Scruffy started CamasCon in 2007 with a dream of bringing Christian gamers (and gamers of all kinds) together for a weekend of fun and fellowship. CamasCon has become an amazing chance for us to prayerfully step into a world were Christ is rarely represented. Gamers of every variety LOVE to get together and play! For years, these retreats have grown and thrived as people travel into the mountains to worship, study the Bible together, … and to play hour upon hour upon countless hour of strategy board games.
While CamasCon is very successful at bringing men together, more than any other kind of camp we’ve run, Scruffy noticed that attendees were almost exclusively male. CamasCon camps filled four slots during the year, but while men continued to enjoy fellowship and boardgames together, very few women attended.
We wondered why this was. Girls love games just as much as boys. I (Boo Boo) was told that boys don’t read fiction and yet all three of our sons devour books. I thought back to when I was at a huge women’s event in Seattle and Scruff wanted to bring me flowers. He tiptoed into an auditorium filled with thousands of women, finally found me, handed over the bouquet and zipped out of there as fast as possible.
How could young women help but see CamasCon as a guys event, when the room was full of 47 guys and 3 girls? If joining an auditorium full of women was daunting for Scruffy, how could we expect girls to give a board gaming camp a try when so few of them were involved?
The problem, Scuffy was also a guy. How could a guy plan a game camp for girls?
By handing off the baton! Scruff talked with Bomber, Epona, Kanga, and Meowth. Our wonderful girl staff took over the planning and took off running with the idea!
They even designed several different posters for the camp! Here is one of them.
The girl staff dubbed the new gaming retreat SamusCon! Named after Samus Aran, the leading lady of the 1986 video game Metroid!
Of course, SamusCon needed all kinds of games and so the girl staff planned a weekend full of board games, table top games, video games, and card games. Even Boo Boo played. Sure, I played badly, but thankfully, no one said that you had to actually be good at games to come!
Yes, while playing Phase 10, it took Boo Boo six tries to make it past Phase 1. However, she found that the sixth time truly was the charm!
Yes, we also played Snorta. Now, I have played Snorta on many occasions. One of the more memorable times was when Scruffy was doing so badly that it caused a small child to burst into tears of deepest sympathy. But none of my previous Snorta experiences was so incredibly LOUD as this one!
Why, you ask?
Well, I trust that a picture does indeed say a thousand words.
Many passionate words were exchanged during this supposedly chill game featuring a variety of farm animals and the noises they make … or could make … or the breakfast foods they remind you of.
The competition was fierce and some (unnamed) people didn’t even give their barn animals easy sounds like: oink, cluck cluck, and heehaw. Oh, no! We had to shout out things like: bacon, breakfast, and waffles!
Plus, when two players were dueling, they had to match these various foods and/or animal noises with the remembered animal that inspired them.
Accusations were made! Animal noises were shouted at terrible decibels! But finally, after some hid in the kitchen to save their ears, a victor was finally chosen.
Needing some time to recover, the SamusCon campers sought out less fierce games for a time.
Although, Mario Cart can get competitive as well …
Epona taught a wonderful game of Above and Below.
One camper went against my shouted warnings not to follow the stranger toward the dark cave … only to battle it out with five rock-wielding villagers and win!
We were all amazed that despite shunning Boo Boo’s sound motherly advice, she was victorious.
The girl staff really worked hard to make this a wonderful weekend.
Of course, Princess Leia Freyja also helped out.
After some practice with Scruffy before the camp, I (Boo Boo) was even able to teach a game! This is actually my very own Scooby Doo mystery game and I got to teach three people how to play with me.
I know this doesn’t look all that complex, but teaching something is totally different than simply playing it!
Despite many trials, Scoob and his friends thwarted the jewel thief and meddled until the criminals were unmasked!
Many games were played. Here, you can see a finished map for Cartographers.
We had an amazing discussion time about a Bible passage together on Sunday.
And took many, many goofy photos!
So there you have it, the very first SamusCon Girl’s Game Retreat!
Galatians 3:26-29
“So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.”
