Attending Gen Con for my first time last year was, at the risk of sounding grandiose, a revelation. I quickly realized just how much more fun it was than New York Comic-Con, which had been my one and only convention experience for so many years. On top of the bustling crowd and mesmerizing show floor, there’s just so much to do at Gen Con, from playing games and engaging in general nerd culture to meeting new people and making new friends. So, of course, my brother and I knew pretty much right away that we’d be returning the following year.
And so, we did. Gen Con 2024 was, by all accounts, a complete and utter success. My brother and I, now joined by three of my friends as well, had a truly eventful weekend. It was a vacation much needed and well spent, needless to say. There’s lots to cover from all four days of nonstop gaming, so rather than waste any more time with a lengthy intro, let’s dive right in!
Wednesday
Wednesday was a pretty straightforward travel day. Our group of five flew into Indiana in the afternoon, took an Uber into the city of Indianapolis, got settled in at our respective abodes for the weekend (my brother and I stayed in a hotel adjacent to the convention center while my friends had a BnB two blocks away), got some food, and then explored the city for a bit. We also started our weekend of gaming with a couple rounds of Quiplash, because that’s always a fun time. Otherwise, it was smooth sailing into our first proper day of the convention.
The weekend squad.
Thursday
The gaming started in earnest on Thursday, as my brother and I were up bright and early for a game of Dungeon Crawl Classics (DCC for short) in the Lucas Oil Stadium. DCC is modeled after older editions of D&D, with fragile characters and somewhat rules-crunchier encounters. True enough, two of my three characters bit the bullet before the four-hour session was over, as we attempted to save our party from being sacrificed to some grim ritual. On the upside, though, when they died, I got to ring the gong that the organizers had set up in their section of the stadium, which made the deaths totally worth it.
Afterward, I had a little time to wander the show floor before I sat down for my first game of Magic the Gathering for the weekend. I played a quick little game of commander—arguably the game’s most popular format—and actually managed to win with my Niv-Mizzet Reborn deck. It was a well-mannered game, and we four players got along quite well, which I was glad to see. Meeting random Magic players at conventions can be a mixed bag sometimes (if you know, you know).
In any case, my brother and I then closed out the day with a session of Call of Cthulhu. This was my first time playing the horror-tinged RPG, and it was far and away one of the best experiences of the weekend. Our game was set in Egypt, as our team set out to survive an adventure through a forgotten pharaoh’s tomb. The GM ran the game perfectly, thanks to a great sense of tone and an amazing amount of detail in his story and game pieces. Our group of high-spirited players just barely managed to survive the whole ordeal, with my character going completely insane on two occasions to hilarious effect. Overall, it was a great first time with this game and an excellent way to finish the day.
I truly thought we were all doomed…
Except, that wasn’t actually the last noteworthy Thursday event. At the tail end of the evening, I very randomly encountered none other than Neil Newbon in the hotel lobby. Just out of nowhere. I did the fastest double take when I realized the voice of Astarion and so many other amazing characters was just standing there at the check-in counter. As we exchanged a few words and took a quick picture, I like to think I took the interaction in stride, despite being so utterly starstruck. Definitely a fun little bonus to an already wonderful day.
Friday
Friday was a bit lighter on actual events to attend, though the ones I had still ate up most of the day. I started by properly exploring the show floor, since I had a couple of hours to spare, and in pretty much no time, I found myself buying too many things. An obvious and expected hazard of the convention environment. I never learn. By the end of the weekend, though, I thankfully hadn’t spent as much as I thought I had. But it definitely felt like a lot, what with buying three D&D modules, a new playmat, a couple of pins, and a binder for my nicer, more expensive Magic cards.
Nevertheless, Friday’s first event was a two-hour intro session to the game Shadowrun, which my brother was already quite familiar with. This RPG features a wonderful aesthetic blend of cyberpunk and high fantasy themes, with character archetypes ranging from mages and summoners to hackers and muscled bruisers. Thankfully, our table was keen on helping me get a quick handle on the game mechanics, so the game got rolling in no time. I played as a hacker character, which was loads of fun, especially since I got to roll so many dice. Definitely a game system I wouldn’t mind revisiting in the future.
