Monday, August 19, 2013

GenCon Wrapup

Now that everyone's back from GenCon, I'll add my recap to the mix. Unfortunately, I don't have many helpful tips or interesting pictures to share. Just a recap of my one busy day (Friday).

7:30 - Left the house and headed to Indy. Caught The Secret Cabal Gaming Podcast's GenCon preview show, Part 1. It's a crossover with the Dice Tower crew, who have Part 2 (August 6) on their site. Good way to kill the drive time.

9:30 - Swooped into the mall parking area. Had to drive straight to the top.

10:00 - Got my badge (thanks, Edward), said hi to a few friends and then rendezvoused with Jason Kotarski in advance of our publisher meeting. Got to see half the exhibit hall--quickly.

11:00 - Pitch to a publisher. Jason and I are working on a game called Fidelitas. They didn't hate it, but didn't love it either. We're a little bummed, but maybe we can take the criticisms and use them to make a better game in the end.

11:45 - Meeting with another publisher about . . . stuff.

12:10 - Arrive ten minutes late to my demo of Skyway Robbery. Even so, the three players are eager to begin despite the unfinished-looking prototype and the cost of $2 each. It goes well--I need to get better about explaining it. Made some good notes for slight improvements. This game is supposed to be Kickstarting in a few weeks.


2:00 - Pitched Battlecruiser to a publisher even though I had made it only seven days before. The pitch lasted about four minutes. He liked it and took it with him. :)

2:30 - Met Jason and his wife for lunch at Noodles & Co. Those guys are on the ball in there! We discussed the game and some ways to make it work. Things are positive.


4:00 - Demo of Chief Inspector. This is another game in the Skyway Robbery/Ruse universe (called Gaslight Empire). I hadn't played this game in about two years, so it was interesting. But it worked well and the players enjoyed it. More notes.

5:00 - Got to see the other half of the exhibit hall. Purchased one game during the con, Dominion: Guilds. We have since played it. Very nice conclusion to the series.

7:00 - Met with another publisher to discuss my rice game. We are close to a deal. His playtesting buds were there, too, and we came up with some ways to improve the game. Can't wait to try them. I also showed him some work on the PC game he'd asked me to think about making a board game of. Once we get the green light from the publishers, it's a go. I'm looking forward to it.


8:00 - Headed over to the AEG Big Game Night event. It was packed. It was crazy. There were even a few people playing Courtier (50% of them were from Nevermore Games). I also got to see the proofs for Canalis, coming in October. Everything looks very sharp.


9:00 - Found James Mathe's designer mixer at the Hyatt. I got a chance to chat with Dan Yarington of Game Salute about the current state of things and future plans. Then Dan wanted a milkshake, so a few of us (plus about 150 other gamers) packed into the poor little Steak & Shake. The wait time is pretty bad, but the shakes are almost worth it.

11:00 - I drive back to Cincinnati without falling asleep.

All in all, it was a good con for me. I hate having to rush away from everyone and not getting to play games I didn't design, but maybe I'll get to stay longer next time. It was great getting to see so many friends and making a few new ones!

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