Part 3 (of 5) in my series on GaryCon XVII (Part one here; part two here)
Imagine a large room in a convention center—big enough to hold fifty fold-out tables with chairs. And at every one of those tables, you’ll find 4–7 (sometimes even 14!) people. Now, zoom in on just one of those tables.
At the head of it sits an older gentleman with a pile of books, along with some painted miniatures. Around the table, players have notepads, pencils, dice, and drinks. They’re listening intently as the gentleman describes the ornate entryway to a castle.
Now multiply that one table by fifty…or more. That’s a gaming convention!
Some tables are playing board games. Others might be card games or party games. But no matter what—it’s a sea of people playing tabletop games together. That’s a gaming convention: piles and piles of people gathered to play.
Local, Regional, National, and Worldwide
Gaming conventions (or “cons” for short) vary in scale, purpose, and audience. For comparison’s sake, here are some I’m familiar with:
🎲 Bayou Wars – Held in D’Iberville, MS, it’s a regional convention I’ve attended with family and friends. It’s primarily focused on miniature wargames—infantry, artillery, planes, and ships engaged in skirmishes on detailed tabletops.
🎲 GenCon – Hosted in Indianapolis, IN, this is the largest tabletop gaming convention in the world, drawing players globally. It began in Lake Geneva, WI as a gathering for wargamers, but has since expanded to include all tabletop games. This is the biggest gaming convention on the block, coming in at 71,000 attenders in 2024.
🎲 Local Game Store Cons – Many game stores host smaller, local cons for their own communities. The goal is the same: getting people together to play. But why? Can’t you simply play games at home?
Meeting Up with Old Friends and Making New Ones
One of the biggest challenges in tabletop gaming is scheduling. Trying to synchronize the calendars of 3–7 people is a beast. But if you all commit to a long weekend months in advance—that helps!
I personally play games at home with family and friends. But I also play TTRPGs online. When I go to GaryCon, I meet up the guys that I game with online. We play together weekly, yet only see each other face-to-face once a year. So it’s not just about the gaming. So there’s a lot of catching up and friend time away from the gaming table.
And of course, you also meet new people.
I’ve made real friends at gaming conventions. I called one of them just the other day to check in on him, his wife, and daughter. We originally bonded at GaryCon—but we also share the same faith. It’s a neat way to meet like-minded folks.
Trying New Games and Playing Old Favorites
While reconnecting with people, you also get to play.
At GaryCon this year, about ⅔ of my schedule is filled with old favorites—games I love but rarely get to play. The other ⅓? Games I’ve never touched before.
🎲 That means I don’t have to drop $25–$50 on a new game, read the rules, and herd cats to try it out.
🎲 I can sit down, learn as I go, decide if I like it, and move on.
There are games I’ve played at conventions that I really enjoyed—and then didn’t think about again until the next year’s con. And that’s perfectly fine! I mean, how many times did you play Risk last year? Exactly.
Not every game needs to be a lifelong commitment. Sometimes it’s okay to enjoy it for one evening, and then go do something else. Conventions give you the chance to sample.
Meeting Authors and Industry Creators
This might be the most unique part of gaming conventions—especially for those outside the tabletop world.
Imagine getting to meet your favorite actor or the author of a book you love. Same energy.
🎲 If you spend every Tuesday night playing Dungeons & Dragons, it’s a big deal to meet the folks who created it.
🎲 Maybe you’ve got a rules question.
🎲 Maybe you just want to say thanks.
🎲 Maybe you want to hear what inspired them.
These creators aren’t household names—they’re not Tom Cruise or Nicole Kidman. They’re often just regular folks with day jobs and families. But in the tabletop community, they’re well-known. They’re creators, designers, writers—mini-celebrities in a niche world.
And to be honest, I could recognize some of these folks on the street. Not just TTRPG authors, but board game and card game designers too. That’s part of the hobby—if you like one game by a particular designer, you often check out their others. And at conventions, you might get to shake their hand, ask them a question, or sit down and play a session they’re running.
So what are gaming conventions? While they vary in scope, size, and audience, it’s people getting together with new friends and old to play new games and old! And in the meantime, you get to rub elbows with game designers and other hobbyists. And GaryCon is a particularly interesting version of that. But more on that tomorrow…
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