Gen Con was a week ago. It was our third year going and it never ceases to amaze me.
To break everything down would take multiple posts and I can't imagine that anyone would actually read it. It would probably turn into more of a diary/journal entry than anything else and this isn't MySpace.
So allow me to give you the bare bones of it.
Games
We played a wide variety of games. I can't speak to everything Shaun, or our friends, played but personally I played quite a few. I purchased a majority of the games I played.
Some highlights were Pantone, Pigment, Sagrada, Deathwish, Dinosaur Tea Party, and Deadpool VS The World. I played Everdell with a few friends and wanted to purchase it, but it was a little out of my budget. I'm definitely adding it to my list though. This year, Shaun and I came away with two piles of games. One pile is comprised of games and items we bought for our personal library. The second pile is full of games we purchased, or were given to us, to add to Critical Grind's game library. We are so very grateful to the wonderful game companies who donated some of their games to us.
Events
With the exception of a few games that I signed up for I didn't participate in a lot of the events this year. I did sign up as a Moderator for Werewolf with Full Moon Gaming this year. For those who are unaware, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights from 6pm until 4am in the Wabash West Hallway, there are over a dozen games of Werewolf going. Friday and Saturday Night I was scheduled to work from 10pm-2am. Friday was such a busy night that they had over scheduled some of the moderators and I didn't actually get to moderate any games. I was asked to stick around in case anyone needed to go, and to jump in on any games that needed 1 player to get started. So Friday I played Werewolf for 4 hours. Saturday, when my shift started they didn't need a new moderator, so I worked as a "Gravedigger." That means, I walked around with a sign that said, "Ulitmate Werewolf" or "Are You A Werewolf" and corralled players to join open games. I had a LOT of fun doing that. Eventually another moderator's shift ended and I took over their village. I got to moderate 1 game, that lasted about an hour and a half. and then they shut down my village. It was getting close to 1:45am, my shift was almost over, and the crowd was thinning.
My group and I also participated in an escape room. We always go to the rooms above The Old Spaghetti Factory. In past years, Shaun and I completed the Bank Heist and failed the KGB Interrogation. This year we successfully stole the Mona Lisa.
People
There were over 60,000 attendees this year at Gen Con. Sure, there were crowds, and lines but nothing to extreme. As a woman, I can gratefully say that Gen Con is the first place I've ever been where I didn't have a line for the restroom. The longest line I stood in was an hour and a half at the Exploding Kittens booth, because no one told me I could simply purchase my items in the line rather than waiting to use the giant cat vending machine.
I met a lot of great people this year. Most of the awesome people I met were playing Werewolf. We bonded over the mauling, the lynching, the deception, and the alliances. What better friends could you ask for?
Gen Con was a lot of fun. We're always hoping to get more friends to go, but never seem to have time to actually meet up with them. Perhaps next year, there will be more of an effort to plan events with people.
