Main Hallway

Registration Opens

Registration

Conspiracy Theory Game - List pickup continues! 

Mary Lee Kemper

Readings at 7:30 pm on Saturday in the Ambassador Ballroom. Players (up to 4 on a team), pick up your word list at the Registration Desk Friday through Saturday dinner. Write your best theory weaving in all five  words/concepts on your assigned list (required). Read your convincing story to the audience after dinner Saturday in the ballroom. Judging will determine the best Conspiracy Theory. Tin foil hats not provided.

Ambassador Ballroom (left side)

Qwirkle Tournament

No experience required for this color and shape matching game. Two games played per table. Winners (and next highest score(s) from each table to the Final (4 players total).

Diplomat (right side)

Mensa Test

Stephanie Thornton

Quiet in this area, please!

Ambassador Ballroom (left side)

Rock, Paper, Scissors Tournament -- With Cheerleaders!

Best of three throws for each match determines the winner. One Two Three THROW! Prizes for the ultimate winner, the person who won the most individual matches, and the person voted MVC (Most Valuable Cheerleader) for each Team. How the tournament works.

Senator

Painting without a Brush

Debbie Steiner

Who says you need a brush to paint? In this "paint without a brush" session, we will apply dots of paint and use supplied materials to transform the dots into an abstract flower bud. It's fun, interactive, and uses skills everyone has. Local artist Debbie Steiner will provide everything you need, including guiding everyone through the steps to create a unique piece of art. $35 per person; limited space. Reserve in advance to secure your spot, or pay at the door if seats are available. 

Diplomat (left side)

Cincinnati History and Reporting for The Cincinnati Enquirer

Jeff Suess

Jeff Suess is the author of Lost Cincinnati, Hidden History of Cincinnati, Cincinnati Then and Now, AAC 150, Cincinnati: An Illustrated Timeline, Tomorrowland: The Past, Present, and Future of Disney’s Most Changed Land, and the co-author with Rick Pender of The Cincinnati Bengals: An Illustrated Timeline. He is a history columnist and librarian at the Cincinnati Enquirer. more

Diplomat (right side)

Wizard Tournament

Wizard is a trick taking game with wild cards. A specific number of hands are played with awards and penalties for taking (or not) the number of tricks you’ve bid. Wizard experience is not required but trick taking card game experience is.

Ambassador Ballroom

Lunch

Sloppy Joes, pulled pork, and assorted slaws and salads -- including vegetarian and vegan options!

Diplomat (right side)

Flotzl Tournament

There is a sign up sheet as we are limited to 24 players. Flotzl is a trick taking card game where taking the last trick each hand brands you the loser. In play for regular Flotzl, game ends when a score of 27 is reached. In Tournament Flotzl, we’ll play four hands per game, 3 games total. The 27 rule is not used. Players will draw for table and position each game. You’ll keep your score on your own sheet and turn that in after play. More about this tournament

Room 202, 1:30 - 4:30 pm

The Curse of the Magi: 

Pirate Borg Table Top Role Playing Game (Ages 11+)

Zach Schwab

Ahoy ye salty dogs! Deadbeard the pirate is the scourge of the Caribbean. Can you scalawags and scoundrels manage to steal his treasure, or will ye end up part of his skeleton crew? For this event, we will play Pirate Borg, a rules-light, pirate- themed table top roleplaying game (RPG). No experience is needed… novice pirates will be shown the ropes. Bring dice if you have them. And your wits. Pirate costumes encouraged but not required. Sign up at registration in advance; space is limited to a maximum of 8 pirates.

Diplomat (left side)

Asteroid Mining: Bringing Wealth back to Earth

Larry Bartoszek

People have talked about mining the resources of the Solar System for decades, and companies have risen and fallen to accomplish this goal. Why talk about asteroid mining? A study of any of the rotating space habitats comes to the conclusion that they mass at least 10 megatons. Bartoszek showed in his 2024 talk at ISDC that the bottleneck in the production of a Stanford Torus was not the rate of steel production on Earth. It was the rate that material could be lifted off Earth, more

Senator

Origami

Dave Plottel

This program will start with a brief descrption of what Origami is (and isn't) and then cover the basics on how to choose and how to fold Origami paper, This will include instructions on how to find tons of free Origami tutorials on YouTube. We will then each make a Heart, a Butterfly, and a Box (yes, you get to keep them). Let's play! No experience required; all ages welcome.

Ambassador Ballroom

Duchre Tournament

LongJohn Massura

Euchre/Duchre experience required. Duchre is duplicate euchre as designed by LongJohn Massura. Everyone plays the same hands from Bridge boards. Sign up is required; sign up as a team or individual to be matched with another single player. There will be a North/South team winner and an East/West team winner. Duchre generally takes about three hours.

