In pictures: Gamers and cosplayers unite at Ptarmicon

“A group of friends who really were into video games and were anime artists … decided they would put together a little event one summer.”

Reigh Foster, president of Ptarmicon, said that’s how Yellowknife’s summer gaming and pop culture convention began more than a decade ago.

Over the years, Ptarmicon’s venue kept changing – from high school gyms and the basement of a hotel. This past weekend, the event’s 12th edition took place at the city’s multiplex to accommodate a bigger audience.

“In the last five years, we’ve grown so much that we’ve been able to hold the event here or at the YK community arena,” Foster said.

More than 600 people attended last year’s convention, she recalled.

Ptarmicon bills itself as the “world’s most northern” convention for gaming and pop culture or “Comic Con, but with a northern flare.”

Foster said some attendees create their own outfits representing characters from movies or TV shows for a chance to win a costume contest. Others play arcade and board games that are on display at the event.

“Most of those people will sew everything or they’ll commission someone who does all of that. It’s very intricate – they want all the movie details so it looks accurate,” Foster said of the cosplayers.

Yellowknife resident Ryland Yakeleya said he has been attending Ptarmicon since he was in high school. He said he mustered up the courage to cosplay as Robin from the game Fire Emblem for the 2023 event.

“It is a bit of a mage-type of character. It was an old costume I had been wanting to wear since high school,” he said.

This year, Yakeleya said he made his costume from an orange jumpsuit, two litre bottles, spray paint and a cut up black t-shirt.

“I just like wearing something based off of games. It’s very fun and I like it,” he said.

“Getting into the gaming culture. It’s really nice to come out and see lots of diverse variety of what resides within the nerd community. It’s really nice that an event like this happens here in Yellowknife. It’s about coming out and supporting the event and its organizers.”

Yellowknife LARP, which stands for live action role play, set up a booth demoing some gaming weapons for those interested in Nerdy Fitness, which the group hosts every Tuesday. An archery range was also set up nearby.

Weekly during the summertime, the group gets together to role play a Dungeons & Dragons, or DND, based story outside of town.

Alexandra Rosilius said they started doing so as a small group of friends four years ago and have since expanded.

“We have a lot of interested people. Anyone who is really nerdy and into DND, tends to show up,” she said.

“We all really like DND, so the idea of dressing up and actually acting out the story was a lot of fun. There is a lot more variation too when you’re there in person.”

Ptarmicon’s video game organization has also expanded in recent years. Foster said it has provided gamers with many opportunities to win prizes through tournaments and thanked this year’s sponsors for their support.

Brayden O’Boyle, a professional gamemaster, was invited to run games for other players at the convention.

Ontario-based gamer Cole Hickling, who goes by the username GreenSuigi, was speedrunning – completing a video game or level of a game as fast as possible – Super Mario 64 at the event, until a brief power outage at the venue disrupted the game.

“People who do this, they find glitches in the game and they complete this whole game in hours, instead of days,” Foster said. “GreenSuigi holds a world record for completing a certain number of stars in under 15 minutes. He broadcasts online and we brought him up here so he can show off what he does.”

Ptarmicon also featured the work of artists.

Aidan Charpentier, who embroiders cartoons by hand, showcased some of his work at the event.

He said it began during the Covid-19 pandemic when he made some simple designs for family members as Christmas presents. He stuck with the hobby because it turned out to be “meditative, peaceful and calm.”

“If I find a picture that I really like or I find people can really relate to, I feel the need to do it. It’s just a part-time thing. I do it while I watch a movie. I put the TV on in the background. I’ll start it, I’ll work on it for a couple of hours everyday,” he said.

“Depending how long, it could take a week, or a month.”