Two weeks ago, my wife and I were leaving Indianapolis.
“Why were you in Indianapolis?” you ask. (And thank you for asking.)
The short answer (or, as the kids say these days, TL;DR*): We went there to play games.
The long answer follows and involves something called Gen Con. Those of you who live in the Midwest or who play board games other than Monopoly and Clue probably already know what Gen Con is. If so, you can skip ahead a little.
Gen Con is a 4-day gaming convention that is currently held annually at the Indiana Convention Center and Lucas Oil Stadium (home of the Colts) in downtown Indianapolis.
The con officially went from Thursday through Sunday (August 2-5), but
many get there as early as Wednesday or even Tuesday to meet with
friends beforehand. We left home on Wednesday, went to the con Thursday
and Friday, and came home on Saturday.
We probably weren’t the oldest con attendees, but I’m sure we were at the high end of the bell curve. My guess is that most people were in their 20s and 30s.
The majority were male, but there were plenty of females too.
Did everyone dress up in strange costumes? No. (We didn’t, but I did buy a hat for future use.) There were a number of people who did engage in what’s known as cosplay, but they were far from a majority. I didn’t purposely take pictures of any costumed folks.
Many game designers and distributors were there to promote their games. Probably about half of the space available was devoted to them. The remaining area was set aside for playing the games.
The main purpose of the con revolves around board and card games, but there are many other activities too. This year there were these events.
Kingdomino and Barenpark - sorry, no pictures of these two
Mercado
We also got to play Scarabya.
I think I’m pretty safe in saying that you’ve never heard of any of those games before, unless, like us, you’re already into better games than Candy Land and Pictionary.
Most of the games we played were fine but nothing special. However, we both really liked Targi, which is a game just for 2 players. (We haven’t found many 2-player-only games that we like this much.) So we bought a copy (20% off) to bring home.
Our son, Matt, caravanned down to Indy with us. He is heavily into a card game called Lightseekers. If you think of Magic, the Gathering, you’ll have a vague idea of what this game is like. (See Delivery Crab to get started with your own cards.)
We met several of his friends who are also involved with creating and promoting Lightseekers.
1) Willie Wilkov - General Manager of PlayFusion for North America
3) Jessica Rodriguez, Mandy Bova
4) Chris Brummett, Emmitt Silguero
5) Scott Sarfert (back to the camera), Jacob Richards - PlayFusion Brand Manager
TL;DR*: Yes.
I wasn’t sure how crowded it would be at Gen Con. We were rarely shoulder to shoulder with others, but there were always people everywhere. And things hanging from the ceiling.
I had read beforehand about it being kinda yucky sanitary-wise, but we didn’t find that to be a problem at all. The large room where most of the vendors were located was carpeted, which I think is what contributed to it feeling a little stuffy, but the other large room for playing games had a cement floor and was sometimes almost too cold.
Food and drink were a little on the high side, but not prohibitively so - especially since we considered this a vacation where you expect to pay a little more for stuff. We got some food inside the convention center and some outside from the many food trucks who took the opportunity to make some sales due to the con.
We stayed at a hotel that was actually in Carmel which is half an hour away. We had reserved a parking space (near the stadium, which is connected to the convention center) online ahead of time. The first day’s drive from hotel to con took more than the expected amount of time because of the time of day and because I didn’t know which lane was best to take. The second day the trip went much more quickly.
We also had enough spare time to take in a little bit of downtown Indy. We saw the Soldiers and Sailors Monument in Monument Circle in the center of town. We had a lunch at Scotty’s Brewhouse which had really gone all out to welcome GenConners. (Perhaps other restaurants in the area had done the same.)
I would attend Gen Con again if I knew there were games I wanted to try out or other activities I wanted to be part of.
We had paid for a 4-day “badge” to attend Gen Con, even though we only went for 2 days, because 4 days cost less than 2. If our schedules had allowed, maybe we would have stayed for one more day. A full four days would probably be more time than we would need.
TL;DR*: Maybe.
If you are still playing canasta, Chutes and Ladders, and Battleship, then you probably should wait a year or two until you can experience a few of the newer games on your own to see if you like them or not.
If you already like some “designer” games like Agricola, Pandemic, Gloomhaven, Puerto Rico, or most of the other 100,000+ games you can find at Board Game Geek, then yes, you should attend.
If we do go to Gen Con again, maybe we’ll see you there?
=====
*Too long; didn’t read.
The short answer (or, as the kids say these days, TL;DR*): We went there to play games.
The long answer follows and involves something called Gen Con. Those of you who live in the Midwest or who play board games other than Monopoly and Clue probably already know what Gen Con is. If so, you can skip ahead a little.
What Is Gen Con?
Gen Con is a 4-day gaming convention that is currently held annually at the Indiana Convention Center and Lucas Oil Stadium (home of the Colts) in downtown Indianapolis.
