I always thought of myself as a geek—I grew up loving all things sci-fi and fantasy, dabbled in role-playing games, went to a few cons, participated in some fierce video game play, loved up on comics and graphic novels. But after working on this issue, I feel like I’ve barely scratched the surface of geekdom. I also discovered that there is no better city than Seattle to let your geek flag fly.
There are more than 430 gaming companies in the area, and they make a huge economic impact. Lester Black offers an overview of Seattle’s lucrative gaming industry, which generated $21.4 billion in revenue in 2015 and supported 94,200 jobs through “direct, indirect, and induced impacts.”
Matt Baume sheds some light on a group of young people at Lake Washington Girls Middle School who, under the helpful guidance of school tech director Ethan “Mr E.” Schoonover, have gotten into Dungeons & Dragons and are engaging in self-directed storytelling, art, and math while unleashing their imaginations and gaining unexpected confidence and leadership skills.
