I cannot count the number of games that I have have played at Gen Con over the years. What I do know, however, is that in the vast majority of those games I have had a great time. Certainly, not every event that I’ve played has been good. Also, I have ran into some really bad GMs.

However, I have yet to leave a Gen Con where I did not have at least three or four stories about some great events that I played and some fun people that I have met.

My advice is that if you are going to Gen Con, at least try some events, you will never know who you are going to meet or how much fun you will have.

Below the fold are some examples from Gen Con 2006.

You can probably tell from this picture how much fun we had in this game. It was a d20 Modern version of the Hatfields and McCoys in which we were trying to keep our cousin Britney from running off with Kevin, who was from the opposing clan. I swear that we probably spent 3/4 of our time laughing. Everyone at the table had a phenomonal time.

Here is a shot of the fun and interesting people we met playing a varient of Settlers of Catan. Again, another game in which we spent time having lots of fun.

Here is the game in which I played Dogs in the Vineyard for the first time.  This certainly was not a laugh riot. However, I think that we all enjoyed playing the game. I know I had a great time.

Another d20 Modern game that was an absolute best. The characters were mobsters in Cinncinatti. The guy on the left played an FBI mole that had infiltrated the organization. He played it perfectly and none of us had any idea it was him until he turned on us at the end and tried to arrest us. Of course we opened fire on him.

All and all, if you go to Gen Con, you need to try playing some games with people you don’t know. I also recommend trying new game systems. I have often been amazed at the fun I have had playing an unknown game system with a bunch of strangers.