Saturday, September 25, 2021

GenCon_2021 Overview

Overview of Gen Con 2021  


This is part of a set of posts summarizing my GenCon 2021 experience:

  1. Overview of Gen Con 2021  <-- You are Here
  2. Gaming Hall & Painting
  3. in lieu of the Writer's Symposium
  4. Dead Man's Cribbage Unboxing
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Overview of Gen Con 2021:

  • Gencon 2020 was canceled due to covid; 2021's event was moved from the traditional first week in August to Sept 16-19 (i.e. out of Summer break, and into school season).
  • Attendance dropped from ~70K attendees to ~35K. 
  • Many events were canceled, including the Writer's Conference which I usually attend (prior links: GenCon50_2017, GenCon51_2018, GenCon52_2019GenCon53_2021); in lieu of the desired networking, I found other ways to connect (see agenda item above in the blog list)
  • My brother and I share a passion for making games, including Dead Man's Cribbage and his economic literacy games Free Market Kids.
  • There were fewer vendors (~1/3 less I think), and these were gifted more space between them on the floor


Gamers playing games...everywhere 

Pictures here are from our hotel, the downtown Embassy Suites by Hilton, which is a great place to stay with the world's most obscure entrance.

Mask and Crowds

Everyone seemed to wear their masks and keep their distance most of the time.  Short time periods of crowding occurred when the "running of the nerds" commenced entering the vendor show. The weather was beautiful, and there was plenty of opportunities to walk around outside.





Obligatory stupid poses:



Lots of loot:

In addition to ~10games, I snagged this cool "Dungeon Maze Blanket" to match the shower curtain already in my house (already owned, thanks to John O'Neill for the lead). You can purchase them thru Gamers ConceptsApparently the artist is Dyson Logos. Check out his cool stuff: https://dysonlogos.blog/maps/


Furniture of the future:

At least three vendors were present with RPG games that play atop horizontal monitors.
Several fancy game table manufacturers were present too. I was most enticed by Wyrmwood's offerings.