Tag: Gen Con

Independent Music at Gen Con 50

Entertainment

I had a huge surprise this year at Gen Con 50. Often, there are bands and musicians playing music in the hallways of the Indianapolis Convention Center, host of the Gen Con gaming convention. I stopped to watch one band from Nashville wearing crowns and cat ears. I was already a few minutes late for my next game since I stopped for coffee. I ended up watching the whole set of an independent band from Nashville, called… Big Chance / Canyon Spells / Daniel and the Lion.

From what I learned from the Google box, Canyon Spells is Jimmie Linville and Daniel Pingrey who have been making music since high school. Their collaboration is tight and has produced a lot of great music across many genres. Their set at Gen Con was tight, fun, and really entertaining. I have not heard a great new band in a long, long time, and this was a pleasant surprise at Gen Con, of all places. I am not sure where they are going or if they will get stuck with an identity crisis, but they have great song writing and performing chops. YouTube has many videos of their band performing A LOT, which is a sign of a great band. Bands need to perform as much as they can, book gigs, and travel to obscure gaming conventions to strengthen their craft. I hope they find their way into the mainstream. They deserve a shot.

The Paradox of Choice (Applied to Game Design)

Games

I am developing a board game design workshop here in Boston that starts in September. I am really looking forward to facilitating the workshop and learning from the participants. In preparing the course materials, I came across my notes from a board game seminar that I took at Gen Con a few years back. The seminar was hosted by Jeff Tidball. Jeff is a creative executive and award-winning game designer. His class made a lot of great points, but he made one pint really clear to me. Game design is about doing the work. You have to have a lot of “butt-in-chair” time.

How much time have you wasted trying to choose the best salad dressing?

Jeff also mentioned the paradox of choice. He recommended that we watch a TED Talk from Barry Schwartz on the subject of choice and try to apply it to game design. Barry does not talk about game design in his TED Talk, but his message about choice can easily apply. A game with no choice is not fun. A game with too many choices is also not fun. You need to find a balance and do not overwhelm your players with too many options. Choice is central to the art of game design. You need to decide which choices to present to players and which ones that can be removed from your game.

I recommend that you watch Barry Schwartz’s TED Talk, The Paradox of Choice, to get the full context and see how you can apply it to game design.

 

Tony DiTerlizzi at Gen Con

Games

This week I have been reminiscing about all of my Gen Con experiences. Last year, I got to spend some time with Tony DiTerlizzi, author and illustrator.

Tony DiTerlizzi at Gen Con

He was really awesome to talk to and inspired me to get writing about one of my characters, named “Dog”. Thanks for the bag of holding!

 

Strife Tournament at Gen Con

Games

The final match of the first annual Strife tournament at Gen Con came down to me and a guy that was in full cosplay of one of the characters from the game.

Strife Game at Gen Con

I lost… But, I got some awesome runner-up gifts and got to play an intense battle with a great player.

“My other shirt is a v-neck”

Comedy

Have you ever done something that you completely forgotten about only to see it on the web years later? I guess the whole current generation of noobs will know what I mean when they are sitting in their job interview, and the interviewer asks them about that YouTube video…

If you ever go to a gaming convention you will notice all of the ironic t-shirts everyone wears. For example, the overweight guy wearing a small Supperman t-shirt. Each year more and more t-shirt vendors invade the exhibit hall at Gen Con.

If you know me, you know that I just had to create a bunch of sarcastic, novelty shirts. I just can’t not do it. So in 2006 I made up a bunch of shirts. I sold a few, mostly it was a waste of time. A few survived and I gave them out to my friends for Gen Con 2006. One in particular was a shirt for The Dungeoneering Dad that read, “My other shirt is a v-neck”. Looks like TDD gave it away…

Today, I find that exact shirt on a website called “toomanytshirts.com” – a site where “a random dude from Pittsburgh” wears and photographs a different t-shirt every day.

It's In Here Somewhere...

That was a pleasant surprise to see the old shirt still making its rounds with my trademark bar code on the sleeve. I completely forgot about the two weeks I was “T-shirt Hans”.

Here are some of my other more popular (less popular) t-shirt slogans:

    • Rage Against the Washing Machine
    • Got Rhetorical Questions?
    • I believe in God and Aliens
    • 3 out of 5 dentists agree 60% of the time
    • Community Chest
    • I hate Slogans
    • Political Statement
    • I am case-Sensitive
    • I’m the man from Nantucket
    • Ask me about today’s specials
    • I hate scallions
    • My favorite font is Ironic Sans

Reiner Knizia at Gen Con 2007

Games

If you play RPG’s, computer games, or board games, then Gen Con is the gaming convention for you to attend. A group of my friends, who call ourselves “The StruebSquad”, a group of game players and designers, go out each year. The competition is tough, but the time spent is a great departure from the grind of the real world.

Gen Con 2007 turned out to be one of the best. The last day of the four day convention, the squad got to meet a hero of ours — Reiner Knizia. Reiner is a german game designer that has created some of my favorite board games and continues to put out challenging, fun, and creative games several times a year. Two of my favorites are Lost Cities and Ingenious.

Reiner Knizia at Gen Con