ATHOL – Last Friday and Saturday, game lovers from around the North Quabbin gathered at Athol Public Library for the first Mini Game Con 2025.

The event, which featured a wide variety of board and card games, was the brainchild of Dungeons & Dragons player and Athol resident Joe McNamara, and organized under the guidance of young adult library technician Emily Boughton.

“It was definitely very successful,” Boughton told the Athol Daily News. “We were hopping until closing time. I would say that over the two days and with the D&D games going on we easily had around a hundred people.”

Among those in attendance was Jake Nonni of Athol. At a table in the library’s community room, Nonni was introducing game players to the game of Trilaterum.

“My friend Timothy Colonna, his company is Trench Coat Minis out of Derry, New Hampshire,” he said. “He makes this game; he’s been making it for the last 10 years. It is a 15mm war game, but he also makes a larger scale 28mm, and he made a World War II and Vietnam-era war game as well.”

Asked about the setting for Trilaterum, Nonni said, “This is a science fiction universe, much in the Star Wars or Warhammer vein, stuff like that. We have different races, like the lizard people and the sentient robots, intent on destroying all humanity. We have the bear people.”

The game features colorful miniatures, including character figurines, buildings and landscaping.

Another game creator, Leif McQuown of Orange, was providing instruction on his game, Awakening TTRPY. With a table full of interested students, he was unable to break away for an interview.

The weekend included a host of classic and contemporary games, from D&D and Clue to Exploding Kittens. Boughton said that, with the success of this first venture into gaming conventions, “We’ll probably bring it back again next year in some form.”

Greg Vine can be reached at gvineadn@gmail.com.