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What is a game convention without actual gaming? After dinner on Thursday, April 4, the dining room was converted into the game space, with roughly four dozen tables set up. Publishers spread their games out on pre-assigned tables, then the retailers went at it, playing or observing the games that they had seen at the stands earlier and getting a better idea of whether or not they wanted to stock these titles in their stores. As a bonus, for each game that a retailer demoed, he received a ticket, which he could then "spend" at a prize booth. ACD reps gave the person a plastic dart gun, and whichever item the retailer shot, he won. (If someone didn't win anything, he could claim a small consolation item like card sleeves or promo cards.) Lots of games were claimed, presumably to become demo copies in the future, and the line to shoot stretched all the way across the demo space. Being gamers, naturally some folks gummed up the system, handing their tickets to good shots who were near the front of the line to raise their odds of winning prizes. Boo, line-jumpers!
Despite the above praise for gaming, I didn't game much in the early evening as I was running around the convention center with my son Traver, playing Star Wars, hunting for elephants, and otherwise keeping busy. That said, I did find one game that we could play – or at least play with: Robert Burke's Cartoona.
I have no idea what the rules are for the game; we flipped over pieces and put them together in whatever way seemed (a) most appropriate or (b) funniest. Oddly the Game Salute assistant came over at one point, pointed to the horn piece in the upper-left of the table, and said, "Just want you to know that's actually a nose." Raising an eyebrow I responded, "Well, not now it isn't." Really, dude? Why you harshing my buzz? If we want to make a hornbutt, who's to say we're wrong?
My exchange student Louise, on the other hand, practically dove for the table featuring Dominic Crapuchettes' Clubs as she plays lots of traditional card games with her family in France and that's what she's liked best whenever we've played games at my house. Designer and Madison resident Brett Myers tweeted this photo from that evening:
To which North Star Games' Luke Warren responded: "Dude, so glad you dug it. So did @BoardgameNews wife! Man she is good! She did not go out last in a round over 3 games." When Louise (in the center of the photo above) and I saw that note we both looked at each other like, "Uh, did he really think...?" Awkward.
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Most publishers would kill (or at least seriously maim) for a game line like these – that is, for a recognizable series that has devoted fans who eagerly await each release in the series and who convert others to playing these games – and for Playroom Entertainment, that game series is Killer Bunnies, which has had multiple series released to date and which sees Killer Bunnies: Heroes vs. Villains join that line in July 2013 when the Blue Starter Deck is released. Playroom's Dan Rowen gives an overview of the game.
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And that's a wrap for ACD Games Day 2013. More video coverage is in the can from PAX East – not to mention Nürnberg and NY Toy Fair, sigh – and I'll be in front of (or perhaps behind) the BGG cameras once again come Gen Con in August 2013. If you plan to present or sell new games at that show, please email me (address in the header above) so that I can include your games in the Gen Con 2013 Preview, in addition to arranging camera time. Hope to see you there!
How one should end every trade show: Drinking alcohol while overlooking a giant frozen lake
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