Genius Northwest: HOUSE REUNION

Genius Northwest is a series of weekend-long immersive tabletop gaming events inspired by the Korean reality show The Genius.

Genius Northwest events are intense, weekend-long gaming competitions that test their contestant’s instinct, cunning, and their ability to form – or undermine – strong alliances. Each competition is a mixture of large format main matches and tense, one-on-one deathmatch rounds to determine who gets eliminated from the tournament. Our events combine the best elements of tabletop gaming and reality television to create a dramatic and engrossing experience unlike any other.

I co-produce Genius Northwest with several friends as a way to indulge both our obsession with the show and my increasing interest in immersive and event-based experiences. Among other things, I co-design the games and metastructure of the competition, create various gameplay assets and pieces of promotional art, construct our A/V setup and any interactive tech needs, and help organize the food and venue.

HOUSE REUNION was the second Genius Northwest event. It ran over the weekend of May 28-30, 2022. For this event, we drastically increased our production values, hiring out a much bigger venue and overhauling all of our graphic design, components, and tech. We also added additional puzzle components and a whole second series of games for players who are eliminated early in the competition to engage with.

You can learn more about Genius Northwest at its official site.