The Moose Jaw Gamers Association (MJGA) is gearing up for its big winter event, taking place Friday through Sunday at the Moose Jaw Cultural Centre.

MJGA hosts several fundraising events each year, the biggest being GAX (Gamers Association eXpo), which is an annual gaming convention that features Dungeons & Dragons as well as other tabletop role-playing games, tabletop wargaming such as Flames of War and Warhammer 40k, boardgames of all kinds, and a LAN / Video Game Room. There will also be local vendors set up on-site.

"We're all very excited," remarked MJGA vice president Talon Regent. "GAX is our winter event where we bring together people that are passionate about gaming from all over the province and sometimes even internationally."

Gamers are encouraged to bring their own supplies whether it be consoles, PCs and/or tabletop games. Monitors will be provided. Ethernet cables will allow gamers to connect with up to 40 additional computer players.

"The Moose Jaw Gamers started 15 years ago as a big LAN (local area network) party where people all brought their PCs," noted Regent. "Now that we've expanded, we encourage people to bring their computers, we encourage people to bring their board games. If you're a fan of Magic The Gathering, bring your deck and if you're a fan of Dungeons and Dragons, bring your dice, bring your outfits, bring whatever you like."

This year's event will mark the second time that the MJGA will be hosting a Settlers of Catan national qualifying tournament. The next Canadian National Championship will take place in 2024, with the date and location to be announced. Entry into the Catan tournament is free with a paid GAX ticket.

GAX 2023 is open to all ages. The cost is $20, which covers entry for the entire weekend. The event runs Friday from 5 p.m. to midnight, Saturday from 9 a.m. to midnight and Sunday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Free pizza will be served on Saturday.

"We are a charity. All of this is done on a non-profit basis by volunteers. Our board doesn't get paid a dime. We don't take any sort of compensation and every penny left over at the end of the weekend, we donate it to a local children's charity and we've been doing that for 10 years now," added Regent. "We have actually donated to every single children's charity in the Moose Jaw area. Now we're making the tour again starting with Hunger in Moose Jaw."

Since 2010, MJGA has put in thousands of volunteer hours and raised more than $16,000 for local causes benefiting children in Moose Jaw.

Tickets for GAX 2023 are available at MJGA.ca