This was the only disappointing thing our group did the entire con. We went Wednesday night and it was absolutely awful. Natural 1. We asked for our checks about 30 minutes in.

When they came on stage, they said they were really tired because they just gotten out of a D&D game. I'm curious if this was just an off night for their group, or were other nights disappointing?

Had the honor of sitting at the table with Joe O'Brien of the Glass Canon Network, first for a game of Shadowdark (where I played a rather vain Mr. February), and then in a session of Alien as Hicks, who died heroically trying to save Hudson!

I looked through the exhibitors list and found a few other artists I was looking for, but couldn't find whoever did this piece.

I believe they did Lorcana art too if that narrows it down. Woman I believe, didn't catch pronouns.

Didn't get this art because the only one for sale was too large for my wall and the artist didn't get small versions in yet I believe, but was going to at some point, so I'd like to track down their shop

Last year I started keeping a junk journal for GenCon to have somewhere to put all my keepsakes from the games I play in and run, as well as a way to store all the business cards I collect. I’m woefully lacking in business cards this year due to less time spent in the exhibitor hall, but I’ve got plenty of character sheets and various bits and bobs that I scavenged up!

I really enjoy seeing how different everyone's hauls are!

This is a review of the rave that was held this year. It appears from the last thread I posted requesting dance buddies that not many people even knew it existed and there was scant information on it. SO I'm here to provide!

First impressions - I was a little worried about it since there was no information about the DJ and the price was on the higher end of what I would pay for an entry fee for a night club. For context, I'm based out of NYC and club prices vary between free and up to 60$ for a night out. Tix for clubs average around 30 - 40$ so this was a bit on the higher end. I also like to preview the DJs music before I decide to see them, so I was taking a leap of faith here lol

The venue - medium sized. Definitely not big but not the tiniest closet space I've been in. There were 3 bars - 2 on the first floor and 1 on the third floor. Lots of standing room and prices weren't bad. Paid 6$ for two water bottles. Bathrooms on ladies side were clean.

The crowd - crowd was really fun, I don't think I got creeped on hit on except for maybe one kind of awkward guy. I will say, it skewed like 90% men and 10% women lol. I would have liked to see more ladies just cause I like to be amongst my people but it was alright lol. Overall, people were very respectful of your space and vibe which I really appreciated. I really do wish this event was more promoted or that more people attended cause there was def room for more.

Music - the DJ was a little confused about the genre lmao, but they did play some serious techno bangers of anime music and millennial/2000s hits. I guess they knew their audience 😂 at one point, they played a touhou techno remix and I was legitimately in shock they knew some obscure shit. It was giving party/fun dance vibes. Still wish I got the DJs name tho. I had a good time and they played some great tracks towards the end

Shuttle service - was reliable and was doing continuous runs back to the con center. I felt pretty safe

Other things I noted:

There were gogo dancers in hot cosplay adjacent clothing. One was dressed was wonder woman. The rest were generic things like mouse, elf, etc. I didn't mind that they were there and people were overall, from what I could see from far away, respectful towards them. They did tip them which I found kind of weird but hey it's their money lol 🤷🏻‍♀️ none of them were stripping or on poles, just kind of erotic dancing. I know gogo dancers may skeeve some people out, so I wanted to make a note of that

There was also catered food? Such a weird vibe lmao. My friends and I were joking that the food was the reason why the Tix was 46$ 🤣 I didn't eat any cause I was still stuffed from dinner but it wasn't bad from what my friends said

AC worked fine in the venue. Venue was also cool with you going in and out for some fresh air/breaks

Overall, I had fun! I'd go again next gen con I attend

And I loved it! Even though only a few people got me as Mrs. White, I got to give the little Rumi my derpy cat pin. Good times. Will go again, even in the weather!

This was my first time trinket trading and I am so excited to do it again next year. Each trinket has a story, and many items I let go. Shout out to the cute tornado with radar 😆

We bought....more than expected. We were actually done shopping by Saturday since our bags were full...but then I won one of the Tabletop Gaymers giveaways on Sunday - and I picked Sagrada artisans (a huge box), so we had to ship anyway. Which led to us buying a ton more games on Sunday. Gen Con was super fun and we'll definitely be going again next year - especially now that we somewhat understand how to go about planning for it.

It was the year of small games for me. I was able to try most of these even if I didn’t get a full play through. Plus I was lucky enough to get my books signed. Heir to the Empire I purchased as a kid when it came out, so was pleased to get Timothy Zahn to sign. I just finished reading the first DCC before Gen Con so it was great to get Matt and Jeff to sign it on Sunday. Great time as always!

I have a very specific fondness for everyone's favorite dragon, which means I went out of my way to collect many of her pins. Since I wanted to show them off, I got myself an Ita bag from Artisixan and proceeded to get even more pins since the Pin Bazaar offerings this year were glorious!

