Event dates:
TTN: 6-8 November 2022
BGG.CON: 9-13 November 2022
Day 8 – Sunday 13 November
Eight days at a single event is a lot of time. By Sunday morning, everyone was in a haze of exhaustion. I was thrilled to have handed out all but 7 of my business cards, and made so many fantastic connections.
After a breakfast of bits and pieces in our room, we headed down to UnPub to hang out with Sarah, Gary, Will, and a few others while we waited for the Game Jam debrief. Eventually, we did a quick round-the-table which didn’t get very far – everyone was pretty flat-battery – then ordered Thai food from Family Thais, where we went on the first day of TTN. Their Pad Thai, as I had hoped, was superb.
To round out the convention, we finished by playing Sarah’s excellent Deadly Dowagers, which I will absolutely be buying as soon as it comes out, and not just because I won. There’s something really engaging and empowering about ruthless women doing what they have to in order to survive a Victorian world in which they officially have no power at all, and I very much enjoyed flipping that on its head by repeatedly killing my husbands as I moved up the social ladder and eventually snagged myself a Duke to win the game.
I highly recommend Sarah’s blog on “Board Game Design Theory from a Fine Arts Perspective” – I went to get the link and stayed to read, because it’s really interesting stuff! I wasn’t surprised – Sarah is a very insightful designer, and like me, looks for stories to tell in her games from nature and history. I am really looking forward to getting a copy of Deadly Dowagers, and to seeing what else Sarah send out into the world!
At 3pm, the hotel reclaimed the UnPub room, and we and our suitcases moved down to a couch in the lobby, where we met up with Evan, and I gave him a symbolic noogie, as requested by a mutual friend.
We got to have a little dance party with LaMarcus as we waited for our ride.. The formalities complete, Evan shared a car to the airport with us, and thus began the long trip home.
To Portland!
Because we were very early, we got through security with plenty of time to spare, and were able to have a leisurely dinner at the expensive but rather delicious Pappasito’s Cantina, which was the level of food and price I had expected from the hotel – I have had better but it’s still very good, if about 20% more expensive than it has any right to be. It also allowed me to feed my queso obsession, which was great.
After dinner, we sat at the gate, discussing game ideas, until it was time to board, then we settled in for what the flight attendants told us would be a 3.5 hour flight – but, against the jet stream, it was almost an hour longer than that. WHY NOT JUST TELL US HOW LONG IT WILL REALLY TAKE? Can anyone explain this to me?
Anyway, exhausted, we dragged ourselves to the luggage claim, then shared a taxi home, to a joyful reunion with our happy and healthy pets, in our beautifully clean and tidy home. If you need a housesitter in Portland, hit me up – Jamie is AMAZING.
Things I loved about BGG.Con:
– meeting lots of people
– UnPub
– the huge library and open play areas
– staying in the same building as the event
– testing prototypes in person with other designers
– Tabletop Network conference
Things I didn’t manage to do as much as I wanted to:
– play published games
– attend panels and events
– buy games from small vendors
Things I didn’t love:
– the food in the hotel
– the scheduling software
– pitiful excuse for a hotel pool
Based on this, which conventions should I attend in future?
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