Gencon Survival Guide Part 2: What to do?
So now everyone is convinced of the wisdom of having a plan. Now actually make one…!
There’s really no wrong way to do this, but maybe you can use a little guidance.
Do something new
First and longest, because this is absolutely my go to move at Gencon. The show offers 10s of thousands of events, so there’s got to be something you haven’t played before. Maybe it doesn’t always work, but the truth is that I would rather spend $6 and 4 hours at Gencon to test drive a game than $50 and one replay in Mike’s basement.
Last year’s results were mixed, as always. New games I tried included Fiasco, Shootout, Carmegeddon and some Steam Punk RPG.
Fiasco was a win. It’s a very well designed story telling game. Some setting is chosen, and then fleshed out with die rolls. These die rolls define the relationships, fill in the setting, or give some object to focus on. It’s not a game that I would play regularly, but as a party game or something to do at some other con it’s great.
The others ranged from meh to yuck. Shootout was a demo by a startup company, the cards were printed on regular paper not even card stock and it’s comparable to a lot of the ‘filler’ style games. You know, things to do while waiting for people to show up, but nothing you want to spend the whole night doing. Carmeggeddon, the GM let too many people play. And that’s seriously a sin in miniature skirmish styled games. Players end up waiting 10 minutes between turns, and it’s not a good experience. Steampunk RPG was just meh. It played ok, but the GM wasn’t very prepared and the whole thing felt like a fanboy tribute to Abner Park (a steampunk band. Whatever that means).
The point is, that I like trying new things, and the Fiasco block more than made up for the misses.
Try something old
Maybe you can’t go back again, but Gencon is the place to find out. Again, $6 and a 4 hour window seems like a much better deal than at home experiments. Mike knows what I am talking about, since he constructed neat Car Wars arenas to have us play them once and then realize that, in hindsight, Car Wars actually sucks. Or maybe you’ll find out that its still fun, so long as someone else does the work in setting it up.
Try a Tournament
Do something with friends
Mike pontificated on this on our drive back last year. Everyone kind of did their own thing, which is fine, but Gencon is better when you can share the experiences. I’m going off memory here, but (paraphrased) he continued with “Next year, I think I will trade events with people. You pick one, I pick one and we go to both.” I think that’s the only rational way to go about this; our group of friends has wild and varied interests. I can’t expect Mike to be excited about my schedule and I won’t be excited with his. But we did the Steampunk RPG event together which made it better (at least imo).
Don’t be afraid to something on your own
I no longer do NASCRAG. Oh, I may change my mind later, but the way the tourney is set up just hammers me. I am absolutely not at my best when the championship round is scheduled. Not only do I not have fun in the final round, but it turns into a cascade of suck because I end up feeling that I am letting my friends down. You know what that tells me? I should play something else. Now suppose that everyone else in our group is in the tourney. I still don’t want to play, but I still should schedule something. Wa-la! Miniature skirmish games. I’m pretty sure I am alone in still wanting to try these at Gencon, so here’s the perfect time. It’s a win-win. I don’t have to play in something I have no interest in and don’t have to inflict it on someone else!
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