Cheating never felt so ethical for the gamers of Wilmington. They broke rules but without punishment because their trickery will help put food on the plates of the starving and hungry in Delaware.
Paul Wysocki and his gaming club ran a food drive Saturday in a unique fashion. The daylong event saw gamers come out to play at Alternate Universes in Wilmington, where they took part in a game called Warmachine, a fantasy play involving ancient rivalries across different realms.
Unlike other days of play, gamers were allowed to cheat, and all the cheats came in the form of a donation to the Food Bank of Delaware.
Each player could purchase physical or virtual chips ranging from $1 to $10, which would enable them to bend the rules of the game such as gain an extra life or have a rival army’s leader play for their side.
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“We incentivize them to play the game normally but have a little tweak where they could do something cool by throwing a dollar or two, and that money would go to the food bank,” said Andy Bevenour, who co-founded the club with Wysocki.
The club had a target to raise $500 throughout the day, but they exceeded that amount even before “the first dice hit the table,” according to Erica Bevenour, Andy’s wife.
Wysocki and [Andy] Bevenour started the club last summer “as a fun thing to do” during COVID so people “could get together and see each other.”
They now have about 12 gamers including teenage players and those in their 50s, who meet every week to play.
“It’s more than a bunch of nerds playing games you know,” Wysocki said. “We are out here trying to do something positive and make a difference.”
You can donate at fbd.fenly.org/drive/foodmachine-at-alternate-universes.
