What Is URSGA?

The University of Rochester Simulation Gaming Association (URSGA) is an organization made up of students, alumni, other members of the University of Rochester community, and residents of the surrounding area who share an interest in what are commonly referred to as simulation games or adventure games.

As a self-funded Agency of the UR Students' Association, our mission is to provide a meeting-place for gameplayers at the University and throughout the Greater Rochester area, to promote the growth of gaming as a useful and beneficial activity, and to foster a greater understanding of gaming in the non-gaming public, which often has some pretty peculiar misconceptions about some of the games we play.

URSGA membership is open to everyone — no University of Rochester affiliation is required, though one must be a UoR undergraduate student to hold elected office. Meetings are held (when the UoR is in session) every week, with plenty of room for games and other activities following the official meeting. Our office is in the main UoR student activities center: Wilson Commons 504.

Among many other activities, URSGA sponsors an annual games convention, SimCon, which is held every spring on the University's River Campus. For more details on SimCon, see the official convention site at simcon.org.

What Kinds Of Games Do We Play?

URSGA is a diverse group, with members' interests ranging over many different kinds of games, most of which fall into one of the following broad categories:

Roleplaying Games

in which players create fictional characters inhabiting a setting determined by the game's referee or gamemaster, and play out their characters' adventures in what amounts to collaborative storytelling. Dungeons & Dragons is the example most likely to be familiar (at least in name) to non-players, but dozens of other roleplaying games exist, covering as many genres as the fiction section of a good bookstore.

Miniatures Games

in which participants play out battles using armies of intricately-painted metal and plastic figures, often on very large tables covered with elaborate miniature terrain and scenery. Examples include fantasy and science fiction based games such as Warhammer and CAV as well as games based on the armies and battles of history.

Collectible Card Games

are the most recent major category to emerge, having been born with the incredibly successful Magic: The Gathering in 1993. These are games in which each player assembles the most competitive deck they can from cards which are purchased in randomly-assorted packs much in the manner of sports cards or other collectible cards. Other popular CCGs include Legend of the Five Rings, Duel Monsters, and Pokemon.

Boardgames

run the gamut from familiar boxed strategy games like Risk and Axis & Allies to the very popular English-language versions of foreign games like Settlers of Catan and its sequels. This category also includes strategic and tactical simulation games based on both historical and fictional conflicts.

How can I contact URSGA?

Office

Wilson Commons 504

Phone #

585.275.6186

Address
URSGA
CPU Box 274359
University of Rochester
Rochester, NY 14627-7146