Gamers Who Give: Meet Katina
Gamers Engaged is thrilled to spotlight long-time friend and supporter, Katina Davis!
Katina lives and breathes games. As a freelance writer, she’s written for Pathfinder Adventure Card Game, Starfinder Roleplaying Game, and worked with Black Book Editions to translate French roleplaying games into English. Katina wears multiple (wizards) hats at Paizo as Webstore Coordinator and freelancing on Pathfinder Second Edition.
Katina has been part of our annual tournament, the Gauntlet, for years, stepping into the role of Team Captain for Team Paizo in 2018. Here’s what she shared in our convo about giving, games and being a Gauntlet fan:
How do you connect your love of all things games and giving/community engagement?
There is something both satisfying and empowering about working with others to solve problems. I find that's true about both gaming and community engagement. Whereas in games you get points or complete a quest, there are way more important things at stake in the real world that could benefit from people with time, ideas, and resources banding together.
What attracted you to get "engaged" with Gamers Engaged?
One thing I've witnessed over a decade in the gaming industry is the incredible power of fanbases. I think Gamers Engaged has a brilliant idea in harnessing the energy of the passionate folks who spend their spare time around a table building real and fictional relationships. Those are the folks who know how to coordinate their efforts and pool their resources to great effect.
You've been a Gauntlet captain for multiple years - going back to 2018. What keeps you coming back year after year?
To me, the Gauntlet is like a single-day dose of the same energy you can get from attending a great convention. Not only are there fun games the whole day, but you get to chat with all sorts of people from across the industry that you might never cross paths with otherwise. Plus, it's all for a good cause!
Do you have a favorite Gauntlet memory?
It has to be the puzzle hunt finale from the Gauntlet Odyssey in 2016. That was my first Gauntlet as a player, and the absolute chaos of the teams sprinting around from room to room trying to solve their riddles first was something I'll never forget. I had such a blast, I knew I'd be coming back as long as they'll let me.
What's another cool non-profit we should know about and why?
To be honest, I've learned about most of the non-profits I know from participating in the Gauntlet! You may have heard of them before, but Paizo has worked with Comic Books For Kids in our past Humble Bundles.
What game are you currently playing?
In terms of board games, I've really been enjoying Ark Nova lately. For video games, I've been playing both Civ VII and Split Fiction.
If you were an in-game character, who would you be?
If I were a board game character, I'd probably be one of the little critters from Everdell. If we're talking RPGs, I think I'd likely be some sort of gnome druid with lots of animal companions.
What's your alignment?
Well, Pathfinder doesn't have alignment anymore but I think I'd still have to say Chaotic Good ;)
Katina will again be leading Team Paizo at the 2025 Gauntlet on May 19, 2025. May she lead her team to victory!
