(UPDATED) October 5, 2021 – We were able to speak with Brian Muller, Director of Public Relations for the World Series of Board Gaming to get further details about the event and some clarifications about how it will work.
GAMES
The 16 games will still be announced over the month of October but Brian was able to tell us that it will not just be new games, there will be “some older classics as well.” Tom Vasel of Dice Tower will be demoing one on October 6th that he chose because he likes the game.
Two of the games were published this year.
There will not be any two-player games because “they had too many logistical complications for year one.”
In clarification of the preliminary rounds, it was eluded that some will be shorter than others, but it is not clear how short.
CLARIFICATION ON ROUND STRUCTURE
For the five-day event, the first four days will be the 16 “ring events” (preliminary rounds) and the final day will be for the finals. There will be 2 of the games on Wednesday, 4 of the games on Thursday, 5 of the games on Friday and 5 of the games on Saturday. That is why you are able to play in up to four of these events, you can only play in one game per day.
The ring events will be 4 or more rounds of play each (most will be 4 with shorter games most likely being over 5), single elimination.
The finals will not use a spinner, they decided to be a little more board games and a little less Vegas. They will most likely use a bag drawing mechanism. If you make the final table you will be able to “veto” a game.
PRICE OF ENTRY
The rollout of this is still being solidified but Brian was able to share – “There is likely going to be a very sweet deal as soon as the ticket window opens….Bally’s has given us some hotel rooms and we have packaged them into a real sweet 4-day 4-event deal …but only 250 of those.”
In an upcoming Dice Tower Autumn Spectacular video, the description says “We are giving away two free tickets, worth $250 each, to the World Series of Board Games Vegas Championship” which gives information about event price depending on how you want to interpret it.
WHO IS BEHIND THE ORGANIZATION
The team still wants to keep some anonymity but Brian shared a few details –
“There are 9 owners all but one of us are board gamers at some level…some want to remain anonymous.”
SIDE EVENTS
How deep the side events go will be more solidified once they have a better idea of ticket sales. These will be know as “Outer Ring Events.” They hope to include Twilight Struggle as one of the events but that is all still in the works.
More Details to come…
October 4, 2021 – On their annual autumn spectacular, Dice Tower dropped the big news of a massive World Series of Board Gaming event that will begin in Las Vegas in 2022. For the first time ever, a large-scale championship event will be taking place at the Balley’s Hotel and Casino from September 28th through October 2nd, just under one year from now. With a championship prize of $25,000, it is being billed as an event that will “change board gaming forever.”
Tickets go on sale on November 1, 2021, and more details, including game announcements, are going to be slowly revealed leading up to that date.
HOW IT WORKS
The way it works is there will be 16 different board games chosen to be played throughout the whole thing. When signing up you can choose which game to play in the preliminary rounds and you can play in up to four. Each game will be 3 or 4 players. The ultimate winner of each of the games will become one of the 16 finalists and the other nice bonus is they will each get a gold championship ring marking the accomplishment.
The finalists will get broken into four groups of four people each that all play a different game. There is a big wheel spun to choose a game from the 16 that is not it is not a game won by any of the four in that particular group (so it will be one of the other 12). The winner of each will be the final four that play one final game together (again spinning the wheel) and that winner will be the ultimate world champion and take home the $25k prize. *This is a summary of what was explained during the Dice Tower Breakfast announcement.
WHAT GAMES ARE IN THE EVENT
The 16 games are still a mystery. They are going to be announced by different media outlets through October 2021 to keep that buzz going. The first few come from Dice Tower during the Autumn Spectacular followed by Man vs Meeple, Watch it Played, Drive Thru Games, Blue Peg Pink Peg, Tim Chuon, Roll 4 Crit, Quackalope, The Brothers Murph, Rolling Dice and Taking Names, The Geek All-Stars, The Secret Cabal, Lord of the Board and Gaming Rules. We will update the information in a list below as the information becomes available.
It seems like they will be newer games because there are a lot of mentions to “many of those games will be demoed during the announcements” so most likely not the Catans or Splendors of the world. We will see.
GAME LIST
- Blood Rage (Announced via: Dice Tower)
- Ra (Announced via: Dice Tower)
- Azul (Announced via: Man vs Meeple)
- 7 Wonders with Leaders Expansion (Announced via: Man vs Meeple)
- Splendor (Announced via: Watch It Played)
- Dune: Imperium (Announced via: Drive Thru Games)
- Ticket To Ride (Announced via: Blue Peg Pink Peg)
- Settlers of Catan (Announced via: Tim Chuon)
- Carcassonne (Announced via: Roll For Crit)
- Great Western Trail (Announced via: Brother’s Murph)
- Terraforming Mars (Announced via: Quackalope)
- Brass: Birmingham (Announced via: Rolling Dice & Taking Names)
- Dominant Species: Marine (Announced via: The Geek All Stars)
- Gaia Project (Announced via: Secret Cabal)
- Wingspan (Announced via: Lord of the Board)
- Acquire (Announced via: Gaming Rules)
WHAT ELSE WILL BE GOING ON
In case you are not up to play in a championship event, there will basically be a whole gaming con going on all around it with all the normal bells and whistles like gaming libraries to play from, demos and an exhibitor hall. It will just be more exclusive, which probably means a more expensive ticket. Check out the description of events from the WSBG organization:
The World Series of Board Gaming is designed for competitive Board Gamers and any friends and family who accompany them. WSBGVegas is not a typical convention or gaming event designed for the general public. The events mentioned below are exclusively for Championship players and any guests they bring with them, as permitted by the type of ticket they purchase. The players and their guests will be allowed to participate in all activities with the exception of the sixteen Ring Events and their Finals, where only registered players will be allowed to participate.
- The 16 Ring Qualifier Events
- The Semi-Finals & Finals Championship Events
- 1,500+ Game Library
- Open Gaming Hall
- Outer Ring Tournament Events
- Exhibitor Hall
ABOUT THE WORLD SERIES OF BOARD GAMES VEGAS
This will most likely evolve over time, but this is how the organization itself describes what it is:
WSBG Vegas is an annual event located in Las Vegas, NV that supports and encourages both casual & competitive board gaming. WSBG Vegas is run by WSBG, LLC which has a mission to support all segments of the board gaming hobby and encourage gamers to sharpen their Board Gaming skills by attending regional, national, and international board gaming conventions, as well as local game play. Each year, the pinnacle of each gamer’s investment in developing their board gaming skills will be to compete at the WSBG event and be crowned the best in one of sixteen board gaming competitions and then continue on to become crowned World Champion, and receive $25,000.
WSBG is not a gaming convention but a championship that will recognize the best in board gaming. We encourage conventions and game stores to send players who will wear their team shirt to promote not only their organization but to demonstrate the unity, fun and camaraderie of sharing their passion for the hobby. Everyone can attend and compete, but only sixteen will go home with a championship ring, and only one will go home a $25,000 winner!
PRIZES
1st Place – receives the coveted WSBG Board Gaming Championship Bracelet valued at over $3,000 PLUS $25,000 in cash.
2nd Place – receives $10,000 in cash.
3rd Place – receives $5,000 in cash.
This is in addition to the 16 gold rings that are given out to the winners of each initial game before going into the finals.
FOR MORE INFORMATION & TICKETS
Check out the official World Series of Board Games Las Vegas Page: https://www.wsbgchampionship.com/
