Gen Con: A Mecca for My People

I attended Gen Con this year (as if my bombardment of postings hadn’t made that annoyingly apparent), and it was everything I had hoped it would be.  Held in Indianapolis, Gen Con is the largest board gaming convention in the world, and with over 60k attendees one of the largest conventions in the U.S. overall.  Lining up outside of the exhibitor’s hall before it opened, chanting “Here we come!  Here we come!” with the surrounding crowd, I knew I had come home among the greatest throng of humanity: geeks and nerds. 

Thursday morning the doors flung open and my friend John and I speed walked our way from booth to booth, surveying the offerings of every major gaming company in the world.  We sat down to games new to us and old, sampling just released best sellers and unknown games trying to edge into the market.  We chatted with designers whose names graced the cover of game boxes we had back home.  I even stumbled across Margaret Weis, of Dragonlance and The Death Gate Cycle fame, an author who did as much to fuel my love for fantasy as anyone else.  Then we retired to our hotel to play the games someone had bought until the wee hours of the night forced us to sleep.

The next three days progressed much the same, though I chose fewer stops and stayed longer, spending more time demoing games.  I was pleasantly surprised by Mansions of Madness, 2nd ed., a game that is at the forefront of the integration of technology with board gaming with its app-driven, cooperative gameplay.  I also sampled Runewars: Miniatures, Blood Rage, Cash ‘n Guns, Flick 'em Up, and Pandemic: Cthulhu, among others.  A highlight of the Con was attending the in-flight report for Fantasy Flight Games, a company who has diverted an alarming percentage of my earnings into their coffers, and getting to see early images of their newest and upcoming releases. 

The true highlight for me, though, was the twelve-hour haul that was the North American Championship for Star Wars: Imperial Assault on Saturday.  Facing off against some of the best players in the world was certainly a thrill, and placing 11th overall (out of a field of 66) was an achievement I could walk away proud of.  Those who are familiar with the game might be interested in reading my reflection on the top lists of the tournament here.

But mostly what I enjoyed was the general exuberance of everyone around me for one of my passions in life.  It is so easy to get a gamer talking—all you have to do is inquire about a game in his hands—and soon you’ll find an easy friend.  John and I wandered through the Pathfinder Hall, host to probably a hundred tables of people playing either the Pathfinder roleplaying game or the card adventure game, and I asked someone there about the game.  He responded with a heartfelt pitch for why the game has fans across the globe and ended by gifting John with several exclusive promos for the game.  This experience replayed itself every time I wandered through the main hall.  Boards were set up everywhere, and at each aficionados were eager to share their love of these games.

Each day passed in a whir of good friends and gaming.  I already can’t wait until I make my next pilgrimage.  But until then, happy gaming!

A Paean to Catan

Don’t call it an addiction.  Don’t dismiss it as a childish hobby.  Board gaming is the noblest of pastimes, a passion shared by all who are true of heart. 

So when was my revelation of this truth?  Where was my Damascus road?  The seeds were there in my youth.  I spent hours with my brother playing campaigns of Heroquest.  I branched out to D&D briefly.  I dabbled in chess.  I lorded over the battlefields of Axis and Allies. 

But these seeds didn’t find soil to root themselves in until I stumbled upon Settlers of Catan (Klaus Teuber’s 1995 Spiel des Jahres Winner).  This game exposed me to the wider world of hobby games and set me on a path I’m still running down.  This is your quintessential gateway game, and if you haven’t discovered it yet it’s time you were introduced. 

The very box itself screams excitement: “A game of settlement, discovery, and trade!”  But don’t let that deter you; it really is a blast.  The game is equal parts resource management, area control, and chicanery.  Your goal is to build the most thriving network of settlements, cities, and roads, which then will grant you access to more and more resources, all in pursuit of being the first to amass ten victory points (primarily granted through those settlements (one point each) and cities (two points each)).

So why does this game stand out among all the other games that are out there?  The engine that makes this game hum is its simplicity—and its capacity for ruthless play.  After the initial set up, where players take turns placing their initial settlements (I recommend using the tournament quick-start rules: one settlement and road, then a city and road, and then a final road), the gameplay is quite straightforward.  You roll the dice at the start of your turn; gather resources if the number rolled is on a land tile on which you have a settlement or city; then spend your resources if you can, trade if you need, or pass the dice.  This simplicity makes the game very accessible to the gamer and non-gamer alike. 

But beneath the surface lies a satisfying amount of depth, which is what draws me back to the island of Catan even after hundreds of plays.  As you journey here again and again, you learn to assess the best initial placements in the beginning, anticipating what spots will be left to you for your second placement.  You begin to predict where players are heading and cut them off.  You gauge how badly players wants a resource, and to exact as much from them as possible when they want to trade.  You endure the couch the night after playing, knowing that your spouse’s ire is no match for the thrill of victory.

This is the only game I’ve rated a 10.  It nearly always leaves both the novice and the experienced gamer craving for more.  It has enough luck to allow newcomers a chance, yet it rewards quality play enough that certain players reach victory more often than not.  It scales well, from two to four (for two players, increase the goal to twelve victory points), and even does well with the 5-6 Player Expansion.  It has high replayability; its modular board ensures that each game is its own puzzle.  Once you want more variety, Seafarers is available to keep the game’s feel with an added wrinkle of sea tiles and boats.  Want more depth?  Cities and Knights is available too. 

Mostly, though, I love this game because it was my gateway—as it was for so many of us—into the hobby gaming world.  This changed the nature of our family interactions.  We’ve sat around the table more, laughed and squabbled (“Trade me your sheep, or you'll never see your grandson again!”) more, and found more opportunities to gather under the same roof.  And while I tend to put more tactical strategy games on the table during my weekly game nights, this game will always be held in special reverence for how it has been interwoven into the texture of our lives. 

Happy gaming!