Arcanacon XXVIII is the year of Science! Whether your interest is dials, levers, raising the dead, making toast, creating utopias, creating monsters, transforming mankind or just plain showing them all, this year is for you.

Arcanacon (usually pronouced AR-CARN-A-CON, but sometimes AR-CAN-AR-CAN) as an idea sprang into being towards the end of 1982 in the minds of members of MUDDA (Melbourne University Dungeons & Dragons Association). Arcanacon I, run in September 1983, featured the major D&D, Silverwraithe Quest, a Traveller tournament as well as the second freeform to be ever run in Australia - Trouble in Fandonia.

In the following years, Arcanacon moved time from September to July to January, and location from Melbourne University to numerous homes and finally to Collingwood College. However, in each year, the organisers have always made it their goal to present the best con experience they can to the players, GMs, writers and special guests that have attended.

When is Arcanacon?

Arcanacon will be held at Collingwood College, Melbourne, from Saturday 23 January to Tuesday 26 January, 2010. (Please note that Tuesday is the Australia Day Holiday, but Monday is not a public holiday.)

So... what is Arcanacon?

Arcanacon is a Role Playing Games (RPG) Convention.

The "Convention" bit is easy - it's a big gathering of people with a similar interest. Over the 4 days that Arcanacon (or Arc for short) runs, people come along and attend or run events, hang out and basically have fun. It's a social thing rather than a competition, and a chance to revel in their hobby.

Role Playing Games are a bit harder to explain. Fundamentally they are games where you play a role, or act out a character, rather than move counters around a board. The game itself is a story, and you 'win' by having the story finish in the way your character would like it to.

A roleplaying game has a lot in common with games like "How to Host a Murder" or Theatre Sports types of games, but they are both more structured and more improvised. There are almost as many types of roleplaying games as there are genres of books and movies - comedy, adventure, drama, science fiction, horror and lots more.

The only way to really understand is to come along and join in. We love new people to come to Arcanacon, and the organisers are happy to answer questions, and help you find games that are easiest to pick up from scratch.

How do I sign up?

Jump across to AON, the online registration system. You can join AON as a member, and then sign up for Arcanacon XXVIII.

For more information, see registration

If you want to make sure you don't miss out on anything Arcanaconical, consider signing up to the Arcanacon announce mailing list - that way you'll definitely get the early info on any Arcanacon updates during the year.