Adepticon 2024: New Play Format Overview & Prizewall

Our Communications & Community Manager, Anne, sat down with our OP Coordinator, Andrea, and the Director of Product Development, Will Shick, to talk about the events, prizing, and philosophy for AdeptiCon!

 

What new game modes and events can I experience with AMG at AdeptiCon?

Andrea: We have several new and exciting events planned! However, we want to remind everyone that many formats you know and love will be showcased also. For example, MCP will feature a Challenger event on Thursday and Friday with a Timeline event on Saturday and Sunday. Some of the other new events include:

Star Wars™: Shatterpoint, Learn to Play (using initiation kit rules)

We have worked with AdeptiCon to create a step between demos and Star Wars: Shatterpoint tournament play. The initiation kit scenarios allow players to become more familiar with game mechanics while playing on a smaller scale. These will be run with a judge on hand to assist and all materials will be provided.

Star Wars: Shatterpoint, One with the Force League

The Star Wars: Shatterpoint league uses the standard rules while adding a fun twist. Players will have a code tracker and code deck that will be used throughout each game they play. Each randomly drawn code card has a light side and a dark side ability that players can activate while tracking their affinity for the dark or light side of the force. At the end of each match, players will unlock a resonance ability on their resonance tracker, to be used in future games!

Marvel: Crisis Protocol, Mojo Ball Training Camp, and Mojo Ball Bowl

Players hope that their Team Captain can lead them to victory in this Football-themed game mode. Mojo Ball introduces new rules, tokens, Team Captain Abilities (Leaderships), and Playbook cards (Team Tactics cards). Training camp will be your opportunity to learn how to play with a judge nearby coaching you as needed through this experience. The Mojo Ball Bowl will be a tournament where players are expected to know the rules and how to play – either by coming to training or learning from friends who have.

GNK Racing, an AMG Experience!

We are incredibly excited to premier a brand new mini-game at AdeptiCon. Take control of your very own GNK and race through a scrapyard to victory! GNKs might not be fast or stable, but they are entertaining. Each player will jockey for position using all the tools in their highly questionable arsenal! There is no experience or materials needed unless you would like to bring your own custom GNK, which can be found in the Shatterpoint Take Cover Terrain Set! Staff will be on hand to explain the game and guide you through the experience.

Shick: GNK Racing is one of those crazy ideas that spawned from a random off-handed comment during some random meeting. The words “GNK Racing” were said in complete jest, and from that continued to come back up as a fun sidebar in conversations. It took the frenetic energy and craziness of Ministravaganza to turn this fun little inside joke into reality. Pagani and I were in between streams and responsibilities, waiting for our much-needed lunch to arrive when we suddenly started actually designing the game. After about 15 minutes of talking, we left for the playtest room and started mapping things out on the actual table. 15 minutes after that we started yelling for people to come into the room and that was the beginning of GNK Racing. From there everyone started live testing this very organic game design. We didn’t even have anything written down. We just played and Pagani made notes on his notepad as we went. I think all told the staff got through 4 or 5 “games” over the rest of Ministravaganza while waiting for their next stream or during lunch. GNK Racing is ridiculous and so awesome because it is born of that perfect combination of exhaustion-induced silliness, love of pushing our dev and design skills, and just the pure joy of getting friends around a table and experiencing games together. It’s a lightning-in-a-bottle moment and I can’t wait for the AdeptiCon attendees to get their chance to experience it.

Aside from GNK Racing, most of our other brand-new formats focus on Shatterpoint for its very first official AdeptiCon outing. Shatterpoint Lead Dev Michael Plummer has created an awesome multi-day convention campaign experience where players can choose their alignment to the Force over the weekend, and we have two new Showdown formats that tweak how players must build their Strike Teams. While Shatterpoint as the new kid got much of the new stuff, we worked closely with our partners at AdeptiCon to make sure the schedule for all our games was exciting and dynamic for everyone attending AdeptiCon no matter what your personal gaming preferences are. And, for the first time this year, no matter how you choose to play, there are plenty of awesome rewards and prizes for you to walk away with.

 

What are the “AdeptiCon Presents” events on the schedule?

Shick: AdeptiCon Presents events are formats or game modes not designed, developed, or tested by AMG. When we present an official format or game mode for any of our games, we put it through the same extensive development process that all our game rules go through. We do this so that when we work with various conventions and events around the world we can provide players with a nearly identical experience no matter where they are or what show they are attending.

