July 2025 - Playtest games at Geeky Teas!

Players and game designers wanted for this open house style event!

Hi gamers! If you haven't attended First Play for the past couple months, there have been a few changes! Peter will still be providing his guidance and leadership, but Damon and Cassandra are taking over primary moderation responsibility for these events. Please read the event schedule, and all members, new and old, should check out the Code of Conduct at the bottom of this text.

FEE: $8 to play at Geeky Teas - payable at the event to Geeky Teas at front desk. Once paid, you're covered to play games ALL DAY.

Designer sign up is closed.

Games on the menu-

# Session One

Kendall B
The Interstellar Age
In the distant future, mankind reaches beyond the solar system to the stars, discovering new mysteries about the universe and achieving insights in scientific research. Worker placement and hand building game.

Brian H
New Salem: Light
Discover who the witches are before they add too much despair to the town of New Salem in this lighter version of our previously published social deduction game!

Bob W
Monster Merchant Marine
Sail your fleet of sightseeing ships back to harbor and try not to be eaten by sea monsters while sicking your own monster on your opponents’ ships!

Steve E
Movie Mogul
Assemble the cast and crew for movies in a set-collecting game with bidding and a dash of negotiation.

Joshua B
Rulette
Rulette is a fast-paced party game for 4–6 players where spinning the dial assigns each person a rule they must follow for the rest of the game. Catch others breaking their rules will earn you points—but be careful, because calling them out might just break your own.

John C
Magic Rivals
A wizards dueling, TCG feeling, autobattler card game.

Joey V
We Sail at Dawn!
We need to work together to find supplies to build a boat and get off this island before we all get blood sucked! This game comes with a weird box you put your hand in. Only the vampire players can see which supplies are Tainted!

# Session Two

Nelson de Castro
StrongHolds
StrongHolds is a competitive Castle Building game featuring Magnetic Tiles that allow players to build vertically unlike any other game. Harness your creativity and vision as a Medieval Architect, while sabotaging your opponent by tossing and sliding siege tiles to topple their progress.

Steven C
Escape Velocity - NewSpace
Escape Velocity - NewSpace is a mid-weight Euro roll and write about being a space entrepreneur. Lead your company to mine asteroids, build a colony on the Moon, establish a base on Mars, and, hopefully, record breaking profits.

Jesse G
Totally Normal Storage, Inc.
A tableau/engine builder where shady corporations vie for shareholder value as objects of power destroy the world.

Adrian B
Critterbots
Save the most critters by pushing your luck while everyone plays at the same time. Build your deck from a shared lake of cards while carefully avoiding your trap dice!

Damon S
Lair
Forget about quests. Forget about glory. Your only goal is the clothe yourself in the first rusting trousers you can scrounge before a vampiric cave lobster tears your face clean off. A comedic cooperative dungeon crawl with randomly generated beasts.

Robert H
Exemplar
A competitive card game where you lead a Great House on a campaign to earn the title of "Custodians of the Void." Strategically play cards to locations to build your control there and earn Renown (VP). Similar to The War of the Ring: Card Game, Smash Up, and Marvel SNAP.

Jacen S
Gone West
In Gone West, players work together and guide a band of intrepid travelers across a harsh, fictionalized western frontier. It’s a semi-cooperative game of hand and resource management, where survival demands teamwork, but only personal ambition leads to victory.

SCHEDULE:
Game days have 3 segments. You do not need to come for the whole day! However, it is good etiquette if you are testing your own game to stay and test at least one other designer's game as well.

11:00am - 1:00 pm
OPEN PLAY TESTING
This is unstructured play time, ideal for short games (45min or less), 2 player games, and games that require a quieter environment. If you're a designer, grab an available table and let people know you are looking for players. If you're a player, just sit down at a game and play!

SESSION ONE 1:15pm - 3:15pm
SESSION TWO 3:30pm - 5:30pm
Scheduled sessions are the core of First Play! Each event we have two scheduled sessions, with about 5-7 games running during each time slot. Following moderator announcements, each designer running a game will have the opportunity to do an 'elevator pitch' to players. After which, players decide which game they want to play. Sessions are ideal for games that are 60-90 minutes, and have been playtested at least once before. After play, be sure to leave time to give and receive feedback. Oh, and sometimes we give away prizes!

5:30-6:30pm
DINNER BREAK

6:30-10pm
THE SKUNKWORKS
This is unstructured time to test your wildest ideas. Bring the game that may break in 5 minutes, the one that requires 10 people, or the one that may involve crawling on the ground. Bring objects that could be games, half-baked ideas, and untested print and plays. Take risks, be silly, and most importantly, have fun!

SPECIAL NOTES: No outside food is permitted but there are snacks/drinks sold at Geeky Teas. Also, FYI - There are cats at the store, roaming but keep to themselves.

Please read these guides, especially if you are new to design or playtesting-
How to do better playtesting!
How to explain rules for your confusing game prototype!

Code of Conduct Rules

1. Be kind.
2. Seriously, be even more kind than you think you need to be.
3. Read the guidelines for giving and receiving feedback.
4. Respect the rules of our venues (Geeky Teas, Paper Heroes, Odyssey, etc). We will continue to be welcome as long as we continue to be good guests.
5. New members must come to First Play as a playtester at least once before having the opportunity to run a game.
6. If you have RSVP'd to run a game, show up for your time slot. If you do not show up for your time slot, you will get a strike against you. Three strikes and moderators will discuss next steps with you about if you will be allowed to continue running games.
7. Be respectful of other community members- give as much as you receive. Playtest other peoples' games, not just your own.
8. In the case of an unresolvable or continuing conflict, please let a moderator know so we can determine next steps.
9. You will receive a warning if a legitimate complaint is lodged against you. In the case of a continuous issue, a group of at least 3 moderators will discuss and determine next steps. Consistent bad behavior will lead to a group ban.

See you soon!

Have questions?

For FAQ's, please see here - First Play FAQ’s

For a specific question please email *cassandra@ixiongameworks.com*

For community conversations join the Cardboard Alchemy Discord: https://discord.gg/2pYk3TT - find the #first-play-la-chat channel!