Post GenCon report

What can I say about Gen Con 2010? FRAKKING AWSOME!!! Yeah. That pretty much sums it up for me. I had hyped myself up for it for about 4 months so anything less than AWESOME would have been a major let down. However, I was not disappointed and I had an AWESOME time at Gen Con 2010! Have I mentioned how AWESOME it was?

Like I said, I was really, really geeked to go to Gen Con 2010 this year. Why so much more than in years past? I don't really know. Some of it may have been that some of my best gamer buddies were gonna be there with me, and despite a shortened trip, my wife and kids would be there too. Added to that, the Gen Con Indy Facebook page kept beating me about the head and shoulders with AWESOME things that were going to be happening at the convention almost everyday with status updates on its FB page. Combined with the fact that I am a true gamer geek, I was primed and ready to go!

I had signed up for 6 games to play over the weekend, and that, my friend, is a paltry amount to sign up for, but I have reasons for limiting my game time, which I will explain later. I love all games, except for collectible card games, and word based games. What I love about Gen Con is that you can play your favorite games and try out some you have heard about, or simply take a shot in the dark and try something "completely different."
I played Poo the Card game, a game based on the unsavory habit of monkeys throwing poo around at each other; Are You A Werewolf?, a fun social game that invovles no board or dice, but simple persuasion and logical reasoning; Conflict of Heroes, a WWII strategy based game that is the game that everyone who has ever played Squad Leader in the past, wishes this game came out alot earlier. And the final three games were Battlestar Galactica, (one of the top three games I have ever played), Memoir '44 (right up there with Battlestar) and Dawn Patrol- Fight in the Skies, a WWI aerial combat simulation game. Of all of these games, I had the most fun playing Battlestar, learned the most from Dawn Patrol, and had the most excitement with Memoir '44. And what really rocked about all the games is that I did not lose a single game I played!!! (In some of these games, simply surviving to the end is being a winner.)

As an aside, I do not play D&D at Gen Con. I did it once, and that was enough to: 1. Say I played at Gen Con, and: 2. Playing styles are so different from group to group; you have no idea what you might get into. As one of my friends found out, playing D&D at Gen Con can be risky, so I don’t risk it. I would rather spend my time playing other games and broadening my gaming horizons…

So, you might ask, if you are having so much fun, then why not play more games? Because half of going to Gen Con, is exploring Indianapolis, or at least the center of the city. If you have not been to Indy in a while, then get yourself over there! It is a happening place! But what makes the time in the city so much fun, is that just about every business there, throws open their doors to 30,000 gamers and doesn't look back. These welcome the gamers, with all their weird, loveable quirks, their out of style (or out of the ordinary)fashions, and there random times of dining and drinking. (It has to fit around their gaming schedule, you know...) Many of the buisnesses change theri decor and menu to fit into the convention better. Take for instance the bar Scotty's or The Ram, where they have a menu completely reworked to appeal to a D&D or Magic the Gathering gamer. Ordering a plate of fried goblin ears is not out of the ordinary at a Gen Con friendly eating establisment! My friend, family and I, go out on the town, we eat at dfferently places and we visit new merchants. And we spend some good money. Our waiter at a wonderful bar called "Tastings",

If you have never been to the convention, it is kind of hard to explain what it is like. My family, friends and I, we do the convention to death! We play games, we shop, we eat, we play games, do some people watching, we eat, we shop, and occasionally try to get 5 hours of sleep in each night. (Weak, I know, but I have kids, and they need their rest) If possible, I would stay up around the clock playing games. My daughter is starting to become a big gamer, already stretching her abilities to play games that are out of the ordinary, or simply just wanting to try a new game to see what it is like. My son, he is comfortable with games that are tried and true for him. To get him to try something new is a bit more challenging, but once tried, he usually will come backt to the table to play it again. My wife, while not a hard core gamer, is one of those gamers that, if a game "clicks" with her, you better watch out, cause she will beat your ass in that game. I don't think she got to play as many games as she wanted but I am sure she enjoyed the convention all the same.