How to Convention: In the Gaming Room
Convention gaming areas can range from a few tables designated for playing games you’ve brought to a multifeatured track which could be a small gaming convention on its own. For the casual player, here’s what they might be up to in there.
Open gaming is the term for the area where you can set up with your own game or a borrowed one (see below) and look for people to play with. Sometimes there will be a stock of orange cones. These are used to show that your table has a game about to start and is looking for more players.
Many conventions maintain or borrow a game library of tabletop board and card games for people to try out. Games are usually checked out by someone recording your badge number. Library staff are often enthusiastic gamers themselves who can provide recommendations and teach you new games.
Scheduled games may be part of the convention program, or scheduled ad hoc by members of the con, or both. Signup sheets will usually be found in the gaming room itself. (While gaming conventions use platforms that allow signups ahead of the convention, software for more general conventions is typically unable to support this.)
Tournaments may happen at larger conventions and may require an extra fee, particularly collectible card game tournaments.
Computer gaming is less likely to be found outside of gaming conventions, but anime conventions with gaming tracks will usually include it. This may take the form of arcade games, consoles and PCs with games set up with them, or occasionally a full LAN setup.
In Brief
Guests for Contabile 25 (location TBA, February 2-4, no website yet) will be Michael “Moonwulf” Longcor (overseas guest), Edwin Brady (UK guest), and Valerie Housden (Filker Emeritus).
This year’s 1632 Convention will be hosted by FantaSci (Durham, North Carolina, April 19-21).
ATL Comic Convention (Atlanta, Georgia, February 9-11) has added Cooper Andrews and Gigi Edgley as guests.
Indiana Comic Convention (Indianapolis, Indiana, March 22-24) has added Tara Strong and Lou Ferrigno as guests.
CabbageCon (Columbus, Ohio, April 11-14) has added Cricket Leigh as a guest.
Spooky Empire (Orlando, Florida, May 17-19) has added Peter Facinelli, Ashley Greene, Jackson Rathbone, Derek Mears, Heather Donohue, Michael Williams, Joshua Leonard, Eduardo Sánchez, Sky Elobar, and Michael St. Michaels as guests.
Trek Long Island (Hauppauge, New York, May 31-June 2) has added Tara Rosling and Lolita Fatjo as guests.
Event Calendar
Weekend of February 9-11
Boskone 61, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Winter Fantasy 48 (gaming), Fort Wayne, Indiana, USA
Running GAGG XXVIII: How to Train Your Squirrel to Train Your Dragon (gaming), Geneseo, New York, USA
DualCon (gaming), Charleston, West Virginia, USA
Paradice (gaming), Worthing, UK
Game On! 2024, Bellevue, Washington, USA
AmberConNI 2024 (diceless RPGs), Belfast, UK
Kami-Con Season 15: Villainy (anime), Birmingham, Alabama, USA
Animangapop (anime), Plymouth, UK
Isekai Anime Con, Sandy, Utah, USA
ExpOtaku Logroño (anime), San Millán, Spain
Animeverse Fest (anime), Houston, Texas, USA
Zipcon 2024 (anime), Akron, Ohio, USA
Farpoint 31 (media), Pikesville, Maryland, USA
UMW Eagle Con (media), Fredericksburg, Virginia, USA
ATL Comic Convention, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
Big Lick Comic-Con, Roanoke, Virginia, USA
Middle East Film & Comic Con, Abu Dhabi, UAE
Weekend of February 16-18
Radcon 9: Witches, Warlocks, and Wizards, Pasco, Washington, USA
CONpossible: The Jungles of Venus (alternate history), Atlanta, Georgia, USA
Life, the Universe, and Everything #42 (symposium), Provo, Utah, USA
DunDraCon 47 (gaming), Santa Clara, California, USA
Itzacon XVII: Return From the Grave (gaming), Galway, Ireland
Polar Vortex 8 (gaming), Lisle, Illinois, USA
Con of the North (gaming), Bloomington, Minnesota, USA
Orccon 2024 (gaming), Los Angeles, California, USA
Escape Winter Con 2024 (gaming), Orlando, Florida, USA
Williamsburg Muster (wargaming), Williamsburg, Virginia, USA
Decepta Con IX (social deception gaming), Atlanta, Georgia, USA
J-Popcon (anime), Copenhagen, Denmark
Katsucon 2024 (anime), National Harbor, Maryland, USA
Fan Expo Vancouver (media), Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Geek Days Rennes (media), Rennes, France
