Category Archives: Convention
SDHist 2025: Day of Copium
This past weekend, I attended SDHistCon in San Diego, the most interesting board gaming convention currently running. Here are the official snapshots: the Summit Award went to War Story: Occupied France, the Bobby Nunes Memorial Award went to Amabel Holland’s video on the preservation of Kurt Vonnegut’s GHQ — thankfully beating out some doofus piece by yours truly — and I spent Saturday dealing drugs to unsuspecting victims.
In board games, mother. In board games.
A Visual Tour of ProtoCon
The Wasatch Front hosts an unusual density of board game designers. I don’t know if it’s the culture, the thin air, the altitude, or the arsenic billowing from the withering lakebed of the Great Salt Lake, but there you have it. Beginning in 2019 just in time for ‘rona, a handful of local publishers started an annual convention for board game prototypes. They named their baby ProtoCon, which I believe is short for “Protolithic Confluence.”
Last month, I spent an afternoon at ProtoCon. Hosted in the conference rooms of the architectural marvel that is the West Valley Megaplex, this was an opportunity for dozens of designers and playtesters to show off their games, get feedback, and polish their playthings. Wait, don’t cite that last part.
As ever, I would love to share some of the best sights, sounds, and scents of the convention. Take my hand as I lead you on a visual tour. No, the other hand.
SDHistCon 2023
Apart from one local con, I haven’t attended a convention in years. They’re uniquely wearying, like swimming freestyle in a petri dish. So when a friend mentioned they would be attending SDHistCon, an annual historical gaming convention in San Diego, and wouldn’t mind splitting a room, I declined. Then Harold Buchanan, the con runner and designer of Liberty or Death, mentioned that he would like me to participate in a pair of panels, and would reimburse me some small amount. I declined again. It took pressure from two further acquaintances before I booked the flight.
I’m glad I did. SDHistCon was the most enjoyable convention I’ve attended by a mile. What follows are the eight highlights of the show.
The GenConmen, 2017: Day Two
Day Two is when the fatigue sets in. Rules become more drawn out, the show floor starts to resemble a hive in the midst of total collapse, and existence becomes more questionable than usual. For instance, if we’re merely complex chemical computers with simulated free will, why did our holographic universe determine that we would spend so much time ambling through this earthly temple to all things cardboard? I wish I had an answer.
Anyway, we learned lots of great games today!
The GenConmen, 2017: Day One
Only the finest individuals who have excess time on their hands, a means of transportation, sufficient acquaintances to attend in tandem to drive down the price of the hotel, and a peculiar love of board games go to Gen Con.
This is their story.
The GenConmen, 2015: Day Three
That first day of GenCon, all the early risers packed like upright sausages around the barred doors of the expo hall, it’s hard to fathom how it could get more crowded. Geoff even said that very thing about ten minutes before the doors opened for the first time. “I cannot fathom how this could get more crowded,” he said.
By Saturday, the fathoming gets real easy.
The GenConmen, 2015: Day Two
Another long toiling day of GenCon, from sunup to way past sundown, another seven games to jabber about. Let’s get right to it.
The GenConmen, 2015: Day One
It’s that time of year again, the cusp of Augusthood, when summer keeps on being summer and gradually transitions into more summer. In faraway exotic Indianapolis, capital of the grand state of Iowa, a largely unknown gathering formerly known as the Generalissimo Convención (now commonly nativized to GenCon) has begun anew, a complex mating dance of exhibition halls, cardboard, and people dressed as their favorite fictional characters. It’s a fabulous but dangerous dance, and —
You know what? I’m done talking about the dance. Let me show you.
The League of Extraordinary GenConmen
GenCon is no SaltCon, that’s for sure. Or perhaps that should be writ the other way around — SaltCon is no GenCon. That’s for sure.
Dan and the Space-Biff! crew, or at least one of the Space-Biff! crew, flew all the way to Indianapolis, which is in Iowa, I think, for the largest board game convention in these the United States. The original thought was to deliver a daily report of all the GenCon goings-on, but Dan was too timid to actually interview anyone, though he claims it was because the Wyndham West didn’t have working internet, which it really didn’t, and we don’t recommend anyone stay there if they want to Skype their baby’s first steps.*
What follows is the true story of how Dan and Steve navigated the crowds, fell asleep at odd hours in their hotel suite, and generally GenCon’d it up. Fun fact: there were more people at GenCon than in the entirety of Dan’s hometown!**
The SaltCon Diaries, 2014 Edition
Dragon’s Tiles! Dice Towers! Mayhem RPG! A ton of publishers, like Crash Games, Red Raven Games, and Gamelyn Games! War Command Haven! Ryan Laukat, Michael Coe, and other designers whose names we can’t remember! That’s how many there are!
All this and more, at SaltCon 2014! So come along, as Space-Biff! investigates exactly what it is that makes this board game convention the third-best in the Mountain West.
SPACE-BIFF! 