I finally made it happen! After planning to attend my first Gen Con in 2020, two years later, I finally attended my first Gen Con. It was an amazing experience and it lived up to all my expectations and more. Here are my Top 5 takeaways from my first visit.
5. The Indianapolis and the Indianapolis Convention Center are the perfect hosts for this event.
I'm sure it is old hat to veterans of Gen Con, but for me being a first-time attendee and expecting 50,000 plus gamers/fans, I was a little anxious about the crowds. Even though the vendor hall would get crowded, I never felt the crush of the crowd even on the largest day of attendance. There is plenty of space between all of the different halls of the convention center. In addition, the skywalks to three different hotels and the floor of Lucas Oil Field helped to make the convention seem personal but spread the events out to avoid crowding. Also, having the Food Trucks outside on Georgia Street, right outside of the convention center, helped give another space for gaming fans to hang out.
4. Food Trucks: The management and selection of food trucks and other food and beverage vendors were exceptional. This short half-block section of Georgia Street gave everyone an opportunity to step outside for a mask break and to grab a bite to eat and maybe even enjoy a beer or wine. I took
advantage of all of the above. The organizers scheduled three phases of food trucks to cycle through the day, so fans could go out for snacks or meals and find a different selection of trucks. They also have stand-by, offical pizza, beer, soda and wine vendors for the event who were on hand all hours. As an add-on for the Food Trucks on the street was the Friday night block party that just added more outside time and standing (after sitting most of the day), which is just what the doctor ordered at the end of day three for us.
3. While gamers are an extremely diverse group of people, they are some of the most awesome people in which to hang out for four crowded days. I had the opportunity to sit down
with dozens of complete strangers to play games. Everyone was totally open minded and helpful when trying to figure out how to play games. Some, like me, were new to the games and we had the help of volunteers or other players at the table to figure out the mechanics and tricks of playing. Another aspect I really appreicated, was that no one became agitated and some even were very welcoming when I just wanted to watch over the shoulder to see a game played. One area that I really liked watching where the gamers were either totally immersed or gracious and welcoming were the Fantasy Flight
Star Wars Legion players. I kept reminding myself that we were all there for one thing, to play games. In my case, I was there to learn games, but nevertheless all were great and made the experience fun for everyone.
2. Fans of the Dragonlance setting and books are a passionate bunch! I attended the book release of the newest Dragonlace book, Dragons of Deciet by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman. The authors were on hand to share their thoughts and stories of writing a new book for Dragonlance after some 25 years since the last book. They also shared many stories of creating the Dragonlance world and struggles of getting the novel published. Weis and Hickman are a charming pair and made the session a complete joy, but what really struck me was the passion of the fans. When Hickman shared a video he produced to introduce the book, I was caught off guard when I realized that fans all around me were in tears. I wasn't necessarily surprised that fans would be emotional, I was just caught off guard in the moment of a touching moment at this convention.
1. The Games! What else do you go to Gen Con for than the games? What impressed me the most were all of the opportunities to play in several different settings. If you wanted to get a flavor of a certain game, all you had to do was visit the booth of the company and you could catch a 5-10 minute demo of the game. If you wanted to get a full playthrough, you could sign up to play the games with volunteers who knew the ins and outs of the games. I didn't come across a single volunteer who struggled with this task. If you were lucky, you could even walk-on to some of these full playthrough games without signing up like my good friend Ross and I did here to play Viticulture. The last way to experience the games was to buy one and find a corner somewhere and play with friends. It was an incredible experience of games, games and games!
Now I am left wondering what I can do to make next year's Gen Con even more of a wonderful experience. What will it take? Bring more friends or family? More detailed planning? Schedule more games? Later nights? More impromptu playing in the halls? Who know? One thing I do know is that I will be back to Gen Con over and over again! See you in Indy in 2023!
