July 31, 2011: The Path To Gen Con

Gen Con is, for us, much more than just four days of gaming. It starts much earlier in the year, with the annual "You want to put what in the booth?" discussion, the festive dances celebrating the mountain of paperwork, and my personal favorite: Pallet Day, when the presence of stretch wrap on the pallet somehow inspires our memories to work with unnatural accuracy, reminding us of those three things we forgot to pack.

But all the trials and tribulations fade away when we step into the Exhibit Hall. The doors burst open, the attendees -- all gamers, all our people -- flood in, and Gen Con begins anew. It's a blur of demos, dinners with friends we see just a few times a year, talking through a dwindling voice, and more demos. It's an endurance test, it's a pressure cooker, and it's one of the high points of our year.

If you're one of the tens of thousands of faces we'll see this year, stop in and say hello. We'd love to show you Giant Cthulhu Dice, teach you to play Zombie Dice, or just let you see the awesomeness that is Munchkin Axe Cop (printouts only -- the game will be out in October). And bring your quarters . . . we've got a capsule vending machine filled with Munchkin pawns and bonuses, dice, and all kinds of oddities.