However, official formats certainly aren’t the only way to play, and conventions like AdeptiCon are run by tabletop game lovers of all types and experiences. AdeptiCon Presents formats and game modes are new ways to play concocted by the minds of the AdeptiCon crew themselves. They push the boundaries in exciting ways and bend or completely break the rules in order to provide a one-of-a-kind experience to attendees. While they may not be official, they are one of the coolest things about going to a show like AdeptiCon. We are always happy to partner with them to bring the best convention experience possible to everyone who shows up to enjoy our games.

 

I see mention of an AMG Prizewall, can you tell us more about that?

Andrea: All official (or AdeptiCon Presents) AMG events will award prizewall tickets that allow participants to choose their prizes – The more you play, the more you can get! There will be prizes for each of the five game lines and even some with AMG branding. As we nail down the final details, we will release both final images of the items you can expect along with the ticket rewards and costs so you can plan accordingly.

Shick: I know everyone wants all the details, and we absolutely want to give them all to you too! However, as with everything there are multiple stages to the process to bring you final and approved images and info. Once we have those available, we will not only shout them from the mountaintop, but we will also more reasonably post them on our social media channels!

 

Are these prizewall items exclusive to AdeptiCon 2024?

Shick: AdeptiCon 2024 is the debut of our AMG Prizewall. This is a concept that we’ve been talking about wanting to do since we started the studio. It’s only now, thanks to the work of our intrepid Marketing Crew that we are finally ready to unveil this program. It is our intention that this will be a mainstay at all of our officially attended events going forward. As far as the prizes on it, they will see a regular rotation as current items run out and new items replace them. The goal is to make each prize wall just a little bit unique, just like every convention and event itself is, but provide players with several opportunities to grab the items they want without having to travel to one specific event.

 

Will any events award prizes outside of tickets?

Andrea: Yes, 4 events will have unique prizes that you can only receive by playing in (or winning) them. The Three World Championships will have unique participation card promos commemorating their participation in the invite-only tournament. The only other exclusive items will be the World Championship trophies and the MCP Timeline Event trophy. The Timeline trophy is a one-of-a-kind creation, currently being made by Brendan Roy, one of our key Studio Painters whose miniature painting work has graced the front of a huge number of our products,  and we can’t wait to show it off!

Shick: Long-time players will certainly see a shift in AMG’s prize structure as it comes more in line with our organized play philosophy over the next few years. We want to encourage players to interact with our games in the way that they enjoy most without it affecting the quantity or quality of the prizes they receive. To embrace this, you will see a new, more consistent payout structure that looks more to the time invested in playing rather than simply focusing on winning or losing, as well as a wide offering of prizes available to anyone playing AMG games at AdeptiCon! The unique prizes given out at AdeptiCon are specifically marked for that event and are meant to reward and acknowledge exceptional achievement in a particular event or game. While we want all players to feel amply rewarded for doing what we all love and playing games, we also still want ways to celebrate those individuals who go above and beyond in developing and showcasing their skills within the game and hobby.

In addition to what we at AMG offer for prizes and awards, the incredible event staff who oversee AdeptiCon also have their own convention-specific awards and prizes which they hand out per their own criteria. These awards are part of what makes AdeptiCon such a must-not-miss destination for so many new and long-time attendees.

 

Can you review how many tickets players will get for the various types of events?

Andrea: AMG events at AdeptiCon will pay out tickets to the AMG Prizewall, as listed in their description. Marvel: Crisis Protocol, Star Wars: Shatterpoint, and Star Wars: X-Wing’s rounds are shorter and will award 5 participation tickets, while Star Wars: Legion and Star Wars: Armada’s longer rounds will award 8 participation tickets. Tournaments that award tickets for wins will grant 1 to the shorter games and 2 for the longer ones. There are three event types with the following prize structures:

• Learn to Plays, GNK Racing, and MojoBall Training Camp will award participation tickets.
• Leagues are a bit different. They will award 6 participation tickets for each game and players can report a maximum of 4 AMG league games, for a total of 24 tickets, a day.
• Tournaments (everything else) will award participation tickets per game plus 1 or 2 ticket per win, as described above.

Shick: The prize structure allows all players to earn essentially the same number of tickets per day whether you are doing open play, AdeptiCon Presents modes, or vying to become a Worlds champion – allowing you to decide how you want to spend your time playing and engaging in the games in the way you find most fun.

 

Do tickets expire and can players combine their tickets?

Andrea: Tickets awarded at AdeptiCon 2024 will only be redeemable at AdeptiCon 2024. They will expire when the AMG Prizewall closes on Sunday, March 24th. Yes, players will be allowed to combine or pool their tickets if they wish to.

 

updated 2/12/24