Gaming Convention: Let's Play Recap

Well, unfortunately I forgot the camera.  Maybe not an epic failure, but a serious oversight, at the least.  I had it packed, but somehow ended up at the convention center sans digital-ness.  Sad day!  My brother-in-law did at least snap a quick picture with his iPhone of our boys with the Wisconsin Brigade of the 501st Legion: Vader's First.  Seems rather anachronistic, doesn't it?

Anyway, Let's Play Green Bay was a well-run affair. I'm not sure they reached their target goal for audience numbers, but I was only there on Saturday.  There were several independent and small publishers exhibiting and demonstrating games.  The larger companies that participated included Looney Labs, Out of the Box, Mayfair, and Fantasy Flight.  There were ongoing demonstrations and open-gaming for the Big 4 of the TCG's; namely Magic, Pokemon, Legend of the Five Rings, and Yu-Gi-Oh.  It also allowed for lots of structured and open gaming for the big miniature sets: Warhammer, Dust, Flames of War, and Wings of War.  We all also got a first peak at some of the less common miniature sets which included ship-to-ship pirate forays, Roman coliseum battles between gladiators and beasts, and something to do with British colonials on unicycles spearing a mechanical pig in India.

Of course, I was there mainly for board gaming and I was not disappointed.  Gnome Games had a large store-booth to which I donated some money in exchange for three games.  They also had a nice library for open-gaming with a knowledgeable staff of volunteers and employees.  Most had a wealth of helpful information and even a few were able to teach some games to people.  Aside from the FLGS, the publisher booths also indulged our interests with enthusiasm and kindness.

So what did I play?  This week, I'll be posting little capsule reviews, but for summary's sake.  New to me games from the open game library (in which we had to read the rules before/while playing) included Carcassonne: The City and Memoir '44.  We also played Forbidden Island from the library, which was new to our boys.  Gnome Games staff and/or volunteers taught us Once Upon a Time, Poo, and Quarriors.  The folks at Out of the Box demonstrated Pirate vs. Pirate and Word on the Street (including a fun "life sized" version).  Over at Fantasy Flight, we saw, but did not participate in, demonstration games of Game of Thrones: The Board Game and Dust: Tactics.  And Aaron Kreader, with Studio 9, Inc., personally demonstrated to our boys his new card and dice game Villagers and Villains.  He was friendly, patient, and connected well with the boys.  His game was one of the three I purchased on Saturday.  The other two were Condottiere, a card game well established on my wish list; and Sleeping Queens, a whimsical card game that I purchased moreso aimed at my 4 and 1/2 year old daughter.  My brother-in-law came away from the weekend with Memoir '44 - an exciting development considering he is less engaged in board gaming and much more into Pokemon!