Megagames are large-scale simulations with elements of strategy, diplomacy, and role-playing.
Megagaming initially grew out of the hobbyist wargaming scene in the UK, as designers sought to more faithfully capture the human element in conflict. Themes have expanded too, with recent megagames covering every topic from zombie outbreaks to high-school drama.
Megagames usually include a wide range of roles - from purely operational (moving armies around a map, managing resources and trade agreements) to purely interpersonal (chief negotiator, or ace reporter) with plenty in between. As with real life, megagames rarely have explicit victory conditions and explicit winners and losers, instead encouraging players to engage creatively with the scenario and engineer a good outcome.
A play by email megagame (PBEM) is a megagame played over a period of weeks, usually with each week corresponding to a turn, with players communicating via email and/or via specialist apps. Most OMEGA PBEMs have used a custom app, CANDI, and have had a greater focus on roleplaying and narrative rather than strategy and operational play.
Whatever your preferred form of tabletop gaming, you’ll find something in megagames that excites you - grand strategy, alliances and betrayals, and roleplaying. We hope to see you at one soon!
In 2014, popular UK Board Game site Shut Up & Sit Down were invited to come and film the first run of Jim Wallman's Watch The Skies, heralding a major explosion of interest in the hobby. These videos are a great introduction to how a megagame can play.