Above, dear reader, is a picture of the games I hauled to my first 3 days gaming convention.
Yes, your read it well “I hauled to” not “from” my first gaming convention. Do you see a problem here? Me neither, but my car’s trunk sure did, especially when me and 2 other friends tried to pack 20+ games in it for a 3-day gaming experience. And although I managed to play most of the games I took with me, upon our return it dawned to me “is there a list of 5 games you should bring with you regardless of the duration of the gaming convention?”. To this end my dear reader please find below what I would have taken instead of the original list.
1. The casual “get together” game
This should be a game with a higher player count that it is easy to teach and accessible to a wide audience of people. The purpose of this game is 2 folded. Firstly, after any long drive or travel, your energy level would be low enough not to jump into a full Lacerda game. Hell, if you can, more power to you, but regular people tent to need some time to decompress after traveling, so a lighter game is the right touch. Secondly, a light high player count game is perfect to meet people and learn about their gaming preferences. To this end I would bring with me, Cosmic Encounter or a newer addition Habemus Papam. Both of them are up to 6 players, chaotic fun games, perfect to unwind and break the ice in a room field with strangers.
2. The midweight game
Ok, we had our hors d’oeuvre now let’s jump to the first course, or in our case to the midweight game. After unwind and getting to know some of the people around me, I would pull out a 2.5 to 3 weight game. Something that has a bit more meat on the bones if you know what I mean. What would I choose? If am sitting down with someone who enjoys games with high player interaction, I would go for an area control, such as Bloodrage or Titans. However if I would be surrounded by number crunching optimization fans, I would play a nice solitaire like euro such as Obsession .
3. The heavy hitter
You do realize at this point in the article I am obliged to continue with buffet references. With that in mind onwards to the main course. I would recommend having a heavy game with you to these conventions. Why you may ask? Firstly, if you don’t have a group that it is into heavy games this is your place to find the right people. Secondly, after a long run of light fillers and party games, if you are like me, you might enjoy a bit of a brain burner. To this end I always bring with me something like Shackleton Base , Brass or Inferno.
4. Personal peeve
I must admit I go to these types of events to meet people and build connections but also due to a personal peeve of mine. I do enjoy historical themed games and brace your selves there aren’t a lot of players willing to play these types of games. I know, shocker, right? Who doesn’t want to play a game about the Great Game and partition the Afghanistan area after the fall of the Durrani empire? I enjoy GMT games and Pax games and players that also focus on these types of mechanics are a rare bread. I am not saying you should bring a GMT game with you at every convention, what I am saying if that if you have a peculiarity in your gaming taste and you don’t always find players locally, bring that peeve game with you. You never know who you might discover the conventions that has the same inclinations as you.
5. The Event Game
Ahhh… the great Event game, that type of game that can be played once or twice a year when all social responsibilities are set aside and the calendar of multiple people align just right. I must admit that all day games are a rare treat for me. Firstly, it is pretty hard to set aside a full day, be it a weekend day, to play a game. Secondly, even if I can do that, it doesn’t mean that my friends can do the same. Hence setting aside a 6-8 hours window to play something like TI4 is a tall order. Enter the magical realm that it is the boardgame convention. I can promise you this, every gaming convention will have a table of people playing TI4 or Voidfall or whatever 6 hours mammoth game you fancy. In my case I am keen on getting a full day play session of John’s Company or Bios: Origins (I know I know- that historical theme kink of mine). Where I am going with this example is that gaming nconventions are a great place to find people willing to invest a full day in this type of “event games” and it would be a shame not to have your favorite “event game” with you.
Conclusion
Wrapping this up, at the end of the day people attend boardgame conventions to enjoy their hobby with likeminded folks. So, there is no such thing as a fixed “how to “approach or a definitive list of what you should play, this is a hobby after all so you should enjoy it as you see fit. The list above helps you to set expectations on what you might be able to play and trim down your traveling luggage cause packing and unpacking the whole boardgame shelves is no fun activity.
