Extra Lifers CRUSHED Tabletop Appreciation Weekend 2020
This past Friday-Sunday, gamers across the United States and Canada participated in the fourth annual Extra Life Tabletop Appreciation Weekend. It’s a special time of the year for Extra Lifers to let their tabletop love shine and maybe, just maybe, rope their friends into another hyper-competitive game of Risk. The event has proven to be an enduring favorite among members of the Extra Life community.
As more people have started dusting off board games or running one-shot RPGs, Tabletop Appreciation Weekend has grown. A year ago, tabletop gamers managed to raise just about $60,000 USD. That number jumped to over $100,000 in 2020! Over the weekend, over 1600 Extra Lifers managed to reach the $75 USD fundraising goal for the limited edition Extra Life d20 die.
Over the weekend, we spent time checking in with many of the Extra Lifers streaming their events on Twitch. We met all kinds of cool and interesting people with deeply moving stories and silly winks at their cameras. Here are just a few of our favorite streams that we visited:
We popped in to see trueTIMfoolery repping Extra Life while playing Clubhouse Games: 51 Worldwide Classics, a collection of digital board games! Armed with nifty Extra Life banners, push-ups, and a super cool Extra Life tumbler. Also, we can confirm that Extra Life does indeed like Shrek.
https://clips.twitch.tv/GorgeousDepressedNigiriRitzMitz
The Charity Boardgamer
A channel dedicated to all things board gaming and Extra Life fundraising, we were able to stop by and show our support during an online game of Kingswood being played in Tabletop Simulator. The dedication we see in our community is second to none and hearing streamers get a little choked up gets us teary-eyed, too.
https://clips.twitch.tv/CulturedCutePandaAllenHuhu
Seeing kids themselves get into fundraising for other kids warms our hearts more than anything. AlmightyRhombus hosted a family board game session with his little one joining in on the fun for one part of their Tabletop Appreciation Weekend. Their kiddo even said, “For The Kids,” and we might never be able to stop aww-ing in our hearts.
https://clips.twitch.tv/CoweringRelatedCucumberTinyFace
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to combine Dungeons & Dragons with Super Smash Bros.? Chris, a four year Extra Life veteran, managed to get a few friends together to make that dream come alive on stream! Truly embodying the spirit of Tabletop Appreciation Weekend, Chris streamed classic games like Monopoly, deep cuts like the Dark Souls board game alongside the never before seen combination of Super Smash Bros. and D&D.
https://clips.twitch.tv/KathishNiceTildeBudBlast
Alexnessie’s stream was a bit of a departure from tabletop gaming over the weekend, but we wanted to share a bit about their incredible marathon stream. On August 21, they began a 27-hour stream where they pledged to fly an Extra Life branded aircraft from Inverness, Scotland to St. Louis, MO in Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020. The stream was intended to fly one hour for every year their friend Alex Doane spent on Earth before passing away earlier this year after a battle with multiple glioblastoma. Alexnessie wanted to honor their friend and thought it would be fitting to raise money for the organization that treated Alex throughout his childhood.
We’re sorry for your loss, Alexnessie.
https://clips.twitch.tv/LachrymoseAthleticCakeFunRun
We also saw some great content shared over the weekend by Extra Lifers playing tabletop games to help heal kids:
I donated $4 to @ExtraLife4Kids @CMNHospitals last night, and in weird math, that was enough for me to have earned another $5 since starting this game on Aug 7th. Makin' 2 moves on the DWD board though to catch up to $305 (instead of needing another $3 to make a move? ) pic.twitter.com/1j2QJS16mS
— Hollie Bonde (@worldlyshuku) August 27, 2020
So fun!!! Donate to support us #FORTHEKIDS as we celebrate tabletop appreciation weekend! https://t.co/wDmit1x6Iw https://t.co/B9fZ974upC
— nate’s gaming for charity account (@theburritogames) August 23, 2020
Game nights have gone digital! Register at Extra-Life.org to play games in support of @UVMChildrensHospital then plan a digital board game tournament with your friends. #ExtraLifeTabletop
Posted by The University of Vermont Medical Center on Friday, August 21, 2020
Thank you to all of the Extra Lifers who turned out for Extra Life Tabletop Appreciation Weekend. You all are the ones who make it a special time of the year. You’re always pushing us to grow our plans and expand our scope for what Extra Life is and can be – and for that we want to thank you all from the bottom of our hearts.
Don’t forget to sign up for Extra Life to help sick and injured kids in hospitals around the US and Canada by playing games!