Dungeons and Dragons anyone?

The Ames Science Fiction and Fantasy Association (AMESFA) hosted its first annual gaming convention, Cycon, at the Memorial Union on March 1-2.

Two gaming tournaments were held. Participants could attend an auction, speak with the guests at the convention, win game pieces through a raffle and buy games and other fiction/fantasy items in the exhibit room.

“The weekend went really well,” said Karen Faber, vice president of AMESFA.

More than 90 participants were involved in card games, dice games, board games of strategy and role-playing at the two-day event. Players came from all over the Midwest to participate. They ranged in age from 12 to 50.

“The most important things were the games,” Faber said.

One of the games, role-playing, involves players acting out a part given to him or her by the game-master. It is then the job of the player to find out the mystery or “plot” of the game.

There are many systems to figure out the game, and Faber related role-playing to a game of chess.

“There is a lot of future involved. You have to think about what could happen in advance and then know what to do before it is your turn,” Faber said.

It was the first time for a convention like this at Iowa State, but conventions similar to Cycon take place almost every weekend across the nation, Faber said.

“ISU really needed this. A lot of people who don’t know about other gamers got the opportunity to participate,” said Vit Baccam, a junior in psychology, who won the Sealed Deck tournament portion of the convention.

Other events at the convention included a raffle and an auction. An exhibit room also was set up in the Gallery for area fantasy/fiction clubs and businesses to show items to participants.

AMESFA meets every Monday at 7 p.m. in Room 50 in Carver Hall. The next meeting is for those interested in role-playing Dungeons and Dragons. Novices are welcome.

“We just want to get players involved,” Faber said.