From high stakes games of Settlers of Catan to role-playing a campaign of Dungeons and Dragons, this weekend will be full of tabletop battles for game enthusiasts.

The fifth annual Terminal City Tabletop Convention takes place on Saturday and Sunday at the Croatian Cultural Centre, and founder Shannon Letz said the bigger space has allowed him to expand a few features of the event.

He's added a room specifically for role-playing games and expanded his "Proto-alley," where local game designers can showcase their unpublished work.

"You've got to have a game that involves some good, meaty decisions. If it doesn't have meaningful decisions… it's just going to get stale really fast," designer Jay Cormier told B.C. Almanac host Dan Burritt.

The convention has collected more than 300 games for players to choose from over the weekend, and game stewards can teach anyone interested in learning a new game.

Altering worlds

A trend in tabletop games both Letz and Cormier have noticed are "legacy" games, where the game and board permanently changes after each play.

"You actually take stickers and place them on the board… and add new components. The game changes and the world changes that you're playing in as you play it, it's pretty cool," said Cormier.

Their recommendations for legacy games are Pandemic — which was the first game to make this concept popular — and the top rated board game, Gloomhaven.

High stakes 

The convention will also host the Western Qualifier round of the national Settlers of Catan tournament where players will have the chance to win a trip to attend the 2018 Catan Canadian Nationals Tournament at Fan Expo in Toronto, airfare and hotel paid.

"Most of the board gaming is pretty lighthearted and fun, everyone plays to win but you're not too upset if you don't win.

"But the Settlers tournament, this is the first year that we're running it and the stakes are high," said Letz.

Letz said he enjoys the social aspect that board games offer and is excited to create that atmosphere for Vancouver gamers again this year.

"I think because we spend so much time at work on computers, when we get home it's nice to turn those off and sit face to face and push cardboard and wood around the table."

With files from B.C. Almanac