a slice of ‘normal’ in an otherwise crazy world

In a world gone mad, spending days with a bunch of costumed nerds and mutually geeking out over video games is what qualifies as normal, according to one of the minds behind Boston’s PAX East.

Jerry Holkins, the co-founder of the long-running webcomic that spawned an international series of video and board game-focused conventions, sat down with the Herald shortly after gathering with his team to celebrate the event’s 20th birthday.

“It is nice to build and be able to enjoy a context that really is authentically communal. It’s a nice antidote to more or less everything you see online and in every form of social media,” Holkins said. “It’s really nice to have a little space cut out where we can hang out and engage with each other in a sort of purpose-built space that is about this topic.”

The showcase of big-name and independent game producers returned this week and annually brings thousands of gamers to the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center, where attendees are offered a chance to encounter the latest in video and board gaming, meet industry insiders, and drop some cash on merchandise.

Holkins said that the ongoing success of PAX comes down to the power of getting people in the same room together, where they can experience mutual curiosities while forgetting the outside world for just a moment.

After spending a significant amount of time trying to help his own teenage “larvae” navigate the things they see presented in social media, the father of two said he recognizes now more than ever just how valuable helping people find a community can be.

“A lot of my day is sort of spent helping them interpret just how chaotic the world is. They have real questions,” he said.

“So I think it’s really nice to have a place to rest, then go back to the world where we have really important things that we need deal with. This is normal, now. It’s, like, aggressively normal, right? Purpose made, intentional space — and it only lasts and should only last a specific period of time — and then when it’s over, we can take that rest and engage with the rest of the things that need to be engaged with,” he said.

PAX East runs through Sunday.