The rest of Friday was spent playing six hours of Deadlands with my brother and one of my friends. Getting back into this game, especially after the standout experience I had with it last year, was such a treat. The session was led by the same organizers, and we wound up playing with essentially the same group of people between the three tables participating in the interconnected game, save for a small handful of new faces. This time around, I played a hexslinger, which is, as the name sort of implies, a magic-wielding gunslinger. Playing through this adventure to save San Antonio from the rising threat of War (yes, that War) marked yet another success for the weekend.
Good times all around while playing Deadlands.
Saturday
Saturday was similarly packed day from start to finish. It started off with more Magic, as I sat down for another couple games of commander. However, this time, all the players were given randomized, pre-constructed decks from the game’s newest expansion set, Bloomburrow. I managed to get the deck I actually wanted among the four available, thankfully, and then participated in two very enjoyable games. I didn’t win either of them, but it was still worth it to get the new deck, the convention exclusive promo card, and a couple of prize tickets, which I could redeem later for packs of cards at a nearby booth.
Not long after that, my brother and I tried out Candela Obscura for the first time. Similar to Call of Cthulhu, this horror-themed RPG was a nice change of pace for both of us. The game system comes from the folks at Darrington Press (the game publishing branch of Critical Role), and based on what we got to play, I think they’ve done a solid job with this one. The mechanics are intriguing, incentivizing cooperative play as players endure psychologically scarring trials and contracts. I managed to pick up the handbook for the game later on, so I’ll hopefully be able to revisit this one later down the line.
Now somewhat late into the day, our group then joined up to grab dinner at a somewhat nearby German restaurant. Indianapolis has those public motor scooters all over the place, so getting around wasn’t a problem. I also never thought I’d actually ride one of those things, but here we are. After a proper meal, we returned to the stadium to play a round of the Zombies!!! board game. Aside from our one friend, this was essentially all our first time playing the game, so it came with a bit of a learning curve. Overall, though, this competitive survival game was largely enjoyable. Although, as we meandered past midnight, we were all quite tired, so sleep became a necessity. Not to mention, the sad realization that Gen Con was almost over was starting to set in.
Like I said, sleep became a growing necessity.
Sunday
With Sunday being the last day of the convention, there wasn’t as much left to do, other than wander the show floor one final time, play one last game of commander, and cash in on those prize tickets I had accrued throughout the weekend from my prior Magic games. Thankfully, the tickets came in handy, as I managed to get some good pulls from the packs I picked up. Otherwise, it was a tame and somewhat somber day. The end of a convention is never all that exhilarating to me; I always want it to last just a little longer.
On a more positive note, though, we did manage to return to Kuma’s Corner, a metal-themed burger joint my brother and I discovered last year. Getting there had become something of a priority, given we had hyped it up to my friends, and we couldn’t get in when we arrived on Wednesday. It was worth the wait, though, with great food and company to close out a tremendous weekend. We then returned to the hotel lobby to hangout and play some more Magic for a while before finally packing it in for our final night in Indianapolis.
Tiamat says hello and goodbye.
And That’s All She Wrote…
With Gen Con concluded, all Monday had to offer was the trip back to New York—a truly sobering experience. The post-Con depression rapidly set in for me, as it typically does, and once I was finally back home, I was dead tired. At the same time, though, as I went to sleep that night (being back in my own bed was sublime), I couldn’t help feeling quite rejuvenated as well.
Year two at Gen Con was an absolute win. As I noted at the top of this post, it was a vacation very much needed and well spent. Between all the games we played and the friendly faces we met, I haven’t a single regret. But now, I suppose it’s back to real life for a while, at least until NYCC rolls around. Otherwise, I’ll be waiting until next year so we can once again head back to Gen Con for the best four days in gaming.
If you care to see all of my Gen Con 2024 highlights, be sure to head over to my Instagram page and check out my saved story from my weekend at the convention. And until next time, peace!