person has all the pieces to the puzzle and you definitely can't solve the puzzle by yourself. You need the other people in the room and they need you.

What about this role-playing thing you mentioned earlier? Is this just Dungeons and Dragons?

Yes? But also. No?

One thing I preach to new players is to allow themselves to fully immersed themselves in the experience as much as they can. For the next six hours, you are an engineer on a spaceship or a diplomat in the UN. Think like one, act like one.

Before you ask, no, you don't have to dress up. It would be cool if you did but you don't have to.

The more you allow yourself to live and breathe the game you are playing, the more you'll get out of it. I guarantee that.

Isn't that…weird?

Yeah, but most of the best things in life are weird. It's also fun. It's a whole lot of fun and I'd love to play a Megagame with you.

I have played most of my Megagames with a group called Dallas Megagames, you can find them on Facebook or Twitter.

If you're not from the Dallas area, you may be able to find groups near you on the Megagame Assembly website.

If you have any questions about my experiences with Megagames or Megagames in general, I'd be happy to answer them in the comments below.