Gen Con Report: Part 3

Saturday

Saturday began with a little disappointment as no one wanted to play at my table at Games on Demand. Eh. Back to the exhibit hall to look at more booths.

After lunch, I went with +Jamie Stefko to see if she could get into a GURPS Red Dwarf game on generics. She did (and it reportedly was a lot of fun), and I went over to Games on Demand to say hi to +Jeremy Morgan and get her a boarding pass for my afternoon slot.

After narrowly avoiding the Costume Parade in the convention center to direct a few friends to panels, I made it back to Games on Demand to run a two-hour slot of Wardens of Ouon. With last-minute arrivals, I had a full table, including my wife and a friend. I didn't have time to re-work my pregens, so I didn't try playtesting the violence track idea I had a few months ago. Still, the players did a fine job avoiding violence on their own, despite facing an ancient, angry dragon who had lost his egg.

From GoD, the three of us joined the rest of our group for a round of Artemis: Spaceship Bridge Simulator. With the help of an excellent Engineer, we tooled around the sectors for two hours aiding research vessels and fighting off enemy ships. I had played Artemis a few years ago at Gen Con, and due to poor teammates, had not enjoyed it much. This session was a ton of fun, however. Everyone worked together well, and we were able to discover aspects of the simulation that I hadn't seen before. I recommend Artemis to anyone who enjoys Star Trek or simulator games in general.

Finally, I wrapped up Saturday night by playing in an off-books game of Feng Shui 2 run by the phenomenal +Kevin Kulp. Set amidst a big-budget Vegas wedding, the action devolved into player-vs-player mayhem as our melodramatic hooks turned on each other. It was all fun and games until somebody lost an eye.

Sunday

Sunday was taken up with the usual end-of-con business of checking out of the hotel, packing the car, and making one final swing through the exhibit hall in search of last-minute deals. Because a few members of our group had to wait on contests or original sketches, we were free to enjoy a lunch at Haveli Indian Cuisine without rush (solid A, recommend). Then it was back to the van and the long trip home.

Conclusion

For a number of reasons, this was the best Gen Con I've had in years. I barely played any games, and only ran 8 hours, but they were all quality. Despite there being over 61,000 people there, I didn't feel like the convention was any more crowded than last year. This may have been due to pushing even more events out to the adjoining hotels, though I really didn't see much more than the Marriott.

But what I did see at the show has me jazzed for the coming year. I'm looking forward to Gen Con next year, but I'm hoping to do even more cons in the future. I'm definitely going to Metatopia in November. I would like to get to Con on the Cob, but that may be harder to swing as it's only a few weeks before Metatopia. And I'm looking to do Origins properly next summer.

Tomorrow, I'll talk about the many new games and supplements I picked up at Gen Con.