It used to be held in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. Hence, the name “Gen Con” which was originally short for “Geneva Convention”, which purposely, but light-heartedly, referred to that war thing in Europe.
Gen Con has grown in size and attendance over the years. This year the organizers expected about 60,000 unique attendees. That’s why they take over the whole convention center plus the stadium.
Gen Con has grown in size and attendance over the years. This year the organizers expected about 60,000 unique attendees. That’s why they take over the whole convention center plus the stadium.
Who Attends Gen Con?
We probably weren’t the oldest con attendees, but I’m sure we were at the high end of the bell curve. My guess is that most people were in their 20s and 30s.
The majority were male, but there were plenty of females too.
Did everyone dress up in strange costumes? No. (We didn’t, but I did buy a hat for future use.) There were a number of people who did engage in what’s known as cosplay, but they were far from a majority. I didn’t purposely take pictures of any costumed folks.
Many game designers and distributors were there to promote their games. Probably about half of the space available was devoted to them. The remaining area was set aside for playing the games.
What Do You Do at Gen Con?
The main purpose of the con revolves around board and card games, but there are many other activities too. This year there were these events.
- Art show
- Film contest
- Auction
- Puppet program
- Anime & animation
- Cosplay
- Weddings (Really!)
And much more.
As first-time attendees, we limited ourselves to board games. Actually, that’s all we’re really interested in anyway.
You can reserve seats for specific games at specific times beforehand, if you’re quick enough. I reserved places for these 5 games.
Targi
 |
| Card stacking, for example |
 |
| The occasional non-wandering minstrels |
As first-time attendees, we limited ourselves to board games. Actually, that’s all we’re really interested in anyway.
You can reserve seats for specific games at specific times beforehand, if you’re quick enough. I reserved places for these 5 games.
Targi
 |
| Explaining the rules of Targi |
Kingdomino and Barenpark - sorry, no pictures of these two
Imhotep
 |
| Imhotep |
 |
| Playing Mercado |
 |
| We bought Targi. |
We also got to play Scarabya.
I think I’m pretty safe in saying that you’ve never heard of any of those games before, unless, like us, you’re already into better games than Candy Land and Pictionary.
Most of the games we played were fine but nothing special. However, we both really liked Targi, which is a game just for 2 players. (We haven’t found many 2-player-only games that we like this much.) So we bought a copy (20% off) to bring home.
Our son, Matt, caravanned down to Indy with us. He is heavily into a card game called Lightseekers. If you think of Magic, the Gathering, you’ll have a vague idea of what this game is like. (See Delivery Crab to get started with your own cards.)
We met several of his friends who are also involved with creating and promoting Lightseekers.
1) Willie Wilkov - General Manager of PlayFusion for North America
 |
| Willie on the right |
2) Emmitt Silguero, Chris Endicott (programmer), (Nick) Bova - left to right below
3) Jessica Rodriguez, Mandy Bova
4) Chris Brummett, Emmitt Silguero
5) Scott Sarfert (back to the camera), Jacob Richards - PlayFusion Brand Manager
Was a Good Time Had by All?
TL;DR*: Yes.
I wasn’t sure how crowded it would be at Gen Con. We were rarely shoulder to shoulder with others, but there were always people everywhere. And things hanging from the ceiling.
I had read beforehand about it being kinda yucky sanitary-wise, but we didn’t find that to be a problem at all. The large room where most of the vendors were located was carpeted, which I think is what contributed to it feeling a little stuffy, but the other large room for playing games had a cement floor and was sometimes almost too cold.
Food and drink were a little on the high side, but not prohibitively so - especially since we considered this a vacation where you expect to pay a little more for stuff. We got some food inside the convention center and some outside from the many food trucks who took the opportunity to make some sales due to the con.
We stayed at a hotel that was actually in Carmel which is half an hour away. We had reserved a parking space (near the stadium, which is connected to the convention center) online ahead of time. The first day’s drive from hotel to con took more than the expected amount of time because of the time of day and because I didn’t know which lane was best to take. The second day the trip went much more quickly.
I would attend Gen Con again if I knew there were games I wanted to try out or other activities I wanted to be part of.
We had paid for a 4-day “badge” to attend Gen Con, even though we only went for 2 days, because 4 days cost less than 2. If our schedules had allowed, maybe we would have stayed for one more day. A full four days would probably be more time than we would need.
Should You Attend Gen Con Next Year?
TL;DR*: Maybe.
If you are still playing canasta, Chutes and Ladders, and Battleship, then you probably should wait a year or two until you can experience a few of the newer games on your own to see if you like them or not.
If you already like some “designer” games like Agricola, Pandemic, Gloomhaven, Puerto Rico, or most of the other 100,000+ games you can find at Board Game Geek, then yes, you should attend.
If we do go to Gen Con again, maybe we’ll see you there?
=====
*Too long; didn’t read.
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