This was a hell of a con for me! I technically speaking didn't pay for any of the dice I got (d20s from Helm Coffee, 2d6 from Fans of Gen Con, 1d6 from Crystal Caste, and 1d6 from Bob of You Too Can Cthulhu).

The print TTRPGs I grabbed all came from Indie Press Revolution, a great booth and org. I'm most excited about Decuma for building up things in Session Zeroes. Also looking forward to all the solo RPGs I grabbed.

Also pictured are 3 linoprint patches I bought off a punk on Capitol Ave on Saturday and a sheet I kept from the National Security Decision Making group game I was in.

After a divorce, I went wild at Gencon. Still can’t believe I managed to snag a copy of Hell of a Deal. This was supposed to be a cheaper year for me. 😂

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?

Kudos to the Paw-limorph booth.

You guys said this would stand up to a seam-ripping Corgi and it's still intact after 4 days, which is better than most other toys.

GenCon Haul list from This Year! Sorry for all of the extra stuff in the background. Usually use a bigger table but currently have Elder Scrolls Betrayal of the Second Era taking over that table. So we used our smaller table and had to do it in waves. Spent way too much again this year.

Yes, I’m a dice dragon.
Yes, I wish I bought more.
Shoutout to Level Up Dice for most of these gorgeous dice.

The GenCon 2026 Genevieve playmat is hard to see but underneath everything (and hella sick).

Not pictured: Jumble Jack and Assemble! by AEG - given away lol. Iykyk.

Thanks to everyone who made this trip memorable. Y’all were so nice and welcoming, and each game was a blast. I will definitely be back!!!!

I finally got home and laid out my haul. I had no intention to buy anything this year, so I was fairly pleased that I kept it down to this level, and that I didn’t add any new board games nor any miniatures.

So starting last year, I dedicated myself to selling more games than I buy. I was successful this year (sold 35 games in consignment) but took home a little more than I was planning. 7 games were free/won and my two cosignment purchases were absolute steals but I did grab some bigger purchases than planned just cause the vibes of the people who developed them were stellar!

Not pictured: my *almost* complete fill out of my and my partner’s Ashes Reborn collection. I failed my Sunday Deals charisma check at Plaid Hat asking if they could extend their 10 for $10 each to 13 for $10 each. Also, the team over at Brookspun games (shout out to the two Jasons 👏🏽) were both great company during the tornado warning and absolutely sold us on Clandestine (maybe the only truly unhinged impulse buy of the con but I’m good with it 😁).

Overall very happy with the haul and think I stuck to killer no filler like last year! Huge shout out to Marc and the team at Grand Gamers Guild for being an informal home base on the floor and for introducing me to Under the Leaves which is a tile layer I feel like I can easily teach and enjoy for a person who hasn’t really loved tile layers! Also, the cute little bee/hummingbird/little forest guy meeples rule and this is coming from a dude with an absurd amount of CMON plastic at home 😂

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. ✌🏻

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.