The Sages of RPG attended the TotalCon XXVI gaming convention from February 23rd – 26th 2012 in Mansfield, MA.
Watch the video to hear about the convention, a quick rundown of the games I played, and then take a virtual walk through the convention’s main room. I apologize in advance for the music .
For more information on TotalCon visit totalcon.com
Last weekend I was able to attend TotalCon XXVI – New England’s largest gaming convention. I had originally only planned to attend only Saturday & Sunday and then at the last minute decided to make a four day weekend out of the convention. Boy was I glad I did as I had a fantastic weekend. I broke the weekend up into a few posts to make it easier to read. Enjoy part 1!
Thursday
TotalCon Gaming Room
I arrived Thursday around noon, headed to registration and picked up my badge.Then I found Angela and received our table assignment for the Sages of RPG table. Once everything was settled in I decided to scope out the board game room.
In the board game room there was a projector that had a list of games and starting times. I saw a game of “Werewolves of Millers Hollow” was starting soon, so I found the table and sat down. The GM showed up and we chatted a bit so I could learn all the different roles the game had. Sadly though not enough players were around to fill the game. However, all was not lost because the group decided to pick a game from the game library and play. We chose Eminent Domain, and even though none of us had played before we picked it up quickly and I really enjoyed the game. After finishing up Eminent Domain I taught and played an enjoyable game of Small World with some teens that were searching for something to play. Next, I sat down and learned the card game Alhambra. Alhambra was on my list of games to try at the con, so I was happy to get a chance to learn and play. I really liked the game and found it to be simple yet complex. You collect cards and use them to purchase tiles that you combine to create a “Carcassone” like city in front of you.
Circus Maximus Training
My dad and I went out to a nearby Wendy’s for dinner then it was back to TotalCon for Circus Maximus. I saw this game played last year on the stage with LEGO chariots and wanted to give it a try so I sat in on the training session with a dad and his two kids. In Circus Maximus each player is a chariot racer and gets to decide what type of chariot they drive, how fast their team of horses is, what weapons they will use, as well as some armor and tactical items. You race around the track while ramming into each other, stabbing other players, and generally trying to wreck havoc with your opponents chariots. I really enjoyed the demo and was happy to get to play it. After Circus Maximus it was time for bed so I headed in for the night.
Image from Wired.com - Dungeons & Dragons Creator Gary Gygax Dies
Today marks the 4 year anniversary of the day Gary Gygax left this world.
Please take a moment to reflect on what he has given gamers everywhere.
Gaming has added so much to my life and I strongly believe that without Gary and other industry pioneers we would not have the great games, community, and camaraderie that is gaming.
At GenCon 2008 the convention held a moment of silence for Gary, where the entire exhibit hall was silent for over a minute. Everyone stopped in their tracks to pause and give tribute to a great man. I have never seen a convention so quite, or still. It was a humbling experience.
I had the pleasure of meeting Gary Gygax in few years ago when Jumpgate, our small local game store, had him as a special guest at one of their Games Weekend conventions here in Portsmouth, NH. It was great being able to meet him, and as a teenager who was playing the games he created it was an honor. I have a picture of Gary and I from that event somewhere and will find and update this post soon. Thanks to Gary for all he has given gamers everywhere, and thanks to Jumpgate for allowing a young gamer the opportunity to meet this legend of gaming.
One of my newest things is finding worthy projects on Kickstarter and backing them.
As an avid board gamer, most of the projects I am backing are board & card game related. I wanted to take a minute to tell everyone about a great looking card game called Farmageddon.
Farmageddon
Description of the game from the rules:
Farmageddon is a game of chance, strategy, and agricultural mayhem. Harvest your Crops before your no-good-for-nothing opponents sabotage things for their own gain! The farmer with the most valuable Harvest at the end of the game wins!
The game looks fantastic and after reading through the rules and action cards, I can’t wait to get my hands on it.
I first happened across this game and concept when the designer (Grant) and I had a quick conversation on the chat over at The Game Crafter (TCG) website. I forget exactly what my question was but Grant was incredibly helpful, and I bookmarked his game to buy later. Then one day when going though my bookmarks Farmageddon came up. So I headed over to TCG and looked for it. No dice. Then I remembered he had a page over on Boadgamegeek. So I headed over there and found that the game was picked up by 5th Street Games and is in the process of a Kickstarter campaign.
I immediately backed the game and was pleasantly surprised in the amount of others who decided to back this cool game concept.
Right now Farmageddon’s Kickstarter has just under 16 hours to go and is almost at 25k the last of its overfunding goals. I want to ask you all to please take a look, and possibly back the game and help a designer’s dream come through.
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One of my newest things is finding worthy projects on Kickstarter and backing them.