This year was the 50th anniversary of GenCon and it was a large and amazing trip.  We went out for all four days and managed to try some new things.  I played my first convention RPG session, the Starfinder test game.  It was not bad but it did feel a bit off.  We played a much more mechanical combat mission.  With the mat and miniatures it felt more like a board-game than a true RPG experience.  It was hard for me to build rapport with stranger so that I could play my character’s personality beyond the archetype.

Another new experience this trip was eating from the food trucks and drinking in the beer tent.  In years past we’ve had minors in tow and it was difficult to try these things.  The Sun King beer was very good and the wait for dinner was not terrible.  The people in line were friendly and the food was very tasty.

The expanded exhibit hall was still very cramped.  It could have been the record attendance but the experience matched years past with being bumped and jostled and slowly wading through people to get anywhere.  The stadium display of GenCon’s history was very well done and I hope GenCon continues to move more things into the stadium in future years.