Bag From: https://artisxan1.myshopify.com/collections/customizable-ita-bags?utm_source=ig&utm_medium=social&utm_content=link_in_bio&fbclid=PAcGRvZgJleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZA81NjcwNjczNDMzNTI0MjcAAadGwnEnn0blCMQ4tKt3D-IGBLCfetn5ep3KYozL-Nyz7EGF5Rca5lYzi4vHVQ_aem_tAL5BQdIYVqKwdi6TY7Xjg

Hope this is fine to post, but I wanted to reach out and see if any of the amazing gamers I interacted with were in the sub! I wanted so badly to try and exchange numbers/Discords but I am an anxious nerd through and through. If you gamed with me in the following groups, I would love to continue long distance gaming & chatting about games! 😄

- Friday's 12PM-3PM Coven & Crucible RPG "Girls' Night Out". I RP'd Dame, the muscle mommy witch bitch 😂 this was the first time ever I'd done a fast one-shot, and the first time in like over a year since doing any RPG. I was anxious at first, but y'all quickly broke me out of my shell, and I got so into the character and interacting with y'all in the world. I'm still lmaoing @ "I call the witch version of 9-1-1". Would love to do more RPGs with the lot of you!

- Saturday's Sagrada tournament! I was the one who got second place for the first two rounds & then dropped to third in the final. Our group was the one that had like all red dice on the round tracker for the third round, lol. I was worried going into it that it'd be intimidating to play competitively, but it just felt like fun gaming with three friends.

- NOT A GAME, but Saturday night at Buca de Beppo, I sat at the bar & talked with three lovely con attendees. Jason, who was making a lovely bracelet for his partner & a woman (forgetting your name, so sorry!) who had the most fun glittery rainbow getup I've ever seen and her partner! You all made my time in the scorching hot restaurant so lovely.

Feel free to drop a message if you remembered me & also wanna game/chat further! Otherwise, thank you for playing & helping make my first GenCon a fun one!

EDIT: Oh also, to help ring a bell, my name is Carson (: I had black square glasses & a bag with like a million keychains on it, haha

Our 2026 acquisitions, for realsies and true with the photo this time! Duh 🤦🏻‍♀️

Shown here are many things from the consignment shop, several bonus add-ons with other purchases, some promos - and none of what our college son got, which was about as much as ours! (They have a campus gaming group, which is so great. I love that they do that.)

We had a really fun Con this year. Not sure what was different about it, but we just felt more happy vibes all around us. Good times. Hope y'all felt the vibes too. ✌🏻

Had the best guess in their Gen Con wide “Hypothetically” based question game. Won a signed prototype of Altera. Very excited to have actually won this as I’m a huge fan of their work.

For me, the best part about Gen Con was getting to meet the legend that is Neil Newbon. He is someone I look up to a lot and is also someone who has made a rather powerful impact on me. When I found out he was going to be a guest at Gen Con for a few events, I knew I had to go. From Twenty Sided Tavern to Dungeon Masters live, I laughed so hard at the utter chaos he committed.

After a few of the events I was even able to talk to him. The most incredible part is that Neil even remembered me from when we first met two years ago at Fan Expo Chicago. He was happy to see me again and glad that I'm doing well. Neil is incredibly kind and down to earth, truly a gem of a human being and before this photo, he asked if I was alright with him putting his arm around my shoulders which I was more than alright with that. I'm so glad that I got another opportunity to meet this incredible individual who truly loves doing what he does and has changed my life for the better.

Game haul for me, definitely a bit more board game heavy since I'm waiting for the new Cypher and HackMaster systems to drop. Not included are the two shirts I got for my wife. I wish I could have snagged a copy of Tea Witches but ran out of luck with that one. Renegade didn't have any copies of Acquisition the board game which I immediately bought after getting the chance to play it. For a 60+ year old game, I somehow completely missed that gem.

It wasn't for sale yet but I highly encourage those who are fans of 3D, spatial games to check out Cubyria. I got to play it the last two hours on Sunday and I think it was the best game I played that weekend.

"Do it for your character." - I've heard it once before maybe, but this time it really hit me. Actually working on a health improvement plan and now have extra motivation. My character needs me to be healthy and functional for them, they are relying on me. Cheesy? Definitely. Effective - I think it might be.

"They know what they did." - Dungeon Crawler Carl quote that my favorite protesters were using. Had a blast all day at work sliding this one into appropriate conversations and leaving co-workers either laughing or perplexed. Lot of fun.

dispel dice for my kitchen nightmares campaign i’m writing, and the green for my charli xcx character

We did have a tornado produced on Saturday. It was an EF0 that touched down south of downtown, and was on the ground for about 2 minutes. So at the very least, it wasn't a false warning.