By Rick Teverbaugh
The Herald Bulletin
INDIANAPOLIS — Ever wonder exactly why the city of Indianapolis was so anxious to dismantle the RCA Dome and expand the Convention Center? One of the reasons opens there in early August.
GenCon begins its four-day run on Aug. 5 and it will bring over 27,000 gaming enthusiasts of all kinds and ages to the city. This is the eighth year that this convention will be held in Indy after outgrowing its former home in Milwaukee.
What brings all of these people to this revered con?
Mostly they come for the chance to see and try new games and to play those games against new opponents, sometimes in organized tournaments for a variety of valuable prizes.
GenCon embraces the entire gaming community, covering board games, electronic games, role playing games and miniatures. The convention is heavily swung toward the fantasy and science fiction genres but there is also plenty of space devoted to war games, sports games and more traditional family games.
Basically the con has two main focuses. The first is the Exhibit Hall. The hall houses the game manufacturers who offer their products for sale, but also give out free demonstrations of current as well as future releases.
GenCon has become such an important event in the gaming landscape that many companies will time new releases to debut there. Exhibit Hall hours are 10 a.m. until 6 p.m. Thursday through Saturday and until 4 p.m. on Sunday.
Most of the biggest companies in the business are regulars there. These include Rio Grande Games, AEG, Wizards of the Coast, Fantasy Flight, Steve Jackson Games, Days of Wonder and Mayfair. Also many smaller companies look at GenCon as a cost-efficient way to reach a very particular audience.
Many companies who can be found in the exhibit hall make support products for this hobby. They produce game boards, card sleeves, storage boxes, dice and other forms of accessories that gamers purchase.
The second thrust of the show is those gamers who want to come to play their favorite games in a competitive environment. There are several large rooms in the center devoted to those contests. Some last only for a few hours while some last the entire four days of the show.
There is also space saved for those who want to play more casually. There is a general board game room where people can gather to play games they brought or games they have purchased at the con. There’s even a library of games that can be rented.
From Wednesday evening through Sunday late afternoon, gaming takes place without stopping. Gaming can be found any time even at 3 or 4 a.m. in one of the convention rooms, the hotels or even some of the downtown eating establishments.
A few companies, like Rio Grande, offer large rooms stocked with their games so fans can play their favorites and even teach those games to friends. Usually there’s no additional charge to play in that environment.
But GenCon isn’t an inexpensive way to enjoy gaming. A badge to gain entrance to all four days of the event costs $78 on site. Just one day is $48 except for Sunday when the single-day price drops to $28. Prices are a bit less expensive when fans pre-register but that time period typically ends in late June.
GenCon also has guest celebrities, artists and authors, who will often sign and sell works. This year Will Wheaton from "Star Trek: The Next Generation" will be one of the special guests.
