Earlier this month, Birmingham hosted a gathering of all things nerdy at MCM Comic Con, which included a healthy dose of tabletop gaming. I was lucky enough to be helping out at the Zatu stand, demoing some recent and upcoming releases. There were a lot of great moments, and only one disaster (when I took a wrong turn on a roundabout), but here are a few that made MCM Comic Con worth adding to your tabletop events list in the future.
Playing unreleased Games
As part of the event, Zatu was showcasing some upcoming games, which gave me the chance to trial them with members of the public ahead of official release. Two stood out: the upcoming solo game Tomb Raider: The Crypt of Chronos and Blue Lock: Striker, based on the Blue Lock anime.
A handful of pre-release copies of Tomb Raider were available and sold out rapidly, but one was kept on the stand to demo, so I got the chance to show people Lara Croft battling her way to the Crypt of Chronos ahead of a September release. I also showcased an early edition of Blue Lock: Striker, which is expected to release in October. The game has players take on characters from the anime and attempt to score five goals by playing and powering up strike cards, all while avoiding getting the ball stolen by other players.
Cosplay
It wouldn't be Comic Con without cosplay. It was my first experience at a Comic Con, so I had no idea what to expect and was overwhelmed by the dedication from the attendees. The outfits ranged from low-key to mind-bogglingly complicated. The Zatu stand drew in a few cosplayers, at least four of them came as Lara Croft and were a perfect match for the box art of the solo game. We also had the upcoming Cyberpunk: Edgerunners board game, and again the stand drew a few attendees who were sporting David's (the show's protagonist) iconic jacket.
Late night gaming
Demoing games all day can be exhausting, so you'd think I'd find a better way to unwind at the end of the day, but instead I opted to play some more games. I had taken my own copies of a few games in case I ended up playing solo, but instead I got invited to try out Last Week of Summer, which features players living out the last week of summer in 1986 before graduating high school and attempting to collect as many memories as possible. I wasn't the only one either; there were plenty of others, some still in their cosplay as the sun set, who had travel games set up in the hotel bar.
Special Offers
A lot of the stands had con-exclusive special offers, and as hard as I tried to restrain myself, I still picked up a few bits and pieces. I started with two of the Kinfire Delve games, which have players working their way through a well (a deck of cards) to eventually defeat the boss lurking at the bottom. I also bought some interactive smartbooks, which are choose-your-own-adventure books that pair with an app and let you play digital mini-games alongside the story. These are a gift for my nephew's upcoming birthday, and if they go down well, there are more in the series, so there could be further purchases in future.
Comic Con might not seem like the obvious place for tabletop games, but with a dedicated tabletop area and a large TCG presence, I'm already looking forward to seeing what it has to offer in future years.
