Gen Con 2016 Post Show Part 1 - The Beginning

"One does not simply walk into Indianapolis..."

In which we leave Rochester, pick up some cows and finally get our Game On!

"I'm gettin' too old for this $#!%!" is not something you'll hear me say in regards to Gen Con any time soon.   Hopefully ever.

2016 marked my return to the Convention scene after a three year hiatus during which I've been raising my son, wiling away my time and generally living life in a small town far removed from the hustle and bustle of big city living and gaming conventions.  Oh sure, there are a few in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis - St. Paul, which is a mere hour and a half drive North of me, but those don't really count (no offense) as Gen Con is the one and only show that I can and have made the time for.

I digress.

I met with my traveling companions, Jason and Alex, at a little before 7 in the AM on Wednesday, loaded the car and began the nine hour trek to Indianapolis.  We decided early on to avoid the tollway in Illinois (a decision we would reverse on the return trip) and traveled through Iowa and Illinois on our journey.  As we started out, Alex suggested we play a car game.  With absolutely no desire to do so, I said "Sure".  We proceeded to collect cows.  Any cow on your side of the car is yours to keep. You hold them until you pass a graveyard on, again, your side of the car, at which point all your cows are lost. The player with the most cows, once you get to your location, wins!  For nine hours of farm country, we played this game.  A mostly unremarkable and uneventful car ride ensued, filled with convention conjecture, podcasts, construction traffic and cows.

Indianapolis welcomed us with open roads and hot, humid midwestern air.

The Indianapolis Convention Center as seen through the blue filter of the JW Marriott

We stopped at our hotel, that towering blue monolith, the JW Marriott, it's curved glass structure rising above the Indianapolis skyline, a dystopian near future eyesore, portending a shiny and dark future for humble working class Indy.  

It was good to be back.  

Jason and I checked into our room as Alex familiarized himself with the downtown traffic. After tipping our bellhop we proceeded to the parking lot where I had a pre-purchased parking space awaiting us.  That the lot was essentially an open field, with spare lighting and questionable security and not the well lit, professionally guarded parking lot I was expecting, gave me and the cars owner, Alex, only momentary pause because, well, GENCON!  With that as our rallying cry, we took care of procuring our badges and event tickets. Jason chased Pokemon as we stood in line, and I video chatted with my wife and son.   It was a long line that moved surprisingly swiftly, given the amount of people filling the Indianapolis Convention Center.

Alright, already!  I am!

After a quick trip to secure our official parking space within the same lot later, we made our way to Georgia St. to track down some grub amongst the food trucks.  Here we ran into Jon and Brad, part of the Illinois contingent of my gamer friends.  Under the fading light of the setting sun, we grabbed some noodles, pondered some beer and made our way inside, away from the heat.  Jon and I caught up for a bit and I more formally introduced everyone.  



Then it was time to game.

It's more like a food SWAT van, amirite?!

Having a ballroom all to yourself to game in is both ridiculous and humbling.  You know you are part of something huge from the sheer size of the room.  But with that came the realization that, even though you are there as part of one of the biggest conventions, if not THE largest to hit Indianapolis on a yearly basis, when you see tables and chairs still stacked with no apparent effort being made to set up rooms for the throngs massing on Indianapolis, something in the atmosphere has changed.  A definite sense of complacency.  Note that this is not a complaint, but merely an observation.  This year seemed more hands off and less welcoming than years prior.  I felt this acutely in our hotel.  Less so elsewhere, but still noticeable.  The first few years of Gen Con in Indy had a feeling of revitalized energy and new experiences.  Now it's starting to feel more like old hat; a been there, done that sorta feeling.

Not one I am entirely happy with.  I like being liked.  Or at least believably lied to.

Anyway, it was time to get our Game On!

Wednesday night is generally fairly low key, especially with our group.  We game, but not too much. We sack out early, preparing for the opening events and exhibition hall.  Alex turned in especially early, after only a handful of games of Scrimish.  Jon ran a game of Fiasco, using the playset he and I had created a few years back called The Depot.  It sounded like it was doing what it needed to do, which was not fail to be entertaining. Built on the backbone of the already excellent Fiasco, failure is rarely an option and I'm glad we maintained that trend.  A game of Scythe was going on amongst the rest of our group. That game is beautiful...and huge.  I ended up playing some less than quiet, less than relaxed games with Jason and Brad.  Games requiring dexterity and aggressiveness and chopsticks. With colored wooden shrimp pieces flying all over the place, we cajoled and flat out body checked our way through the game.  I never won.  Ever.  But by the time I had thrown my chopsticks to the ground in exhausted defeat, pointed accusatory fingers at both of my competitors and cursed my last curse, I was ready for bed.  When Brad broke out a game that involved some type of plastic mouth dam, I made my exit.

The Coming Darkness...

I'd need all my energy for the Exhibitor's Hall the next morning, especially if I was going to endeavor to help Alex capture a copy of SeaFall, the highly sought after, ridiculously overhyped new legacy game designed by Pandemic: Legacy and Risk: Legacy designer Rob Daviau and produced by Plaid Hat Games, masters of overproduced and under-allocated board games.  SeaFall has been hyped for the last two years, in development for three and coming off of the success of Pandemic: Legacy, easily the most eagerly anticipated game of the year, certainly of the Con.  Plaid Hat should have had copies in spades.  No need to build more hype or possible ill will by under producing for the biggest con in the country.  It would be difficult to get a copy the first day, but surely they would, like most companies, set a daily limit, allowing anxious convention goers the chance to get their hands on a copy by the end of the con.  As good a ploy as any to keep people coming back to your booth.   Alex was pumped.  I was cautiously optimistic.

I shoulda known better.