Who likes the idea of an event/club for underplayed games?

[blossom]

I've been brainstorming ideas for a club and/or tournament with a focus on freeware doujin games (possibly the occasional cheap game on DLsite or Steam) as well as lesser known arcade games. The more I let this idea float around in my head, I have more and more doubts about it. I participated in Calice Cup back in June and I was excited to see games like Space Bomber and Battlantis on the list, games you hear about but don't really see every day. Instead the more obvious choices like Gunbird and Detana Twinbee ended up winning the poll, along with games like Dodonpachi and Rayforce.

There's absolutely nothing wrong with any of those games, however I guess I was hoping for an event where a group of people were hyped to explore games that are very new to them. What I'm picturing is a club where Toaplan, Cave, Raizing, Psikyo, and Touhou are simply not allowed, in an attempt to highlight games we've always heard of but might not have played for one reason or another.

I've also been hopping between the idea of a one game per month "book club" idea or a Trap-esque tournament with four games in a month, one each week. Or maybe some kind of combination, I've also liked the idea of mostly being a casual club and then once or twice a year we vote on our four favorite games we played since the last tournament.

Anyhow, that's what I've been thinking about the past couple weeks. Who's into the idea? I know at least prales said he would like it, so there's one.

[Shepardus]

I wouldn't outright ban certain developers, as you yourself mentioned Space Bomber which is by Psikyo, and Sol Divide isn't played all that much either (though if you ask me there's good reason for that...). It should be easy enough to identify suitable games without having to do that.

Also I don't know if Detana Twinbee was an "obvious" choice for the Calice Cup, I was personally surprised to see it and thought people had little interest in actually playing it, as opposed to memeing about bell juggling and hitboxes.

I'm not opposed to the idea, though. I would prefer one game per month, as one per week is not an easy time commitment to sustain for more than a couple weeks, assuming you want to spend a decent amount of time exploring each game.

[blossom]

OK you've given me what's possibly a better idea for the arcade games: if it's been on the top 25 shmups list at any time, it's banned. Not sure if including honorable mentions on the banned list is necessary.

[Shepardus]

If you're going to be running this thing anyway, you can just exercise your own judgment in selecting games. I don't see why you need to set up these hard rules about what's allowed and not allowed. Doing so just pulls the focus towards the exclusion list and away from the games you presumably want to celebrate.

[Krushal]

It's a tricky proposition, imo. I know I'm a bit nervous about having to play some games I really don't enjoy in the next Calice. I think for wide interest you need a mix of well-liked and lesser-known.

I obviously enjoy digging up rare gems, e.g. the Doujin Games thread.
I'd say keep it well casual, I'll keep my eye on what comes of this.

[Square_Air]

I might be interested in this if I can find the time. The monthly "book club" style can be nice, less demanding alternative to tournaments, and I've had fun participating in these in the past. The thing with Doujin games is you'll have less participation if everyone has to throw money at new games every month, so focusing a little more on freeware games & some niche arcade obscurities seems like a good idea.