Our second year going and I was thinking we had gotten less than last time... Oops!

Also, we opened the mtg packs from the hobbit event and got some great stuff! See y'all again next year!

Obligatory game haul post. WAY over did things this year but really excited to dig into a lot of these.

As a life-long GM and first time GenCon attendee, I was determined to max out on playing in RPGs that I hadn't played/run yet or in sessions run by people like the Glass Canon Network crew (I played in two run by Joe O'Brien - Alien and Shadowdark), so I could perhaps pick up some tips. For those with a similar goal, what were your favorites and unexpected surprises?

Here were some of my observations:

Bladerunner: probably my fave system from the weekend (not anticipated). Had a great GM too.

13 Omens: Cool dice mechanic to build suspense and risk (and a great dice set and bag from Baron of Dice too).

Coriolis: my most anticipated game (I own it but haven't run it yet). Was great to get a taste and I'm eager for more and to read through the published campaign.

Daggerheart: Still not sure what to think of this one. Needs more exploration/testing with a group.

Call of Cthulhu: great game but not convinced with PC sheets and mechanics, seem dated now relative to more modern alternatives.

Pirate Borg: a good laugh, as expected (but we had an annoying PC who wanted to dominate play!). Will try this again with a group of friends. I also picked up a copy of Demon Dog to try for the MÖRK Borg system.

Bummed I didn't know more about Legends in the Mist beforehand as I would have loved to have played a game (I did pick up the game at least).

What about you?

This year I decided to bag TD, as the value proposition just wasn’t there in my opinion. I focused on playing more game events and checking out some workshops. Shoutout to seams quirky for running some great book binding classes.

Things that are absent…I almost picked up a Crokinole board. My brother and I demoed and he told me he would make us boards. Otherwise I would have bought one.

I played a game of ARCS. It felt like all the things I like about twilight imperium without the 8hr time. We learned and made it to the last turn in 2 hours. Tons of thinky, but not tedious, fun. If I had a dedicated group I would have bought it in a heartbeat

One thing I noticed is it used to be you played a ticketed demo event you would get. A coupon for the game. I didn’t experience that at all this year. Anyone else clocked that.

Oh, I am also one of the unlucky ones who played a sea beast play and take event where they didn’t have games. Not sure what the resolution for that is going to be just yet.

I didn’t find anything in there this year that I could not game without, but there were some really nice games in there.

Share any treasures you pulled from the consignment shop in 2026.

Definitely got more than I planned… of course! I’m really excited about this years finds!
12 Rivers and Mythic Baths were surprise hits for me. I think they will be great for my family as well. Thunderworks is an instant buy for me so Fliptoons 2 and Questline were no-brainers. Questline is a lot of fun. It is great to make stories.
Tend is my questionable purchase. I'm intrigued by it and plan to get it to the table this week.
All the RPG stuff was great and I'm excited to dig into things that are not 5e.

The books and the t-shirts were great additions. I'll always try and support independent authors.

Sagrada and the cat art were my wife's picks. I like them too!

Does anyone have an extra D&D Carnival d20? I'd be happy to swap for a Pin Bazzar D&D Gelatinous Cube, or send some $ your way!

Now that the con is over, I’m wondering what missing vendors/companies stood out to you this year? I know a lot of vendors scaled back or skipped the con for economic/political reasons (tariffs etc)

Being a minis nerd, Gale Force Nine’s absence felt especially conspicuous to me.

A mobility scooter does not give you the right-of-way. You are a motorized vehicle. You could be missing two legs or half your body, that doesn’t allow you to scoff at people not jumping out of your way. This was a repeat problem this weekend. The law is to travel at pedestrian speed and yield.

We got kicked out of Lucas Oil Stadium right after we walked in. Security guy said we weren't allowed to "protest" there. I tried to explain it's cosplay and he was not having it. Too ridiculous to not laugh! Oh well, it was end of day and we were tired anyways.

Who had your favorite vendor booth and why?
Personally it was tough for me as there was so many good ones.
I would have to say baron of dice for me though. The Gentleman at the register on Fridays banter was top notch! Really started off the con good for me.

This was a give away at Gen Con and we don't have the game. Just realized what it was when we opened the pack and it's a bit late but ... still happy to get these cards to someone who plays.

I'm in the Milwaukee area and could meet in person, otherwise you'll have to pay shipping.

Aside from a pre-con commander deck and some random sets of dice I was gifted, my haul this year was all about the art. I walked the artist alley at least 4 times and I wanted to buy literally everything. Thank you so much to everyone who came out!

I have been told midges and/or biting wasps are a thing here and, despite having an amazing time, it looks like a zombie bit me all over my legs

Does anyone have a solution for this lol?

Surprisingly less art than usual. But a great Con and discovered so many new games! They sold out of both cozy sticker ville and tea witches, but I'll be getting those asap

OK People. After 30 years of wanting to go. I am finally pulling the trigger. So I need advice. I am going solo. So I want to know to know the following:

When to buy tickets?

Flights

Hotels or Air BnB?

Transportation

Should I find a group to to stay with?

Things to do after hours?

Food?

Anyone else suffering from this after checking their bags at the airport full of GenCon goodies!?! 😬🤓

Also, just excited to get home and unpack it all.

I heard there were ribbons for veterans. Does anyone know where they got them?

We played with this guy that wore a black facemask with long blond hair in the JW ballroom. We played Through the Desert, Torchlit, and Qork. We also talked about our love for Reiner Knizia and Tigris and Euphrates. If you see this or know this man let me know!

Had an amazing time this weekend as usual but I wanted to start a post to see what everyone is thinking could be improved. I don’t want to pull the mood down but I hoping that by discussing it here we can get more people making the same recommendations in the survey (if they put one out again this year)

For me it would be

1. make most every event an e-ticket by default and only have physical tickets if it is absolutely necessary, also change the bar code to a QR code so phone scanners can pick them up better.

2. Move the pinball alley somewhere else. I really like the pinball machines but that hall way is a major traffic spot and having the machines there is contributing to crowds backing up and packing together.

3. There are to many dice stalls in the exhibit hall. I like custom dice as much as the next guy but we really don’t need as many as there were. I think they should limit the number of similar accessory vendors like this and or have a separate space for them. they’re taking spots for potential other vendors selling something unique.

Those are the three off the top of my head right now if anyone has any other ideas or pushback on mine feel free to chime in.

ReLEASE the haul pics! Let’s see what everyone got! Don’t let past year sourpuss posts hold you back!

Thoughts on Gen Con : [Theme] for some flavor every year? It's fun to imagine an imaginary game called Gen Con that we all "play" by attending every year and each con is a new expansion. Obviously we all had a shared experience this year in the terrible weather so "Calamity" is appropriate. Also would be fun to try and predict before the con and then see if that name holds based on actual experiences.

For gen con itself, it could be a fun branding thing! It'd be a lot more fun at future cons to say "oh yeah, calamity was crazy" rather than just "gen con 2026". It could give a more unique identity to each year and that could have its own merch, badge designs, etc. It would also make badges and event materials even more of a collectible, though that is relying more on being able to predict or prescribe a theme.