A Look Back At Past FREE RPG Day and Selections of the Past

Free RPG Day has come and gone, and although not as big as Free Comic Book Day, the former has its legions of supporters. Not every local games shop participates, as they have to pay for shipping the items to them, but in those that do, the joy in discovering what’s new to play is part of the fun. The event helps bring people who love using their imagination to bring to life realms like Dungeons and Dragons. In the world of role-playing games, the sky is the limit for fantasy, military strategy and science fiction. With the roll of the dice, fates of characters are determined.

Ever since this event’s inception on June 16, 2007 by Impressions Game Distribution Services, the interest is there. This celebration has its host of regular sponsors, like Chessex, Pelgrane Press and Q-Workshop. Other companies participate when they have new products to promote. GAMA (The Game Manufacturers Association) is a major sponsor. Their mission is to promote the interests of all persons involved in the commerce of games and game-related products and their vision is to instill a positive impression of tabletop games in the mainstream consciousness, and to effect a significant increase in game play throughout the world.

2016 is the tenth year of this event. The future remains optimistic as kinks still need to be ironed out and the chief organizer, Aldo Ghiozzi, is well aware of the growing pains. Further support is needed to really make this event shine and if there are investors willing to help grow Free RPG Day, all the better. A transcription of his interview with Gamerati can be found here addressing the future.

Otaku no Culture offers a retrospective in what was missed with the following five favourite picks from each year, since its inception. Each year had 15-20 items offered by various companies of their wares, and often, most of them were made exclusively for Free RPG Day to introduce interested players to a hobby that’s sometimes misunderstood. To loosely borrow a phrase from Star Trek, “To boldly go where no person has gone before,” all anyone has to do is be open to new possibilites. Fascinating worlds are out there to explore and as the episode “Journey’s End” in The Next Generation suggested, the human imagination is key to enter new planes of existence. Gary Gygax would be proud.