Diplomat (left side)

Shifting the Narrative on Drugs, Addiction, and Law

Chief Thomas Synan, Newtown Police Department

Chief Synan of the Newtown Police Department shares his perspective on how Cincinnati, one of the cities hardest hit in the opioid epidemic, became a leader in community recovery. 

Senator

Meet the AMC

Jon Gruebele

American Mensa Board of Directors (AMC) and Mensa Foundation members attending Zinzinatti will moderate a discussion about issues facing the organization. We’ll be happy to entertain your questions, comments, ideas, complaints, suggestions, challenges, and whatever else you’d like to address. The discussion is always interesting – please join us!

Diplomat (left side)

Jackbox Games

Jameson Thornton

Join us in the game room where the "game board" is the TV screen, and bring your smart phone which is your gaming device. We'll play games like trivia, creative fill-in-the-blanks, and drawing. The goals is laughs and having fun. No prior experience necessary!

Senator

CANCELLED: Tea Party

Brea Ludwigson

Drop in and join Brea (here) and C.J. (in absentia) for tea and dainties. Select your cuppa from Brea’s Big Box O’ Tea; C.J. sent sweets, savouries, and home-baked scones with all the accompaniments. Neither promptitude nor RSVPs required; pinkies out and pretty hats optional.

RG-wide

Trachten Abend!

It's time to get dressed in those Lederhosen and Dirndls! Join in the "Gemutlichkeit" this evening and wear your favorite traditional German attire (or hat, checkered shift, souvenir tee, etc.!) After dinner, stop by our photo booth -- 7:30 in Governor -- and capture your style with our Zinzinnati pig. 

Diplomat (right side)

Pass the Pigs Tournament

Jameson Thornton

Pass the Pigs is a classic "press-your-luck" dice game where the dice are actually miniature pigs. On your turn, you toss the pigs and earn points based on how they land—the more difficult the position, the higher the points. You can keep rolling to build your score, but be careful: if you roll a "Pig Out" (pigs on opposite sides), you lose all points earned that turn. more about this tournament

Ambassador Ballroom

Dinner

Grilled chicken, roasted red potatoes, vegetable, salad, and rolls.

Room 202

Learn and Play: Dominion (Ages 11+)

Julie Paterson

Step into the world of strategy and adventure with Dominion, the award-winning deck-building game that changed tabletop gaming forever! Build your kingdom, outsmart your opponents, and discover endless combinations that make every game a new challenge. Whether you're a first-time player or a seasoned strategist, come learn, play, and see why Dominion keeps players coming back for more! 

Diplomat (left side)

Human First AI 

Derek Crager

Human First AI is not a talk about tools, hype, or distant futures. It’s a one-hour intellectual deep dive into the most important design question of our era: how do we use AI to increase human capability instead of quietly eroding it? Drawing from real-world industrial systems, cognitive science, and frontline decision-making, this session reframes AI as a force multiplier for judgment, creativity, and meaning — not a replacement for them. You’ll leave with sharper mental models, practical frameworks you can apply immediately, and [more]

Ambassador Ballroom

Conspiracy Theory Read-Aloud

Mary Lee Kemper

Read your Conspiracy Theory based on the word list you were given. Theatrics count in your presentation. :-)

Senator (Hallway)

Photo Booth

Make memories here on Trachten Night -- with props! No Lederhosen or Dirndl? No problem! Come as you are and take pics to remember the weekend!

Diplomat (right side)

Exploding Kittens Tournament

Nancy Alspach 

Part card game, part race. The loudest and most disloyal game you’ll ever play. Explode your friends.

Diplomat (left side)

Charades

Debbi Silverman

Join us for a hilarious hour! Feel free to reference the charades signaling guidelines if you'd like to use them as a guide. 

Senator

Stitch & Tiff

Tiffany Everett

Craft time with fellow M's. Bring your craft and share. Time to laugh and craft. What a concept!!

Room 202

Beer School (21+)

Brendan Packert

Space is limited; sign up at registration. Sample 6 beers while Brendan educates us on the history of the brewery, ingredients and the brewing process. We'll showcase styles from the US and abroad. 

Diplomat (right side)

DDCH Finals

Those who won a pick up game of at least 6 players and placed their name on the Winners sheet near Registration will gather for the Finals. Remember, there are no friends at a Hearts table!

Senator

Cards Against Humanity “Rated R for Maturity” (17+)

Dan Schneider

“A politically incorrect party game for horrible people” that will make you cringe and laugh in turns. The game is simple. Each round, a player reads a black card as a prompt, the other players respond with their funniest white card, and the reader picks a winner. Like Apples to Apples, but “Rated R for Maturity” (17+). Not for those with a weak constitution.

Diplomat (left side)

Movie Night: Best in Show 

Pete Bylone

In honor of Catherine O'Hara.