Philip K. Dick Film Festival, New York City, New York, USA
StingrayCon (media), Jacksonville, Florida, USA
Boston Sci Fi Film Festival 49, Somerville, Massachusetts, USA
Gallifrey One's Miracle on 34th Street (Doctor Who), Los Angeles, California, USA
Weekend of February 23-25
ConCave 43, Bowling Green, Kentucky, USA
FenCon XIX, Irving, Texas, USA
Cosplay Up! 2024 (costuming), Manila, Philippines
FurSquared 2024 (anthropomorphic), Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA
NordicFuzzCon 2024 (anthropomorphic), Malmö, Sweden
Atlanta Game Fest 42, Peachtree Corners, Georgia, USA
Total Confusion 38 (gaming), Marlborough, Massachusetts, USA
Plattecon XXXVII: Year of the Glitch (gaming), Platteville, Wisconsin, USA
CalCon (gaming), Kalmar, Sweden
Gamicon Arsenic (gaming), Cedar Rapids, Iowa, USA
LootFest (gaming), Fort Worth, Texas, USA
Festival International des Jeux (gaming), Cannes, France
Fire and Ice Convention (gaming), Manitowoc, Wisconsin, USA
Prolog 2024 (gaming), Trollhättan, Sweden
SoRCon 15 (boardgames), Basildon, UK
PrezCon 2024 (boardgames), Charlottesville, Virginia, USA
Anime STX, San Antonio, Texas, USA
Nerd Fest (media), Swedesboro, New Jersey, USA
Shawicon (media), Shawinigan, Québec, Canada
StocktonCon (media), Stockton, California, USA
Con Nooga (media), Chattanooga, Tennessee, USA
Pensacon (media), Pensacola, Florida, USA
Weekend of March 1-3
CoastCon 46, Biloxi, Mississippi, USA
Picocon 41: The Menagerie, London, UK
Ret-Con 2024, Cary, North Carolina, USA
Cor41u (fanzines), Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
Cardboard*Con: Ye Olde Cardboard Con 15 (cardboard sf costuming), Atlanta, Georgia, USA
Gdakon (anthropomorphic), Gdansk, Poland
Wild Wild West Steampunk Convention 12, Tucson, Arizona, USA
Evercon 24 (gaming), Rothschild, Wisconsin, USA
SaltCON Spring (gaming), Layton, Utah, USA
Tennessee Game Days Spring 2024, Franklin, Tennessee, USA
GAD-CON 2024 (gaming), Aberdeen, Maryland, USA
CincyCon 2024 (gaming), Hamilton, Ohio, USA
Cold Barrage 2024 (miniatures gaming), Havre de Grace, Maryland, USA
Games With Trains, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
Intercon V: Voices (LARPs), Warwick, Rhode Island, USA
Kawacon: 3 Wishes (anime), San Antonio, Texas, USA
SwampCon Cirque du Gator (anime), Gainesville, Florida, USA
Made in Asia (anime), Brussels, Belgium
Anime Crossroads 2024, Plainfield, Indiana, USA
ExpOtaku Almería 2024 (anime), Almería, Spain
Puchicon NJ (anime), Teaneck, New Jersey, USA
Hall of Heroes Comic Con, Elkhart, Indiana, USA
Emerald City Comic Con, Seattle, Washington, USA
Sunrise Comic Con, Sunrise, Florida, USA
Cult Classic Convention (media), Bastrop, Texas, USA
KhromaKon (media), Baltimore, Maryland, USA
PeoriaCon 2024 (media), Peoria, Illinois, USA
House of Mouse Expo (Disney-owned media), Kissimmee, Florida, USA
Weekend of March 8-10
Cleveland ConCoction, Aurora, Ohio, USA
MarsCon 2024, Bloomington, Minnesota, USA
Pulp Fiction Central, Dania Beach, Florida, USA
Fur the More: Arthurian Legends (anthropomorphic), Arlington, Virginia, USA
VancouFur 2024: Claws & Clockwork (anthropomorphic), Surrey, British Columbia, Canada
14. Bremer Spiele-Tage (gaming), Bremen, Germany
Granite Game Summit, Nashua, New Hampshire, USA
Gratislavia (gaming), Wrocław, Poland
Dice Tower West (gaming), Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
ShushCon 2024 (gaming), Pawleys Island, South Carolina, USA
MidWinter ‘24 (gaming), Haugesund, Norway
TezalCon (video games), Daleville, Alabama, USA
PrinceCon 47 (marathon RPG), Princeton, New Jersey, USA
Lost Golaricon 2024: Once More With Feeling (Pathfinder & Starfinder RPGs), Indianapolis, Indiana, USA
MinamiCon 29 (anime), Southampton, UK
Banzaicon (anime), Columbia, South Carolina, USA
Mississippi Anime Fest, Jackson, Mississippi, USA
Anime Milwaukee, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA
Wilkes Comic Con, North Wilkesboro, North Carolina, USA
Japan Expo Marseille (anime), Marseille, France
ACEcon 2024 (anime), Palm Harbor, Florida, USA
Kikori Con 2024 (anime), Flagstaff, Arizona, USA
Power Comicon, Florence, South Carolina, USA
Collective Con (media), Jacksonville, Florida, USA
Dublin Comic Con, Dublin, Ireland
CarrierCon 2024 (media), Alameda, California, USA
TFcon (Transformers), Burbank, California, USA
Coda
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